Is Magical Realism Only From Latin America? | Literature Video Essay

Hello friends! What is Magical Realism? Is Magical Realism Only From Latin America? How is Magical Realism different from Fabulism or Light Fantasy? I answer these question in this video essay on one of my favourite genres/modes of writing/literary movements. I hope you learn something?

Sources

0:00 - Intro
2:35 - Definition
3:34 - History of Magical Realism
9:16 - What makes something Magical Realism?
14:46 - Magical Realism vs Fantasy
16:41 - Magical Realism vs Surrealism
17:14 - Magical Realism vs Fabuslism
18:01 - Is Magical Realism Only Latin American?
23:28 - Conclusion

[prof.valeri]

One fundamental concept that distinguishes Magical Realism from other similar genres is that the magic is part of the everyday reality and it is a kind of thing that Latin American readers would understand, and not something that was fully explored in this video. First, it's important to understand the permanent presence of the violence of war, colonization, and dictatorship and all the horrors that for many is the every day reality, and to put that side by side with the absolute and unflinching faith in the indigenous practices. These are not "beliefs" - they are reality. I only understand it because my grandmother, who saw a war fought in her own country, also would talk to me the same way Garcia Marquez' grandmother talked, with absolute certainty in things like ghosts and magic, something that I think it's very hard for those outside of those kind of environments to understand. Neil Gaiman is absolutely not a magical realist. He is a fabulist, and it is incorrect that fabulism is ONLY based on fables and myths. A lot of it is, but it is not exclusively that. And the big difference here is that unless you can understand the magical and indigenous practices as real and see them as real then you do not understand or are not part of the audience of Magical Realism. That is why I'm of the camp that Magical Realism is only the literature of the people who have experienced the absurdity and unconscionable surreality of war, slaughter, and relentless oppression and also simultaneously find that just as real and just as tangible as magic, folklore and mircale. As for Toni Morrison, she's an Afro-Surrealist, which is a genre that many still don't know about or do not understand. It's a similar concept that also incorporates the fact that for many marginalized people in America "reality" is already surreal but it's a lot more than that, too. So no, Toni Morrison is not a magical realist. She's an Afro-surrealist. And most non latinx writers like Kafka are not magical realists (nor is Borges, for that matter, and he was right to resist it) because the two essential elements of the horrific slaughter and oppression next to the miraculous and the magical are not present in Borges and Kafka, and Gogol, and as for Toni Morrison, she's an Afro Surrealist, which is a genre that adds other elements to the marginalization and surreal reality. (Moreover, Surrealism was originally an African movement, so it is fair and right to associate Black writers with Surrealism, since they were the ones who first invented it).

[natalybasora]

Something I found interesting when I came to the states is how many people don’t know much or have never even heard of Magical Realism. I found this strange since it’s such a well known subject in Spanish class. I’m from Puerto Rico and during Spanish class we would read all sorts of books and discuss their literary movements. Here we also got an in depth lesson about Magical Realism, including its history, well known authors and famous works, just like you explain in this video but more in depth. We learn how it was such a big literary movement and we get to know and understand it very well. I never confused it with fantasy. If someone were to ask me how it relates to fantasy, I would say, none at all. It’s like sprinkling a little magic in the real/mundane world and seeing it as something completely normal, to the point that we don’t question it, we just accept it as it is.

One of my favorite books in Spanish is “Como Agua Para Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel. There’s an English translated book “Like Water For Chocolate”, but idk how well those magical realism notes are explained and idk if it did it any justice to the original Spanish text.

But one of my favorite things they mention at the beginning of the book is how the main character, when she was born, she cried for days, so much that all her tears flooded the kitchen where she was born. And days later, all her tears dried up and turned into salt, which they then used to cook for months.

I just love that, it sounds fantastical in an unexplainable way but you just accept it as it is without questioning it. There are many more examples that come to cooking (which is the main theme of the book), and that’s why this is one of my all time favorite Spanish books!! ❤️

[fcfc]

This must be the best content out there taking the initiative to explain what Magical Realism is without only using the terms "difficult to explain" or "Gabriel Garcia Marquez".

