In fairness, Spider Man at least has "Great power comes with great responsibility." But not a lot of magical realism. Trying to think if there are any good comic book examples that use this at all..... Hadn't thought of the Feild of Dreams example - that's a good one!
I have a ~4,000 word short story with elements of it! However, there isn't really any profound social commentary. The theme is more loss, grief, death, family, love and all that sappy stuff. I guess. And it's funny. Wanna critique it?
Sounds interesting - if you want a critique I'll take a look when I get time. Although I get pretty busy so might take a while for me to get to it. This sort of stuff isn't really my vein but I'll happily look at something that short.
There's still a lot of the more traditional fantasy on the shelves; it sells well. But if you go into a place like B&N and go through the fantasy section, looking just at cover art, you'll see a lot that isn't that way as well. And even within the broad boundaries of traditional fantasy, you see a lot more characters representing people of color than fifteen years ago, LGBT characters (see Caitlin R. Kiernan for an author who is still in fantasy, broadly, but in her last two novels has moved more toward the literary side and who deals with LGB characters and most recently a prominent transgendered character). Non-European based settings are also pretty common. Which isn't to say, as I noted above, that the traditional white/European fantasy isn't still there - it is, but in smaller proportion. @Wreybies would you include Robert Bolaño as magic realism? What about Rudolfo Anaya? I think the latter certainly qualifies. I don't know about Bolaño.
I am only familiar with Anaya, and yes, his work satisfies the bill quite nicely for me. I don't know Bolaño's work.
If you ever find yourself with an empty to-read list, you must read The Savage Detectives and 2666. Those two didn't strike me as magic realism, but I've heard the term used with respect to the author (for other works, I suppose).
I think Spiderman is technically sci-fi because somebody genetically engineered (futuristic technology) a spider or whatever, it bit the kid, and the kid has "powers." If the kid just had powers, and there was no reason for them, and it was just straight up magic, and it was kind of unexplainable and out of nowhere, and nobody was surprised, that would be more like magical realism. As far as I know though, the magical part of magical realism stories isn't a central part of character or setting or plot, although it can be a significant driver. (I can only speak from reading a few Murakami books.) Like in a Murakami book it starts raining fish. People think it's weird but they don't freak out. You're not freaked out because it happens as if it's a normal occurrence. In another book, there are two moons sometimes. No real explanation. People come up with explanations but they have no idea if they're right or wrong, and they're not that concerned about it. Kinda fun like that. The story moves along.
I referenced spiderman which is part of the marvel universe. While spiderman exactly is not magical in nature the universe is connected and it does have characters like Doctor Strange. But the point seems to be that magical realism is more when magic's role is less defined and more symbolic that anything. Right?
Despite what some people may think, there is a difference between magical realism and fantasy (especially in the context of literary criticism). For a good discussion of this issue, see this blog post.
I'm wondering whether this is a genre I've accidentally written? I've always had trouble categorizing one of my works because it has magical elements but they're mostly a tool used by an antagonist (Not like throwing fireballs or something) but more for exploration of the MC... It's fiction, but not general, and it can either be metaphorical, an overactive imagination, or an early schizophrenia. I called it "fantasy-lite" because it's so far from fantasy but still wasn't entirely grounded in reality but not by a factual fault in the universe.. so.. yeah.. Ironically, I submitted that piece to TOR (Same place as where the article is) almost three months ago so hopefully I get a favorable response. Or at least a rejection so I can pony it elsewhere.
Yeah that was excellent. Add hundred years to my ever growing, rarely shrinking list of things to read.
Really loved the blog post, but now it occurs to me that the author sorta-kinda contradicts themselves. It's not fantasy, but it's on a spectrum of fantasy (on the imagined far left side of surreal fantasy).
Well there you get into the debate about what constitutes fantasy or "genre fiction" as a whole, which is sort of the other end of the looking glass from "what is magical realism?" If you're using "fantasy" to mean anything fantastical or with magic, then yeah I guess magical realism fits in there. On the other hand if you use the sort of boilerplate definition that the industry uses to define fantasy - imaginary worlds, defined rules of magic, elves, dwarves etc. etc....then totally no. I think on the whole magical realism doesn't quite fall entirely out of the realm of the fantastical, BUT I think it certainly does NOT fit into the meta-genre of "Speculative Fiction", which includes Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Alternate History, Steampunk, etc. The whole point of speculative fiction is to posit certain changes in the way humans work, then explore the implications of that. The primary difference between the genres is what you change: Sci-Fi changes technology, Fantasy removes the laws of physics, Alternate History changes the past and extrapolates forward, Steampunk posits alternate paths of technological development based on the idea that technology moved forward WITHOUT a key innovation like internal combustion engines. The list goes on. Magical Realism does none of those things. There's nothing speculative about it, and the magic isn't there to reveal what humans would do if empowered with said magic. Quite the opposite, it's there to show that humans have little or no power at all over fate.
