tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437202921488580689.post8547212894912526508..comments2023-06-08T07:19:28.723-04:00Comments on At the End of the World: Musings on Magical Realism and Somnambulations in Surrealitykuwisdeluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08406722256631106517noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437202921488580689.post-47191135650804346752015-11-02T19:02:11.820-05:002015-11-02T19:02:11.820-05:00I've had to tangle with these issues too. Bein...I've had to tangle with these issues too. Being a novice writer, my voice is constantly in danger of slipping into "pure fantasy" as opposed to "magical realism." I tend to rely on existing texts as my litmus test: Harry Potter, fantasy. One Hundred Years of Solitude, magical realism. I really like your italicized definition. One which I came up with after reading "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" (Marquez), is that magical realism is "the mystical in the profane." A juxtaposition of what we take to be pure and abstract with what we take to be impure and mundane. I think there is a moral, even religious, dimension to the magic in magical realism. I am primarily thinking of the works of Marquez, Murakami, and Borges. Murakami's stuff can get very random, but I've noticed a recurring theme of "good vs evil," where his notions of good and evil do not necessarily map onto Western counterparts. His protagonists often find themselves in circumstances where they must set the world to rights, often in bizarre, convoluted ways. <br /><br />I think there is some truth to the description of magical realism as not being bound by rules. But as you said, it's a question of which rules. I think the difference between realism and magical realism comes down to whether the story breaks with conventional rules of logic and causality. Truthfully, there is a smaller gap between realism and magical realism than between magical realism and fantasy. <br /><br />Unfortunately, I haven't read "Hard-Boiled Wonderland," and I am in no position to comment on surrealism in literature. Is that where things like "Nausea" and "Steppenwolf" would fall? I've never been able to categorize those. <br /><br />Anyway, I've only just discovered the blog (via AW), but I'm eager to read more. Thanks.Tinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437202921488580689.post-25400308568782063902014-06-13T02:34:03.124-04:002014-06-13T02:34:03.124-04:00I guess it would make sense to call my work surrea...I guess it would make sense to call my work surrealistic I guess. I think the part that feels strange calling my work the latter, is the surrealistic elements are so far in the backward often times.<br /><br />I used to just go with the term psy fi, or psychological fiction. Now I'm not so sure.JustSarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05911766394335306918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3437202921488580689.post-39546619599855086312013-02-06T03:48:01.547-05:002013-02-06T03:48:01.547-05:00Well thought out...if not perfect, it comes very n...Well thought out...if not perfect, it comes very near to itAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com