This week, we will be exploring the role of magical realism in literary works.  Here are the resources to help you learn about the genre.

1. Here is a quotation from this article https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/a29643815/what-is-magical-realism/ by Ramona Ausubel that explain the genre of magical realism. Think about it this week as we think about Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”:

“Magical realism as a genre can be thought of as a subset of fantasy, but in true fantasy novels, the larger outer world does not look like ours. Think of the entirely separate universes of Game of Thrones (Links to an external site.) or Lord of the Rings (Links to an external site.). In those stories, we have departed to another world altogether.

In a magical realist story, on the other hand, we are in a mundane, familiar place that is inhabited or imbued with something not of this world. In Gabriel Garcia Marquezs story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” for example, an angel shows up in a small town after a big rainstorm. But the angel is not ethereal and lovely and glowing with celestial lighthes toothless, has bugs in his wings, and smells funny. Since he brings no special message from God, the people put him in a chicken coop.”

2. To learn a bit more about magical realism, watch this short video (3 minutes, 27 seconds) of the writer Salmon Rushdie explaining it: Video https://youtu.be/EZtdhLndVYg  .)

3. Here is some biographical information about Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Biographical Information (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1982/marquez/biographical)

4. Read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”: Short Story  https://www.umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/AVeryOldManwithEnormousWingsbyMarquez.pdf