How to Write in Magic Realism
Introduction
When we refer to Magic Realism, what exactly does that mean? Here’s a few helpful definitions.
Magic realism is a narrative style that interweaves magical or surreal elements into a realistic framework, often blurring the lines between the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Within literature and art, magic realism is characterized by the seamless integration of fantastical elements into everyday settings, fostering a sense of wonder while maintaining a grounded narrative.
Magic realism is a genre that explores the coexistence of the magical and the real, presenting enchanting or supernatural occurrences in a way that feels inherent to the story’s natural environment.
When you set out to write something in the style of magic realism, you’re looking for a real life story that can be enhanced or accentuated by the presence of the surreal or supernatural.
Not Fantasy, Not Real-Life
It’s important to make sure you are assessing whether your piece is falling into the fantasy category.
In fantasy, the majority of the world presented is fantastical or supernatural, and the story is embedded in that fantasy. Here’s a few examples to help distinguish.
A farmer’s son leaves his village to buy some magic beans. He encounters a troll under a bridge and is captured. (Fantasy)
A teenager stops by the supermarket on the way home from school to grab a tin of baked beans. He walks in and a green troll holding a shotgun is robbing the cashier. He gets taken as a hostage. There is a stand off between the troll and a police SWAT unit. (Magic Realism)
A man walks into a supermarket looking for a jar of olives. He reaches for the last one but a beautiful girl takes it first. They lock eyes and blah blah blah. (Realism)
Read your work back, where on the fantasy-to- reality spectrum are you?
Explicit or Implicit Magic
You’ll find that in some instances the magic is very obvious and in-your-face. However in other instances it’s very subtle and almost implied.
I wrote a story called “Kenji Has No Pyjamas” about a young autistic boy who gets telepathic powers by eating a fruit or vegetable.
He reads the mind of his old high school teacher, but, it is not that overt.
It might just be in his head and he’s actually just recalling old facts or incorporating other things he’s heard.
He might not be magic at all, it’s up to the reader to determine what they want to believe.
Huge Moments in History
The most famous works of Magic Realism also tend to straddle very significant moments in history.
The logic here is that the characters are experiencing times of enormous social upheaval and the only way to come to terms with the gravity of that is through magic or the supernatural.
In Salman Rushdie’s Midnights Children all the children born at midnight 15 August 1947, at the exact moment India gained Independence from Britain could communicate via telepathy.
If you know a little about the independence of India and more specifically the partition of India into India and Pakistan then you will know it was period marked by huge social change, mass migration and violence.
Sometimes the real life truth is a story that is too hard to tell. Magic can open a new frontier for telling stories that are otherwise too heartbreakingly difficult to share.
Notable Works
Here’s a list of some of the most famous books in the genre. I’ve only read three of these titles, but they were all good.
If you only read one, I would pick One Hundred Years of Solitude. It’s the book that sort of defines the genre and started a wave of magic writing across Latin America.
- “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez
- “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie
- “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov
- “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel
- “The House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende
- “Kafka on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami
- “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” by Haruki Murakami
- “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern
- “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
- “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka
My Stories
Here’s a handful of Magic Realism stories I have written.