Magic realism British Literature by Tatiana Dronchak

Magic realism { British Literature by Tatiana Dronchak 4 AA 1

The term "magic realism" appeared in Europe. It was invented in 1925 by German art critic Franz Roh. It was applied in relation to the avant-garde painting.

The term was firstly used in 1927 by Italian writer Massimo Bontempelli in the 1 st number of the journal “ 900”. He was describing the position of the person in modern world and the necessity of creating a “spiritual geometry” to restore human spiritual home, as the main aim of art. Literature

Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the "real" and the "fantastic" to be connected in the same stream of thought.

“Amaryllis Night and Day” by Russell Hoban “Blackberry wine” Joanne Harris “The Chemical Wedding” Lindsay Clarke “The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman”, “The Magic Toyshop”, “Nights at the Circus”, “Wise Children” by Angela Carter “Lolly Willowes; or The Loving Huntsman” by Sylvia Townsend Warner “Sexing the Cherry” by Jeanette Winterson

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born in 19 June 1947. He is a British Indian novelist and essayist. His second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981. Much of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent. He is said to combine magical realism with historical fiction.

The son of Anis Ahmed Rushdie, a University of Cambridge-educated lawyer turned businessman, and Negin Bhatt, a teacher, Rushdie was born in Bombay, then British India, into a Muslim family He was educated at Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, Rugby School in Warwickshire, and King's College, University of Cambridge.

His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), was the centre of a major controversy, provoking protests from Muslims in several countries. Death threats were made against him, including a fatwā issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14 February 1989.

A lot of terroristic acts against him. A lot of burned books round the world by Muslim people. Hidings.

Grimus (1975) Midnight's Children (1981) Shame (1983) The Satanic Verses (1988) The Moor's Last Sigh (1995) The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999) Fury (2001) Shalimar the Clown (2005) The Enchantress of Florence (2008)

The Ground Beneath Her Feet

“The only people who see the whole picture, ' he murmured, 'are the ones who step out of the frame. ”

Magical realism portrays fantastical events in an otherwise realistic tone. It brings fables, folk tales, and myths into contemporary social relevance. Fantasy traits given to characters, such as levitation, telepathy, and telekinesis, help to encompass modern political realities that can be phantasmagorical. Fantastical elements

The existence of fantasy elements in the real world provides the basis for magical realism. Writers don't invent new worlds but reveal the magical in this world. Real-world setting

“They lived in a great city, a metropolis of many narratives that converged briefly and then separated for ever, discovering their different dooms in that crowd of stories through which all of us, following our own destinies, had to push and shove to find our way through, or out. ”

The absence of explanation of fantastic events; the story proceeds with "logical precision" as if nothing extraordinary took place. Magical events are presented as ordinary occurrences; therefore, the reader accepts the marvelous as normal and common. Authorial reticence

Mixing of cultures Plenitude

For example an individual experiences two realistic situations simultaneously in the same place but during two different time periods. Hybridity

Numerous details of sensory perception

Frequently used symbols and images

Emotions and emotional outbursts of man as a social being is often described in details.

“Whenever someone who knows you disappears, you lose one version of yourself. Yourself as you were seen, as you were judged to be. Lover or enemy, mother or friend, those who know us construct us, and their several knowings slant the different facets of our characters like diamond-cutter's tools. Each such loss is a step leading to the grave, where all versions blend and end. ”

For example, a character may suffer before the tragic events. Cause and effect are swapped

Contain elements of folklore and legends etc.

Past contrast with modern, the astral with the physical, characters with each other.

Drawing attention to social or political criticism.

“People don't like being around despair. Our tolerance for the truly hopeless, for those who are irredeemably broken by life is strictly limited. The sob stories we like are the ones that end before we're bored. ” “The point is always reached after which the gods no longer share their lives with mortal men and women, they die or wither away or retire. . . Now that they've gone, the high drama's over. What remains is ordinary human life. ”

“I want more than what I want. ” “But the truth leaks out in our dreams; alone in our beds (because we are all alone at night, even if we do not sleep by ourselves), we soar, we fly, we flee. And in the waking dreams our societies permit, in our myths, our arts, our songs, we celebrate the non-belongers, the different ones, the outlaws, the freaks”.

“Only under extreme pressure can we change into that which it is in our most profound nature to become. . . That is what people get wrong about transformation. We're not all shallow proteans, forever shifting shape. We're not science fiction. It's like when coal becomes diamond. It doesn't afterwards retain the possibility of change. Squeeze it as hard as you like, it won't turn into a rubber ball, or a Quattro Stagione pizza, or a self-portrait by Rembrandt. It's done. ”