God and the Novel in India

Women, Violence, and Magical Realism in the Fiction of Mohammed Hanif Pooja Sancheti By and large, most discussions of magical realism in South Asian English fiction appear to start and end with Salman Rushdie’s celebrated Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children. This is despite Homi Bhabha’s oft-quoted proclamation that magical realism is the most favourable/favoured literary mode for/of postcolonial writers (7). It is beyond the scope of this study to go into any depth as to why this has been the state of literary affairs in South Asian Anglophone fiction. Suffice it to say that magical realism-understood as a literary mode arising from Latin America and eventually gaining traction with writers located in different parts of the world, did not develop deep roots in South Asia for political, historical, and aesthetic reasons. Except for a few-and sometimes contentious-cases, such as some works of Begum Rokkeya, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Chandra, O.V. Vijayan, and others, magical realism is mostly identified with Rushdie’s writing and remains a largely untouched literary mode in contemporary South Asian Anglophone fiction.1 Given this spotty history, Pakistani Anglophone author Mohammed Hanif’s novels are anomalies: they are magical realist and their literary lineage can be traced back to commonly accepted features of the genre; at the same time, these novels also display a mistrust of both the realist and the magical narrative strands, setting them apart from more conventional examples of magical realism. Hanif’s narratives adapt magical realism in very specific ways to articulate the experiences of several oppressed communities within modern Pakistan, yet offer neither hope or succour. His three novels to date-A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2009; hereafter cited as CEM), Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2011; hereafter cited as OLAB), and Red Birds (2018)-are certainly magical realist in their use of the supernatural and abnormal alongside the historically ‘real’ events and places. The identities, histories, and socio-cultural makeup of the characters bring to life very local worlds, while oppression [End Page 136] and violence in the wake of dictatorships and religious fundamentalism make their appeal immediately global. However, the strands or elements of magic in CEM and OLAB are developed in a manner distinct from the majority of magical realist novels. To substantiate this claim, it would be useful to briefly summarize the key narrative and politico-ethical features of magical realism. While magical realism, as the name suggests, operates on the binary of the realist and the magical, the two exist as “natural” extensions of each other, as “two codes that [are] interwound, […] in a tight choreography of antitheses” (Wilson 212). Neither code is hierarchically superior or more credible to the other, which implies that magical realism questions the limits of realism, but is also an extension of the articulation of the experience of reality itself. It works by bringing the conventionally “abnormal” into the very folds that have declared it abnormal, so that it appears as though these abnormal events “had always already been there; their abnormality normalized from the moment that their magical realist worlds were imagined” (220). Just as realism would not need to justify itself, magic-the unnatural or supernatural-does not justify its presence. Magic, like realism, is imbued in communities and/or landscapes, and cannot be effected by magicians or entertainers, nor is it a means of (fantastic) escape from the banality or brutality of the realist world within which it creates and operates. Anne Hegerfeldt argues that magical realism is not a new literary or cognitive technique; rather, it is simply “tracing the various strategies by which individuals and communities try-and always have tried-to make sense of the world” (64). There is a crucial ethical and political dimension embedded in this argument. It opposes the singular, Western, rationality-heavy mode of channelling experiential truth and narrativization, and it is almost always “a mode of writing that responds to a particular cultural situation (marginalisation, multiculturalism, displacement, and so forth)” (Bényei 150). Colonial and official historiography often tend to discredit local events, petit-histoires, and belief systems for more hegemonically normative modes of remembering and telling. Magical realism is a way...

Magical realism is a literary technique that establishes a link between the conventional realm of realism in literature and the inclusion of extraordinary aspects inside a work of art. Magical realism endeavors to imbue a literary composition set in a realistic milieu with fantastical, unusual, and otherworldly qualities. On one side, the symbolic aspect of an artistic creation elucidates the intricacies of quotidian existence. Conversely, it employs the use of magic as a means to enhance the authenticity of reality. Numerous authors employ this literary approach to interrogate the nature of the tangible realm, elucidate the anxieties or aspirations of their characters, and scrutinize the historical context of the realistic domain. The literary work authored by Toni Morrison, titled "Beloved," serves as a profound examination of African-American history, the repercussions of trauma, and the lasting consequences of the institution of slavery. The work exhibits a notable feature in the form of magical realism, a literary device that amalgamates parts of the fantastical with realistic portrayals of locations and characters. In the novel Beloved, Morrison adeptly utilizes the literary technique of magical realism to enhance the reader's comprehension of the characters' encounters and to communicate the intricate dynamics between individual and communal recollections. This research aims to explore the significance of magical realism in the novel Beloved, focusing on its role in enhancing the thematic elements and overall impact of the work. Toni Morrison's novel Beloved has been widely regarded as a representation of magic realism in literature. However, there exists a counterargument among certain reviewers who contend that Beloved does not align with the characteristics typically associated with magical realism. The present study centers on the intersection of magic and realism within the context of African-American history, with a particular focus on the theme of trauma stemming from the institution of slavery.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0787/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