[QUOTE="Commandante Lemming, post: I dont think it is accurate to say the industry uses this boilerplate definition. There is plenty of fantasy that is shelved as fantasy and that the industry agrees is fantasy that doesn't meet these criteria.
...which goes back to the fact that none of these genres and terms have a terribly firm definition. Moral of the story: write something you like, do it well, let the bookstore decide which shelf it goes on.
Yep. Or the publisher. I know an author who wrote a fantasy - or thought she did. The publisher said "We're calling it Romance," and that's where it was shelved. They figured it would sell better there.
Yeah I'm writing a journalistic newsroom drama set in the very near future with lots of social-political-economic speculation, very little tech advancement speculation, and some potential spiritual intrusions (I haven't decided yet whether all the angels and demons are ever going to be seen or if I'm just going to know they're there and leave hints). I can't tell anyone what it is genre-wise - too speculative for pop fiction, too newsroomy and current for sci-fi - oh and there may or may not be angels...yeah, shelve that one for me.
Didn't catch this post before. Maybe ghosts kept it from my vision until just now. Magic. Good point. Now I think I'll view the magic elements as being more meaning-laden than before.
An interesting thread. As a style of writing this is one that has recently attracted my attention. For me magical realism blends the myths and legends of a society with every day existence. It mixes the stuff of night time stories with the mundanity of the daytime routine. Perhaps the first story of this ilk that attracted my attention was the film The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey. Of course my definition does need refining. While vampires and werewolves are from mythology, not many of these stories could be classed as magical realism.
Magical Realism is a 'category' of the Fantasy genre. There is 'High Fantasy' and 'Low Fantasy'. In high fantasy, the magic system is of the 'extraordinary' and 'supernatural'. That is to say that 'magic' is of the 'other world'. Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy series because its magic system is one bound by magical mysticism (the divine/supernatural). The Chronicles of Narnia is another example of a high fantasy series. Harry Potter is a 'low fantasy' series because its magic system is innately implemented into the world's way of life. Magic is like 'science' in low fantasy stories; it's used ordinarily in day-to-day life, and it isn't 'weird' or 'supernatural/mystic' when someone uses magic. Magic is there as an inherent trait of the world.
But, as I said earlier in the thread, Wikipedia doesn't mention magical realism in the "low fantasy" page. Not that Wikipedia is God or anything, but there's a ton of information on the page and I find it odd that you and one other person here hold this view but that nobody has edited it into Wikipedia. For that reason, and due to what info has been presented in a couple articles I read since starting this thread, I think that magical realism's place in genre categorization is still somewhat debatable.
My first impressions when I heard, 'Magical Realism' was totally different than it actually is, and I wonder where my own book falls on that bar mentioned in @thirdwind 's link. But from what I understood is that 'Magic Realism' is more about the perspective of the magic setting, then the the system of magic. That is to say that magic exists in the life of the individuals, like putting on your clothes, or brushing your teeth. It can catch you off guard and be terrifying, but it wouldn't be dumbfounding. "I got robbed by a bunch of skeletons pirates again!" I yelled in frustration, "That's the third flippin' time this month!" "Maybe you should get some of that bone repellant, Shiver Me Limbers" My friend suggested. "Sure, and maybe I should start paying for Zomb-A-Way too," I sarcastically added, "And start rubbing elephant feces all over my body to keep the griffins at bay, every time I have to go shopping!" "Just a suggestion." He went back to reading his paper. "The one thing you didn't suggest," I told him, "The one thing I was expecting." "What?" "Oh well, it is pretty dangerous out there for a normal guy these days," I copied his deep nonchalant voice as best I could, "Maybe I'll do the shopping next time, Derek." "Alright I get it," He replied annoyed, "I'll stop eating your honey buns, happy?" "...I guess that will work." Finally some progress, I thought to myself.
