Magical Realism, By Alejo Carpentier Essay - 1680 Words

Magical realism, also know as Loreal Maravillso, is an important genre throughout Contemporary Fiction. It encompasses magical elements in a realistic setting. The definition of magical realism as coined by Alejo Carpentier, a famous magical realism author, is an unexpected alteration of reality [ . . .] an unaccustomed insight that is singularly favored by the unexpected richness of reality or an amplification of the scale and categories of reality (â€Å"An Introduction to Magical Realism†). Magical Realism has very specific characteristics. Magical Realism brings in both the real and imaginary world together to create the genre. In the setting of a piece of literature, the characters do not question the magical elements. They believe and see magical instances in their everyday lives. It is a normal thing. Another characteristic of this genre is how it questions the reader what reality they are in. Sometimes when reading literature, we have a picture or image of what is hap pening and how the scene would like if it were now happening in front of us. It is hard for the reader to decipher what is the reality of the book because magical elements are out of the norm in our lives and are not an everyday thing. Back before the genre magical realism emerged, people were trying to find an outlet for expression because of harsh government regimes and rules. Latin America used magical realism as a post-colonial form of writing. The Latin America culture wanted to have outlet whereShow MoreRelatedEssay on Magical Realism1238 Words   |  5 PagesMagical Realism The idea of a genre of art that is called magical realism is less a trend than a tradition, an evolving genre that has its waxings and wanings, where each evolving form expresses an idea that may overlap another, yet at the same time branches off and creates something very different. 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This surreal reality is what Marquez has become synonymous with — magic realism. The literary genre, magic realism, can be found in Marquez’s books and short stories such as 100 Years of Solitude and â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings†. Literary critics and audience alike have marveled at how Marquez masterfully connected the ethereal and the