Monday, April 15, 2013

Magic Realism: Framework

Perhaps, the most precise and accurate description of realism would be magic realism. Core idea of the realism is straightforward as it is: “a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is”. Unfortunately, this precise definition does not provide readers what to read – what to focus and what to learn from the works. Furthermore, the “aspects of real life” is even more opaque since the view of real world differs from people to people. Depends on individual’s understanding of the world, meaning of the literary works may differ greatly; however, ironically, this “vagueness” is what makes work of realism so magical. It has a power to empathize with thousand different people regardless of ethnicity and social background because it does not force any specific message to readers, a true realism reflecting real world. In this sense magic realism would be a true realism. Though magical or unrealistic odd elements intervene a realistic portrait of the world, this realistic depiction even makes the magical element so real. Thus, depends on the reader, the work may become a fairy tale or could be a grave-most story which contains truth about the human nature.

One of the strangest or the remarkable aspect about the magic realism is that the most unrealistic element so unaffectedly blends into the most realistic story.


What makes magic realism a true realism is in its “mirrorness”: the story reflects reader’s life, a true real world in an individual’s aspect. 

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