Magical Realism

Plenitude

There is a layering of elements or the marvelous: not meaning beautiful and pleasant, but extraordinary, strange, and excellent. Therefore, there will be a high use of imagery and symbolism.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Fantastical Elements

Fables, folk tales, and myths are old forms of fantastical writing, dating back to ancient civilizations. Magical realism portrays similarly fantastical events in an otherwise realistic tone, bringing fables, folk tales, and myths into contemporary social relevance.

Political Critique

Magic realism contains an "implicit criticism of society, particularly the elite". The writing often supports the geographically, socially and economically marginalized. Therefore, magic realism writings are subversive texts, revolutionary against socially dominant forces.

Heightened Awareness of Mystery

Magic realist literature tends to read at an intensified level. The reader must let go of preexisting ties to conventional exposition, plot advancement, linear time structure, scientific reason, etc., to strive for a state of heightened awareness of life's connectedness or hidden meanings

Authorial reticence, fantastical elements, heightened awareness of mystery, hybridity, plenitude, political critique, real world setting

The 7 elements of Magical Realism in alphabetical order

Dino Buzzati

The Columber

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

Louise Erdrich

The Shawl

Real World Setting

The existence of fantasy elements in the real world provides the basis for magical realism. Writers do not invent new worlds but reveal the magical in this world.

Authorial Reticence

The narrator and characters are indifferent to the fantastic events. Magical events are presented as ordinary occurrences; therefore, the reader accepts the marvelous as normal and common.

Katie Cortese

Firebug

Hybridity

Magical realism plot lines characteristically employ hybrid multiple planes of reality. For instance, the story may distort time and switch narrative perspectives.