One thing I disagree with is the geographic constraint of the genre. It did not originate solely in Latin America—check the writings of Bruno Schulz and Massimo Bontempelli, to name a few who were based in Europe and were active before the Latin American boom. Latin America is where Magical Realism blossomed.

[elizgranada]

When I tell you I RAN to this when I saw you posted another video essay! These are my favorite!

[lani]

This is HANDS DOWN the very best explanation of Magical Realism I've ever heard. I have given the genre a try just twice and didn't understand it at all and gave up.
You pointed out that the magical exists as the ordinary in the world we are living in, without further explanation. 🤯

That's the very key I did not understand! I kept waiting and wanting to be clued in and never was.
Also, I now understand the Oscar winning movie The Shape of Water.

Holy hell, my mind is blown. Thank you so much!!

[illustratorsam]

🙌 Great essay!
I liken Magical Realism to Latin American literature exclusively because there is something special in the narrative voice that makes it stand apart from North American (non-indigenous) and European texts. I didn’t know it was sometimes argued to be linked to a specific period. I recommend Eartheater by Dolores Reyes, though it was translated/published in the past year.

[bettychoibooks]

This was such an interesting video. I remember having to write a little bit about Magical Realism for part of an an essay on something, and I ended up shying away from it in the essay just because it was so hard to pin down. It was the sort of things were essay writing deadlines squashed my creative interests and what I actually wanted to research into... so I really enjoyed this video!

[jola-xlxi]

Thank you! To be honest, despite the fact that I read one of the Marquez's books, it was difficult to me to understand the term of magical realism. All the points you discussed helped me organise my thoughts. Especially the section where you compare magical realism to similiar terms is very helpful. Also, I like the fact that you mention different approaches to this term and rather than deciding the matter, you present us with arguments on both sides. Such a well-thought and informative video essay!

[ThirrinDiamond]

I think a thing i don't like about this particular divide is that it inherently erases the history of so many poc cultures, especially the ones of the oral tradition where magical realism has existed for literal millenia. It's frustrating and confusing that we are deciding this exists only past this point and this author and ignoring all the rich and varied history that used the same methods. A more applicable example i can think of is indigenous storytelling on turtle island. From what little i've heard of the stories indigenous creators share, this tradition seems older than the colonialism done on turtle island and the rest of the continents.
I can understand if this aspect isn't considered but treating latin american culture as a derivate/representative of indigenous culture as if indigenous people don't live there still is a very big problem and i can't help but see the similar feeling of erasure of history and fact here.
I won't draw a conclusion myself because i think certain culture's perspectives that are directly affected by any official consensus isn't being considered as of right now.
Aka, i don't think there is enough info from all people affected by this at the moment for me personally.

Can't wait to see how the discussion continues though and hopefully more people who this affects will chime in ^__^ Definitely a fun new concept to google/research and learn about to try and get the full picture

[AuthorElliot]

This was great! I love this video and you present the info so clearly!! I'm making a video on decolonizing literature, and now I can just, BLIP, link this video and let you do the talking about Magical Realism! Also, I'm realizing these are called "Video Essays." I've been making quite a few video essays without knowing what they're called so I'm very excited to have stumbled upon this series and finally have a word for it! Might be to go back through my playlist and rename things!

[ThuTran-uyfi]

Hi, i'm from Vietnam and i love your video, but my teacher gave me a question in my Western Literature: What's the different between Magical Realism of USA and Latin America? The point of Magical Realism of USA? Idk about it :( help me pls

[billyalarie]

absolutely love love LOVE magical realism.

[MrSwilson]

I consider my debut novel The Nephilem by SE Wilson to be magical realism and I market it as such, though lots of readers call my book urban fantasy. Which goes to show the cinsudjon on identifing the genre. My next next will also be the same. But I'll let you be the judge #thenephilem @exquilofficial