Magic Realism
Caroline Taj
How would you compare the use of magic realism in A PLACE IN
THE WORLD, THE DARK SIDE OF THE HEART, etc. to it's use in
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE?
I admit I haven't gotten around to reading Marquez, Allende, etc.,
so a little more obvious explanation would be helpful.
Thanks,
Caroline
Currie Thompson
Uh, well, I am not sure I could compare the use of magic realism in
A PLACE IN THE WORLD and the DARK SIDE OF THE HEART to its use in LIKE
WATER FOR CHOCOLATE--mainly because there is no magic realism in those
films. Arguably, one could claim Subiela's "popularized surrealism" is a
form of magic realism. THE DARK SIDE OF THE HEART includes a sequence in
which people fly through the air during coitus, and his previous film,
LAST IMAGES OF THE SHIPWRECK includes a sequence in which a bed with two
people and a rocking chair with a woman in sitting it float on the waters of
a flood. But one could also argue that Subiela's "popularized surrealism"
is distinct from magic realism. In any case, A PLACE IN THE WORLD is
devoid of any elements that could be equated with magic realism. It is,
nevertheless, a highly moving film--a modern "western" (takes place in the
rural province of San Luis in Argentina) that borrows a lot from SHANE but
that also turns SHANE on its head. Very poetic and moving. Quietly
understated.
But as to what provoked my comments reagrding the occasional formulaic
use of magic realism in LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE--before which, I guess I
need to warn
SPOILERS AHEAD
Not all examples of magic realism in this film bothered me. I loved, for
example, the ending in which the protagonists are consumed by flames and one
hears the voice off of the doctor warning of what happens if one lights too
many matches at one time. The ending was a real triumph--nothing else would
have worked as well. And I also found the exaggerated length of the shawl
the older sister knit (during those sexless evenings) convincing--both
comic and sad.
On the other hand, both my wife and groaned inwardly at the first example
(at least the first example we recall) of magic realism in the film: the
bags of salt collected from the tears of the woman giving labor. It simply
did not work for us. Why? Partly perhaps because magic realism may be
growing a little worn as a device. It was fresh and exciting when I read
Garcia Marquez' CIEN AN~OS DE SOLEDAD (ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE) in
1970. (I was in Panama--once a part of Colombia--at the time, and it was
the end of the rainy season. When I read the part about the rains that
continued for years, I felt I was living in the novel.)
But there may be other reasons that the salt example did not work.
Perhaps it did not seem sufficiently motivated, while the other examples
I cited did. Or perhaps it contrasted too sharply with the modern kitchen
that is the setting for the opening sequence. Magic realism, like all
departures from realism (in the broadest sense of the term), requires some
setting up--some reason to suspend disbelief. In Garcia Marquez at least
magic realism seems to be a logical aspect of a primieval, tellurgic world.
This world does not exist in the modern kitchen at the beginning of
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, but it has been established when the other--to
me, more convincing--examples of magic realism occur.
There. I don't know if that will be helpful or not. Remember, of course,
that I am commenting on a fairly minor reservation I had concerning a film
I liked very much. I might note in closing that I have some Hispanic
friends who are sick to tears of magic realism, which they view as another
stereotype of Latin America and a noxous one moreover--a kind of smiling
face that covers the grim reality of Spanish America to make it palatable
for a U.S. public. I don't go so far, although their argument makes some
sense. I just think there is more to Spanish America than magic realism--
and that magic realism does not always work (and that its not working may
have to do with one's having absorbed so much of it already that it is
beginning to lose its novelty).
Currie Thompson
Rick Francis
[lots deleted]
> I liked very much. I might note in closing that I have some Hispanic
> friends who are sick to tears of magic realism, which they view as another
> stereotype of Latin America and a noxous one moreover--a kind of smiling
> face that covers the grim reality of Spanish America to make it palatable
> for a U.S. public. I don't go so far, although their argument makes some
> sense. I just think there is more to Spanish America than magic realism--
> and that magic realism does not always work (and that its not working may
> have to do with one's having absorbed so much of it already that it is
> beginning to lose its novelty).
> Currie Thompson
Currie, I've heard this view of Lat Am magical realism (as primarily an
exportable view of the South, as "Garcia Marketing") from both
Spaniards and Latin Americans, and it makes a great deal of sense to me
in light of the large number of excellent novels from Latin America
that never get translated, published, or known in the US. It seems to
indicate a still-narrow niche in the US book market allotted to LatAm
lit, a niche that does not allow for realist and/or urban-set novels.
I don't mean to take away a thing from Garcia Marquez. I'm only
criticizing a too-narrow reception that still promotes his imitators
over a wide range of fine writers. If you're interested in a fairly
cute comment on this situation in a feminist detective novel (US),
check out Barbara Wilson's _Gaudi Afternoon_. The protagonist is
translating a magical realist novel from Lat America while experiencing
the odd reality of Barcelona. There are some on-the-mark descriptions
of the invented novel that suggest how formula has replaced genuine
invention, sort of what you suggest with the salt example in Like Water
for Chocolate.
BTW, you might keep an eye out for the upcoming Latin American issue of
Review of Contemporary Fiction. Ilan Stavans is editing it, and I
expect a wide range of fiction to be represented. I think Alvaro Mutis
and Alfonso Reyes will have previously untranslated pieces in it. I
know you read Spanish, but maybe you'll make a discovery or two to send
you back to the original.
Rick Francis
Andrew M Ross
>On Tue, 1 Jun 1993, Currie Thompson wrote:
>
>[lots deleted]
>
>> I liked very much. I might note in closing that I have some Hispanic
>> friends who are sick to tears of magic realism, which they view as another
>> stereotype of Latin America and a noxous one moreover--a kind of smiling
>> face that covers the grim reality of Spanish America to make it palatable
>> for a U.S. public. I don't go so far, although their argument makes some
>> sense. I just think there is more to Spanish America than magic realism--
>> and that magic realism does not always work (and that its not working may
>> have to do with one's having absorbed so much of it already that it is
>> beginning to lose its novelty).
>> Currie Thompson
Shows how much I know...I never really associated magic realism exclusively
with Latin America, but now that you've brought it up, I can't think of an
example from anywhere else. Then again, it's the only form of
south-of-the-border writing that I've been able to penetrate so far.
One of my favorite artistic techniques is GIGANTISM, the use of exaggeration
to simultaneously parody and glorify one's own subject matter (found in
Gargantua and Pantagruel, Tom Jones, Barry Hughart's novels, the pub scene in
Ulysses, etc). I find this similar to magic realism, but without a focus on any
specific ethnic group. The technique works best when it involves cultures other
than that of the reader/viewer, because there are more unknown and mysterious
elements. On the other hand, I can see how some of the elements of exaggeration
might be misinterpreted as playing on harmful stereotypes.
ObCinema: Has John Turturro's film MAC been discussed on this net yet? I saw
that a week ago, and would put it on my top ten list for the year so far. The
themes of post-war transition from extended to nuclear family togetherness and
from substance to image in the workplace are extremely topical, although at
times Turturro tends to mug a bit.
Andrew Ross I'm new here, and what's all this then?