Magic Realism
Simon Muller
I'm writing a paper on magic realism. If anyone knows of any theses or
papers on Neil Gaiman, please get in touch - I'm specifically looking
for anything to do with Mythology, Narrative and/or the Fantastic.
I'm also trying to get hold of a specific paper by Professor Alan
Levitan on Sandman and Shakespeare - I would greatly appreciate help
here as well.
Simon
Simon Muller
Barry Vaughan
In article <357954...@globalvt.demon.co.uk>, Simon Muller
<si...@globalvt.demon.co.uk> writes
>I'm writing a paper on magic realism.
What's magic realism?
BJV
--
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Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves,
so thanks for nothing - Bart Simpson
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Ba...@samael.demon.co.uk
Martha Soukup
In article <v3TaBHAK...@samael.demon.co.uk>, Barry Vaughan
<Ba...@samael.newantispam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <357954...@globalvt.demon.co.uk>, Simon Muller
> <si...@globalvt.demon.co.uk> writes
> >I'm writing a paper on magic realism.
>
> What's magic realism?
>
> BJV
Well, I wouldn't call most of what Neil does magic realism. There seems
to be a move to make the term interchangeable with "fantasy".
The definitional magic-realism works are largely Latin American. Gabriel
Garcia Marquez ("One Hundred Years of Solitude"). Or maybe you've seen
the movie that was made of "Like Water for Chocolate". Magic realism puts
a kind of dream logic, odd fantastical moments never explained that just
grow out of or into everyday life. There's been stuff written in English
I'd be more comfortable calling magic realism, for example some of Lisa
Goldstein's work.
I could pull out an encyclopedia definition, but the shelf's way over there--
Martha
Alexander J Berman
Those generally thought to be magic realists are fantasists who write stories
of urban- or modern-based stories in many genres, such as fantasy or science
fiction, usually in short stories; Borges and Ellison are often considered
magic realists ...
Alex jay Berman
"The key to my life is that I am willing to make an ass of myself."--Harry Chapin
"The key to my life is that I would rather be wrong than frightened."--Harry Chapin
Shannon Sudderth
Barry Vaughan (Ba...@samael.newantispam.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: In article <357954...@globalvt.demon.co.uk>, Simon Muller
: <si...@globalvt.demon.co.uk> writes
: >I'm writing a paper on magic realism.
: What's magic realism?
Ahem (putting on doctoral candidate hat). . .
Magic realism is a literary style, mainly found in but in no way
limited to Latin American writers. It consists of the close juxtaposition
of realistic and fantastic elements within a work. (hat off)
My personal oversimplified description is that of an ordinary
realistic fiction book that plods along a short way, then makes a sharp
left turn into unreality without any particular reaction to strangeness on
the narrator's/character's part.
If you've read Toni Morrison's _Beloved_, that's often considered
an example of the subgenre. If you've read the book or seen the movie
_Like Water for Chocolate_, that's a prime example. Writers like Gabriel
Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende, or Julio Cortazar are considered
examples. I would definitely consider some of Neil's work as magic
realist: some short stories and maybe _Neverwhere_. I'm not sure
_Neverwhere_ counts, since the protagonist is most thoroughly weirded out
by his experiences for a while, but that's possibly part of what Simon is
going to decide in his thesis.
Too much information for you? ^_^
Shannon
_________
Shannon W. Sudderth <*>
pu...@email.unc.edu
Martha Soukup
> In article <soukup-0606...@ppp-asfm06--102.sirius.net>,
sou...@genie.com (Martha Soukup) wrote:
<snip> >> What's magic realism?
> >>
> >> BJV
> >
> >Well, I wouldn't call most of what Neil does magic realism. There seems
> >to be a move to make the term interchangeable with "fantasy".
> >
> >The definitional magic-realism works are largely Latin American. Gabriel
> >Garcia Marquez ("One Hundred Years of Solitude"). Or maybe you've seen
> >the movie that was made of "Like Water for Chocolate". Magic realism puts
> >a kind of dream logic, odd fantastical moments never explained that just
> >grow out of or into everyday life. There's been stuff written in English
> >I'd be more comfortable calling magic realism, for example some of Lisa
> >Goldstein's work.
> >
> >I could pull out an encyclopedia definition, but the shelf's way over there--
> >
> > Martha
>
> Those generally thought to be magic realists are fantasists who write stories
> of urban- or modern-based stories in many genres, such as fantasy or science
> fiction, usually in short stories; Borges and Ellison are often considered
> magic realists ...
>
> Alex jay Berman
Here's how John Clute, that very bright man, defines magic realism in _The
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction_ (Neil cowrote the book's entry on graphic
novels with Clute in that book):
"Contrary to the antirealistic assumptions of high Modernism [Henry James,
Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot] or the fable-producing, self-referential texts of
metafiction [John Barth, Italo Calvino], Magic Realism does not
necessarily doubt either the actuality of a real world or the ability of
literary language to describe that world. Instead it assumes that the
mundane world and its familiar objects are often filled with fabulous
secrets. Magic realism explores the real world's unrealities, and does
not simply--like FANTASY, Surrealism or fairy tales--invent the dreamlike
unrealities of ALTERNATE WORLDS. Magic Realism suggests that the real
world can be represented, even when it cannot be believed."
Latin American practitioners listed by Clute are Isabel Allende, Miguel
Angel Asturias, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Juan
Rulfo. English-language magic realists cited are Donald Barthelme, Angela
Carter and John Hawkes.
Neil seems to me pretty clearly a fantasist, by the contrast between
fantasy and magic realism posited here.
What does Clute say about Neil in the Encyclopedia, you're wondering?
"Unlike graphic novelists such as Alan MOORE, NG has tended to combine
draconian verbal economy with an ample romanticism, so that his tales
carry, sometimes effortlessly, a burden of half-uttered resonances."
That Clute can turn a compliment!
Martha
lordj...@geocities.com
Martha Soukup wrote:
> In article <v3TaBHAK...@samael.demon.co.uk>, Barry Vaughan
> <Ba...@samael.newantispam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > What's magic realism?
>
> Well, I wouldn't call most of what Neil does magic realism. There seems
> to be a move to make the term interchangeable with "fantasy".
>
> The definitional magic-realism works are largely Latin American. Gabriel
> Garcia Marquez ("One Hundred Years of Solitude"). Or maybe you've seen
> the movie that was made of "Like Water for Chocolate". Magic realism puts
> a kind of dream logic, odd fantastical moments never explained that just
> grow out of or into everyday life. There's been stuff written in English
> I'd be more comfortable calling magic realism, for example some of Lisa
> Goldstein's work.
W.P. Kinsella, best known for "Shoeless Joe," which became the movie "Field of
Dreams." David Carkeet's "I Been There Before," about Mark Twain coming back with
Halley's Comet in 1986.
--
J. Stephen Bolhafner (Steve)
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Haroesile
I love much magical realism, and I agree that Neil's writings do not fit into
this genre. (At least the ones I've read.) I think that Alice Hoffman's works
are magical realism as are the later works of Tim Powers. The list grows!
I think that One Hundred Years of Solitude might be my favorite book ever. I
read that a Japanese writer, whose name I am sorry to admit I have forgotten,
almost stopped writing after reading it.
Don't you wish life was really like that? (Mine isn't.)
Deborah >^..^<
>^..^< Deborah Elise >^..^<