The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism
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Karen-Margrethe Simonsen
Abstract
In this case study it is argued that the Latin American magical realism is a ‘laboratory’ for exploring the relation between realism and the real. Furthermore, it is argued that magical realism should not be seen as an enchantment, but rather as an investigation of the real, especially of causality and temporality. The study begins with a discussion of the general understanding of magical realism and its position within world literature. It presents Asturias’s form of Magical Realism as transcultural. The main focus of the study is a comparative analysis of two texts by Miguel Ángel Asturias, the mythologically founded Leyendas de Guatemala (1930), and the novel El señor presidente (1946), which is often considered to be a portrait of the dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera and his authoritarian regime (1898–1920). Despite the differences between the texts, this study argues that the texts share the same realistic ambition and that their combination of styles, inspired by the Maya text Popol Vuh and surrealism, serves the function of exploring particularly strange experiences of reality. At the end, Asturias is briefly situated within the Latin American tradition.
Abstract
In this case study it is argued that the Latin American magical realism is a ‘laboratory’ for exploring the relation between realism and the real. Furthermore, it is argued that magical realism should not be seen as an enchantment, but rather as an investigation of the real, especially of causality and temporality. The study begins with a discussion of the general understanding of magical realism and its position within world literature. It presents Asturias’s form of Magical Realism as transcultural. The main focus of the study is a comparative analysis of two texts by Miguel Ángel Asturias, the mythologically founded Leyendas de Guatemala (1930), and the novel El señor presidente (1946), which is often considered to be a portrait of the dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera and his authoritarian regime (1898–1920). Despite the differences between the texts, this study argues that the texts share the same realistic ambition and that their combination of styles, inspired by the Maya text Popol Vuh and surrealism, serves the function of exploring particularly strange experiences of reality. At the end, Asturias is briefly situated within the Latin American tradition.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of illustrations xi
- Editors’ preface and acknowledgments xiii
- Note on translations, cross-references and documentation xv
- Introduction 1
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Chapter 1. Psychological pathways
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Core essay
- “Memories inwrought with affection” 29
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Case studies
- The interplay between emotion and memory 135
- Situations of sympathy 151
- The poetics of disgust in realist fiction 169
- Attunement 185
- Spanish and Latin American memory novels 201
- History and untold memories 217
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Chapter 2. Referential pathways
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Core essay
- Material matters 233
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Case studies
- Curating realism in a world of objects 271
- Caricature and realism 287
- Realism and allegory 303
- “Distance avails not” 317
- Toward affective realism 337
- Posthumanism and realism 351
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Chapter 3. Formal pathways
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Core essay
- Dynamics of realist forms 367
-
Case studies
- Forms of realism in children’s literature 473
- Early theatrical realism on page and stage 489
- Poetry, Pessoa and realism 503
- The making of the historical narrative in the Swahili utenzi 519
- Photography and dissent in John Lewis’s graphic novel March 535
- The visions of John Ball 549
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Chapter 4. Geographical pathways
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Core essay
- Dialogic encounters 565
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Case studies
- Varieties of theatrical realism after Ibsen 667
- Is there a notion of ‘realism’ in traditional China? 685
- Worlding of realism 703
- The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism 721
- Narrate or describe 737
- Realism in the colony 751
- Notes on contributors 763
- Index 767
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of illustrations xi
- Editors’ preface and acknowledgments xiii
- Note on translations, cross-references and documentation xv
- Introduction 1
-
Chapter 1. Psychological pathways
-
Core essay
- “Memories inwrought with affection” 29
-
Case studies
- The interplay between emotion and memory 135
- Situations of sympathy 151
- The poetics of disgust in realist fiction 169
- Attunement 185
- Spanish and Latin American memory novels 201
- History and untold memories 217
-
Chapter 2. Referential pathways
-
Core essay
- Material matters 233
-
Case studies
- Curating realism in a world of objects 271
- Caricature and realism 287
- Realism and allegory 303
- “Distance avails not” 317
- Toward affective realism 337
- Posthumanism and realism 351
-
Chapter 3. Formal pathways
-
Core essay
- Dynamics of realist forms 367
-
Case studies
- Forms of realism in children’s literature 473
- Early theatrical realism on page and stage 489
- Poetry, Pessoa and realism 503
- The making of the historical narrative in the Swahili utenzi 519
- Photography and dissent in John Lewis’s graphic novel March 535
- The visions of John Ball 549
-
Chapter 4. Geographical pathways
-
Core essay
- Dialogic encounters 565
-
Case studies
- Varieties of theatrical realism after Ibsen 667
- Is there a notion of ‘realism’ in traditional China? 685
- Worlding of realism 703
- The real magic in Miguel Ángel Asturias’s magical realism 721
- Narrate or describe 737
- Realism in the colony 751
- Notes on contributors 763
- Index 767
