Magic(al) Realism (The New Critical Idiom)

163 Pages·2004·1.85 MB·English

by  Maggie Ann Bowers

MAGIC(AL) REALISM
Magic(al) Realism navigates the complexities of one of today’s most
popular genres within literature, art and film.

Maggie Ann Bowers:
• explores ‘magic’, ‘magical’ and ‘marvellous’ realism and the
distinctions between the terms
• examines their origins in German post-expressionist painting and
Latin American fiction
• analyses the relationship of magic(al) realism with other artistic
movements, such as surrealism
• offers an historical overview of the geographical, cultural and
political contexts within which the genre has developed
• considers the relationship of magic(al) realism to issues of post-
colonialism, cross-culturalism and postmodernism
• illustrates her study with fresh readings of the work of eminent
writers such as Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende,
Gabnel García Márquez and Angela Carter
This concise yet wide-ranging guide offers a clear way through
confusing terms and debates to provide the ideal introduction to a
fascinating field.

Maggie Ann Bowers is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth
where she teaches Literature in English, specializing in multi-ethnic and
postcolonial writing of North America. She previously taught at the
University of Antwerp and is the co-editor of Convergences and
Interferences: Newness in Intercultural Practices (2002).
THE NEW CRITICAL IDIOM
SERIES EDITOR: JOHN DRAKAKIS, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING

The New Critical Idiom is an invaluable series of introductory guides to
today’s critical terminology. Each book:
• provides a handy, explanatory guide to the use (and abuse) of the
term
• offers an original and distinctive overview by a leading literary and
cultural critic
• relates the term to the larger field of cultural representation.
With a strong emphasis on clarity, lively debate and the widest possible
breadth of examples, The New Critical Idiom is an indispensable
approach to key topics in literary studies.
Also available in this series:
Autobiography by Linda Anderson Ideology by David Hawkes
Class by Gary Day Interdisciplinarity by Joe Moran
Colonialism/Postcolonialism by Humanism by Tony Davies
Ania Loomba Intertextuality by Graham Allen
Crime Fiction by John Scaggs Irony by Claire Colebrook
Culture/Metaculture by Francis Literature by Peter Widdowson
Mulhern
Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form by
Difference by Mark Currie Philip Hobsbaum
Discourse by Sara Mills Modernism by Peter Childs
Dramatic Monologue by Glennis Myth by Laurence Coupe
Byron
Narrative by Paul Cobley
Ecocriticism by Greg Garrard
Parody by Simon Dentith
Genders by David Glover and
Pastoral by Terry Gifford
Cora Kaplan
Realism by Pam Morris
Gothic by Fred Botting
Romance by Barbara Fuchs
Historicism by Paul Hamilton
iii
Romanticism by Aidan Day
Science Fiction by Adam Roberts
Sexuality by Joseph Bristow
Stylistics by Richard Bradford
Subjectivity by Donald E.Hall
The Unconscious by Antony Easthope
The Unconscious by Antony
Easthope

MAGIC(AL) REALISM
Maggie Ann Bowers
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2004 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX 14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2004 Maggie Ann Bowers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bowers, Maggie Ann.
Magic(al) realism/Maggie Ann Bowers.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Magic realism (Art) 2. Arts, Modern–20th century. I. Title.
NX456.5.M3B68 2004
700′.41163–dc22 2004004475
ISBN 0-203-32808-6 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-415-26853-2 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-26854-0 (pbk)
To the memory of D.W.Jefferson

CONTENTS
SERIES EDITOR’S PREFACE x
PREFACE xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xii
Introduction 1
1 Origins of Magic(al) Realism 7
2 Delimiting the Terms 19
3 Locations of Magic(al) Realism 31
4 Transgressive Variants of Magical Realism 63
5 Cross-cultural Variants of Magical Realism 79
6 Magic(al) Realism and Cultural Production 99
7 The Future of Magic(al) Realism 117
GLOSSARY 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY 131
INDEX 141