I went through a pool of books from mythology to mystery, fiction to fantasy, writings of different authors all around the world and concluded that it is the genre of ‘Magical Realism’ which strings it all together.
1st to talk about its history. It didn’t start anywhere in particular. It began at multiple places at different times. Today we mostly associate it with South America. But there was also huge for it in Japan. Even though elements of Magical Realism have existed in literature since the beginning of time. It was Franz Roh who first coined the term “Magischer Realismus” which translates to “magic realism”.
So how do we identify the genre of Magical Realism? We can say that Magical Realism is set in an otherwise contemporary setting. The magic is normalized and not weird for the readers. An important point to highlight is that Magical Realism is different from the genre of Fantasy. Fantasy takes place in an imaginary world. Whereas, Magical Realism is small magical moments happening in a real-world setting.
Some book recommendations:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967): A multi-generational story about a patriarch who dreams about a city of mirrors called Macondo then creates it according to his own perceptions.
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981): A novel about a boy with telepathic powers because he was born at midnight the same day India became an independent country.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (1982): A multi-generational story about a woman with paranormal powers and a connection to the spirit world.
Magical Realism differs from book to book, and it is up to the readers if it is working for them. I have learned to embrace that it is vague, embrace that it gives me a space to think and that it is so different from the other genres.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this and added these books to your booklist.
Comments