Magic realism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
| Revision as of 08:34, 19 April 2014 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" | ||
| + | | style="text-align: left;" | | ||
| + | "Angel Flores, the first to use the term "[[Magic realism]]", set the beginning of the movement with the book ''[[A Universal History of Infamy]]'' (1935) by Jorge Luis Borges."--Sholem Stein | ||
| + | |} | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | '''Magic realism''' (or '''magical realism''') is an artistic [[genre]] in which [[magical]] elements appear in an otherwise [[realistic]] setting. | + | '''Magic realism''' (or '''magical realism''') is an artistic [[genre]] in which [[magical]] elements appear in an otherwise, [[mundane]], [[realistic]] setting. |
| - | As used today the term is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. The term was initially used by [[Germany|German]] art critic [[Franz Roh]] to describe painting which demonstrated an altered reality, but was later used by [[Venezuelan]] [[Arturo Uslar-Pietri]] to describe the work of certain [[Latin American writer]]s. The [[Cuban]] writer [[Alejo Carpentier]] (a friend of Uslar-Pietri) used the term "lo real maravilloso" (roughly "marvelous reality") in the prologue to his novel ''[[The Kingdom of this World]]'' (1949). Carpentier's conception was of a kind of heightened reality in which elements of the miraculous could appear while seeming natural and unforced. Carpentier's work was a key influence on the writers of the [[Latin American Boom|Latin American "boom"]] that emerged in the 1960s. | + | As used today the term is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. The term was initially used by [[Germany|German]] art critic [[Franz Roh]] in his 1925 book ''[[Nach Expressionismus: Magischer Realismus: Probleme der neusten europäischen Malerei]]'' ("After [[expressionism]]: Magical Realism: Problems of the newest European painting") to describe painting which demonstrated an altered reality, but was later used by Venezuelan [[Arturo Uslar-Pietri]] to describe the work of certain [[Latin American writer]]s. |
| + | |||
| + | The Cuban writer [[Alejo Carpentier]] used the term "lo real maravilloso" (roughly "marvelous reality") in the prologue to his novel ''[[The Kingdom of this World]]'' (1949). Carpentier's conception was of a kind of heightened reality in which elements of the miraculous could appear while seeming natural and unforced. Carpentier's work was a key influence on the writers of the [[Latin American Boom|Latin American "boom"]] that emerged in the 1960s. | ||
| An example of magic realism can be seen in [[Julio Cortázar]]'s "[[La noche boca arriba]]," in which an individual experiences two realistic situations simultaneously in the same place but during two different time periods, centuries apart. | An example of magic realism can be seen in [[Julio Cortázar]]'s "[[La noche boca arriba]]," in which an individual experiences two realistic situations simultaneously in the same place but during two different time periods, centuries apart. | ||
| - | ==History== | ||
| - | The term ''magic realism'' was first used by the German art critic [[Franz Roh]] to refer to a painterly style also known as [[Neue Sachlichkeit]]. It was later used to describe the unusual realism by American painters such as [[Ivan Albright]], [[Paul Cadmus]], [[George Tooker]] and other artists during the [[1940s]] and [[1950s]]. It should be noted though that unlike the term's use in literature, in art it is describing paintings that do ''not'' include anything fantastic or magical, but are rather extremely realistic and often mundane. | ||
| - | |||
| - | The term was first revived and applied to the realm of fiction as a combination of the fantastic and the realistic in the 1960s by a Venezuelan essayist and critic [[Arturo Uslar-Pietri]], who applied it to a very specific South American genre, influenced by the blend of realism and fantasy in [[Mário de Andrade]]'s influentiafal [[1928]] novel ''[[Macunaíma]].'' However, the term itself came in vogue only after [[Nobel prize]] winner [[Miguel Ángel Asturias]] used the expression to define the style of his novels. The term gained popularity with the rise of the [[Latin American Boom]], most notably [[Jorge Luis Borges]], [[Juan Rulfo]], [[Carlos Fuentes]], and [[Gabriel García Márquez]], who confessed, "My most important problem was destroying the lines of demarcation that separates what seems real from what seems fantastic." More recent Latin American authors in this vein include [[Isabel Allende]] and [[Laura Esquivel]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | Subsequently, the term has been applied both to earlier writers such as [[Jorge Luis Borges]], [[Mikhail Bulgakov]], or [[Ernst Junger]] and to postcolonial and other contemporary writers from [[Salman Rushdie]] and [[Gunter Grass]] to [[Angela Carter]] | ||
| + | Determining who coined the term ''magical realism'' (as opposed to ''magic realism'') is controversial among literary critics. Maggie Ann Bowers argues that it first emerged in the 1955 essay "[[Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction]]" by critic Angel Flores. She notes that while Flores names [[Jorge Luis Borges]] as the first magical realist, he fails to acknowledge either Alejo Carpentier or Arturo Uslar-Pietri for bringing Roh's magic realism to Latin America. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | + | *[[Fantastique]] | |
| - | * [[Latin American Boom]] | + | *[[Realism]] |
| - | * [[McOndo]] | + | *[[Fantastic]] |
| - | * [[Magic]] | + | *[[Realist visual arts]] |
| - | * [[Fantastic realism]] | + | |
| - | * [[Hysterical realism]] | + | |
| - | * [[Metafiction]] | + | |
| - | * [[Neosurrealism]] | + | |
| - | * [[Postmodern literature]] | + | |
| - | * [[Realism]] | + | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
"Angel Flores, the first to use the term "Magic realism", set the beginning of the movement with the book A Universal History of Infamy (1935) by Jorge Luis Borges."--Sholem Stein |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Magic realism (or magical realism) is an artistic genre in which magical elements appear in an otherwise, mundane, realistic setting.
As used today the term is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous. The term was initially used by German art critic Franz Roh in his 1925 book Nach Expressionismus: Magischer Realismus: Probleme der neusten europäischen Malerei ("After expressionism: Magical Realism: Problems of the newest European painting") to describe painting which demonstrated an altered reality, but was later used by Venezuelan Arturo Uslar-Pietri to describe the work of certain Latin American writers.
The Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier used the term "lo real maravilloso" (roughly "marvelous reality") in the prologue to his novel The Kingdom of this World (1949). Carpentier's conception was of a kind of heightened reality in which elements of the miraculous could appear while seeming natural and unforced. Carpentier's work was a key influence on the writers of the Latin American "boom" that emerged in the 1960s.
An example of magic realism can be seen in Julio Cortázar's "La noche boca arriba," in which an individual experiences two realistic situations simultaneously in the same place but during two different time periods, centuries apart.
Determining who coined the term magical realism (as opposed to magic realism) is controversial among literary critics. Maggie Ann Bowers argues that it first emerged in the 1955 essay "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction" by critic Angel Flores. She notes that while Flores names Jorge Luis Borges as the first magical realist, he fails to acknowledge either Alejo Carpentier or Arturo Uslar-Pietri for bringing Roh's magic realism to Latin America.
See also
