Shahzada Yaqoot ENG-355
The Theme of the week. Realism & Magic Realism
Many North American writers adopted realism as their genre of writings. They wrote novels, essays, short stories, poems, and plays that depicted reality in society. They did not add or made it look rosy by use of imaginative ideas. Almost all aspects of life can be seen through realism. Writers have used realism to describe morals, beauty, academics, and other areas of everyday life that one observes. Writers can be selectively realists about their chosen subject. Being a realist on one matter does not mean that a writer cannot be a non-realist on another issue. Therefore, writers use their discretion to be selectively realists or non-realists. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/realism/
The studying of the four authors in our current week has proven quite educational. The work of Jorge Luis Borges, “the garden of forking park” was quite an intriguing read and re-read. Only then one could comprehend as to how the author weaves his magical realism and narrative to present a classic story such as thig. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Death Constant beyond love”, depicts how political corruption operates and how ethics are compromised in exchange of favors. Isabel Allende short story ” And of clay are we made,” is a definite plot for a movie, to show how the mindset of a compassionate person in comparison to the expediency that the Media, and political leaders seize and exploit. The fourth literary work ” Waling around,” that is a classic in realism.
Other Prominent American writers of Realism were Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry Mark Twain, and William Dean, Howells. The works of these writers focused on everyday American life’s characterization, and even when they wrote fiction, it accurately represented their realistic observation and narration. For example, some wrote about the explorations that various North American explorers undertook. https://public.wsu.edu
Classroom Activity: Read Mark Twain’s “Life in the Mississippi” and write a 750 words synopsis of the novel. Discuss the popularity of “Steam Boats” and their usage for Business.
Magical Realism
This genre of literature is rooted in realism but incorporates supernatural elements that can operate in people’s everyday lives. It is a tool that writers used to let their imaginations expand and cross the boundaries of reality, to enter a realm of thinking that sees everything possible by ignoring rationale. Thus, the novels, essays, poems, and short stories are written with no natural boundaries, but only the subjective thoughts and imagination of the writers.
What is Magical Realism?
Franz Roh the renowned German critic, used “magischer realismus” in his 1925 book “After Expressionism: Magical Realism.” He used that to describe some new elements in a painting style that was in vogue in Germany, in which he showed how magical objects could become visible in everyday life provided one looks for them. It soon became popular in many countries, especially in South America, where magical realism was innovated to “Marvelous realism.” By 1955 Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges was named the first magical realist for his anthology “Historia de la infamia).
Magical realism was not a new idea but had its resemblance to previous works of fantasy. For instance, Franz Kafka wrote “The Metamorphosis,” which qualifies as magical realism, was published in 1915, almost a decade before Borges was acknowledged as a magical-realism author.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-magical-realism#what-is-the-history-of-magical-realism
Classroom Activity: Research Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and select an excerpt that qualifies as a magical realism text. Explain what element of the chosen excerpt proves it to be magical realism.
The Magical realism Novels recommended for reading
Any aspiring author who wants to write a novel or short stories using magical realism should read some or all of the following seven good reads. These classic works synthesize reality with fantasy and elements of magic.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie
- The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende
- Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami
- Beloved Toni Morrison
- The ocean at the End of
the Lane. Neil Gaiman
These writers have chosen various everyday observations. Then, using their imaginative faculties in writing magical realism, they have created novels that eliminate the real-world boundaries to penetrate the supernatural realm and harness spiritual and mystical powers into real-world scenarios.
Classroom Activity:
Q1. From the above list of novels, select one from an author whose work you are familiar with, and write a 750-words synopsis of that novel.
Q2. Optional: Read (1) Like water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
(2) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaisman
Q3. What similarities do you find in the work of these two writers? Select excerpts from these two reading and argue how you see those similarities and do they allude to the same topic or different?
Magic Realism in comparison to Realism
Shahzada Yaqoot 
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