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Random quote: "Swords, Lances, arrows, machine guns, and even high explosives have had far less power over the fates of nations than the typhus louse, the plague flea, and the yellow-fever mosquito. Civilizations have retreated from the plasmodium of malaria, and armies have crumbled into rabbles under the onslaught of cholera spirilla, or of dysentery and typhoid bacilli. Huge areas have been devastated by the trypanosome that travels on the wings of the tsetse fly, and generations have been harassed by the syphilis of a courtier. War and conquest and that herd existence which is an accompaniment of what we call civilization have merely set the stage for these more powerful agents of human tragedy." ― Hans Zinsser, Rats, Lice and History
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Magical Realism
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minervasowl
Posted 2013-05-29 9:44 AM (#5140)
Subject: Magical Realism



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Location: New Hampshire

The tweet about Salman Rushdie being a fantasy author has inspired me to start a conversation about magical realism because his writing falls into that category as well (or one might argue that it's the same category). Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende are two of my favorite authors. They get shelved in literature/fiction sections in bookstores, but their writing has distinct fantastical aspects. Toni Morrison, too. I have even seen Angela Carter included in magical realism discussions. Someone once told me that quintessential speculative/sf/f/h fiction is a story in which one fantastic element is incorporated into an otherwise realistic setting. Is magical realism just another way to say urban fantasy? Or speculative fiction? Do we stop worrying about specific definitions and just read good books with stories that take one or more steps away from "the real world"?Thoughts? Recommendations?

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Scott Laz
Posted 2013-05-30 1:31 PM (#5149 - in reply to #5140)
Subject: Re: Magical Realism



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Location: Gunnison, Colorado		"Do we stop worrying about specific definitions and just read good books with stories that take one or more steps away from "the real world"?" That would be ideal!

I always thought of magical realism as differing from other types of fantasy in that it seems to be set in "the real world", except that magical things happen and people accept these things as normal. For the characters in the stories, and the cultures in which they live, the magical elements are real, and they believe in them, so the story is not fantasy (or so the argument goes). This is different from most genre fantasy, in which the "eruption" of the fantastic into our world is unexpected and strange. There's a real distinction here, but I think magical realism has also become a convenient label for those who want to ensure that literature doesn't get polluted by genre. Magical realism, unlike fantasy, can be "literary" and so is safe to read and enjoy...

It's not magical realism, but I get some of that same feel from Haruki Murakami.

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minervasowl
Posted 2013-06-01 1:08 PM (#5173 - in reply to #5140)
Subject: Re: Magical Realism



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Location: New Hampshire		Although I understand your point about classifications, the idea that "literary" fiction is "safe" is another tempting can of worms to open. ;-)

The point about magical events being accepted as normal is well taken, and I think that the key word is "events." Magical people and magical beings tip the scales into fantasy. At least obviously magical people and beings. For example, the setting for Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn is modern and realistic, except for the dragons. In fact, everything other than the dragons is so normal that I found their presence jarring, making the story difficult to read. Even the premise of the story is traditional. There is a boundary dividing humans and dragons. Each is banned from the other's territory. And then one day a girl and a dragon break the rules and become friends. On the other hand, the protagonist in Chocolat clearly has some sort of mystical or magical qualities, but no one labels what she does as magic, at least not in the conjuring sense.
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