Magical Realism
According to Francisco Solares-Larrave, the mythical thought process that characterizes the stories of Leyendas de Guatemala should be viewed not from an anthropological perspective, but rather as the root of a new take on reality which characterizes this literature. This implementation of a new kind of logic based in the realm of the mythical brings Asturias' stories close to the sphere of the literary concept of magical realism. However rather than classifying Leyendas as part of this movement of the Latin American Boom this makes these stories a precursor, a sort of a stepping stone towards the marvelous realism of Alejo Carpentier and later the magical realism movement. Asturias was more concerned with presenting the realistic qualities of magical things as a source of a new national identity rather than following what we now know as magical realism. Yet it is in Leyendas that we first begin to see traces of what will later be known as magical realism, a vision which unites reality with illusion. For example, with the appearance of the Cuco de los Sueños we see magical realism avant la lettre, which permits the evocation of cities of the past, those which are now buried under other cities. The apparent fluidity of time and space also invoke the sensation that the logic of magical realism had been brewing in the work of Asturias. Similarly, Selena Millares describes the world of Leyendas as watching the world through the reflection of a sub-terrain river With a regression to a dream-like quality and fluid context, Leyendas de Guatemala does indeed appear to be a significant stepping stone in the direction of the future movement of magical realism.
Read more about this topic: Leyendas De Guatemala, Literary Analysis
Other articles related to "magical realism, realism, magical":
... Although Asturias' works were seen as preceding magical realism, the author saw many similarities between the two genres ... Asturias discussed the idea of magical realism in his own works linking it explicitly to surrealism ... Lorenz, Asturias discusses how these stories fit his view of magical realism and relate to surrealism, saying, "Between the "real" and the "magic" there is a third sort of reality ...
... Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world ... The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of thought ... Although it is most commonly used as a literary genre, magic realism also applies to film and the visual arts ...
5.2 Magic Realism in The Lariat It seems that the power of sorcery that Fray Luis has is an element of magic realism ... of the rope on page 93 seems a lot like the magic realism in Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude ... Seems that magical realism meshes the magical and the real at times ...
Famous quotes containing the words realism and/or magical:
“Art is beauty, and every exposition of art, whether it be music, painting, or the drama, should be subservient to that one great end. As long as nature is a means to the attainment of beauty, so-called realism is necessary and permissable [sic], but it must be realism enhanced by idealism and uplifted by the spirit of an inner life or purpose.”
—Julia Marlowe (1866–1950)
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