Magic realism
An artistic
genre in which magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise
realistic or even "normal" setting.
In literature, magic realism
often combines the external factors of human existence with the internal ones:
it is a fusion between scientific physical reality and psychological human
reality; it incorporates aspects of human existence such as thoughts, emotions,
dreams, cultural mythologies and imagination. Through this amalgamation, magic
realism can be more exact in depicting human reality. Nonetheless, a certain
person's or group's perception of reality may differ from another's: to the
insider, a given magical-realist text can be a relatively accurate depiction of
his reality; the same text, however, may appear rather unreal to the outsider,
whose perception of reality may differ greatly from the insider's. Despite this,
the reader (often the outsider) can bridge the gap by momentarily suppressing
his perception of reality and adopting the reality presented in the text. This,
in turn, equips the reader with the necessary tools required to decode the text.
This can be described as the 'evolved duties' of the reader. In their works,
magical-realists describe a specific concept of reality: to them, culture,
history and geography are thus of great concern.
The following
elements are found in many magical realist novels and films, but not all are
found in all of them and many are found in novels or films that could fall under
other genres.