"In thinking about Magical Realism in literature, readers might envision works fraught with a sense of the fantastic—in short, any kind of narrative invested with magical undertones. The term 'Magical Realism' was originally coined by Franz Roh in 1924 to describe 'the new paintings' return to realism after Expressionism's more abstract style' (15). Magical Realism, applied to Latin American literature, has a different connotation from the one Roh originally envisioned. Scholars in the region use the descriptor to speak about the literary works of the authors of the 'Boom Generation' (Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortazar, and Gabriel García Márquez, among others) as well as to examine the narratives the pre-Boom Cuban writer, Alejo Carpentier, describes in his examination of the real maravilloso (Marvelous Realism), the genre which paved the way for Magical Realism."

This study aims to describe in depth related to (1) the characteristics of magical realism in Simple Miracels and Hundred Years of Silence, (2) The narrative structure of realism and magic in Simple Miracels and Hundred Years of Silence. This study aims to describe the characteristics of magical realism from the perspective of Wendy B Faris 1) Irreducible elements (irreducible elements that concern magical matters), 2) Phenomenal worlds (phenomenal worlds that prevent magical things from entering the fantasy world), 3) unsettling doubt (unresolved doubts that occur when co-opting text into irreducible elements), 4) merging realms (nature that mixes the magical and real things together), 5) and disruption of time, space, and identity (disruption or disruption of time, space and sacred identity to routine time, space and identity). (2) The narrative structure of realism and magic in Simple Miracles and One Hundred Years of Silence. The approach to this research is qualitative with descriptive research because the research is carried out by reading novels, sorting words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, and taking notes to produce data in the form of describing the storytelling style in the novel regarding the application of magical realism. The results of the study are that in the comparison of the characteristics of the two magical realism novels Simple Miracles by Ayu Utami and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez there are (1) differences in magical realism, (2) similarities in magical realism, and (3) the meaning conveyed from the two novels narrative characteristic of magical realism as a storytelling style. (1) The difference in magical realism that is lifted from the two novels offers a different nuance, if in the novel Simple Miracles by Ayu Utami, Javanese myths are often raised: ghosts, witchcraft, and haunted places, which are scary. If in the novel Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, things are often discussed: the circus, ghosts that are not feared, and magicians. Daily life is so close to the tradition in Colombia as a representation of the Macondo people, that it is considered normal to mix magical things with real life, but not be amazed. (2) the similarity of magical realism presented in the two novels, the similarity in the novel Simple Miracles by Ayu Utami both raises magical realism in life and simultaneously reality and magic are present, such as ghosts appearing in public places, haunted places on public roads. If in the novel Hundred Years of Silence by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the world of social reality appears, magical things side by side with us, that objects such as magnifying glasses appear among the public, even a person can fly in public at the same time, but is considered normal. (3) the interpretation of magical realism in the two novels Simple Miracles by Ayu Utami and Hundred Years of Silence by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, gives rise to something that the Western view cannot rationally merge into one with everyday life without letting go of reality being separated by magic. So magical realism in both novels serves as a storytelling style to convey the important points of the two hopes from the two writers from different countries. The conclusion in this study is that there is a comparison of the magical realism of the two novels Simple Miracles by Ayu Utami and One Hundred Years of Silence by Gabriel Garcia Marquez which are characterized by the magical realism characteristics of Wendy B Faris. Of the two novels in magical realism concerning; similarities, differences, and meanings of magical realism narratives in novels. So that magical realism as a storytelling style to convey behind the author’s interests.

Ordinary Enchantments investigates magical realism as the most important trend in contemporary international fiction, defines its characteristics and narrative techniques, and proposes a new theory to explain its significance. In the most comprehensive critical treatment of this literary mode to date, Wendy B. Faris discusses a rich array of examples from magical realist novels around the world, including the work not only of Latin American writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but also of authors like Salman Rushdie, Gunter Grass, Toni Morrison, and Ben Okri.Faris argues that by combining realistic representation with fantastic elements so that the marvelous seems to grow organically out of the ordinary, magical realism destabilizes the dominant form of realism based on empirical definitions of reality, gives it visionary power, and thus constitutes what might be called a remystification of narrative in the West. Noting the radical narrative heterogeneity of magical realism, the author compares its cultural role to that of traditional shamanic performance, which joins the worlds of daily life and that of the spirits. Because of that capacity to bridge different worlds, magical realism has served as an effective decolonizing agent, providing the ground for marginal voices, submerged traditions, and emergent literatures to develop and create masterpieces. At the same time, this process is not limited to postcolonial situations but constitutes a global trend that replenishes realism from within. In addition to describing what many consider to be the progressive cultural work of magical realism, Faris also confronts the recent accusation that magical realism and its study as a global phenomenon can be seen as a form of commodification and an imposition of cultural homogeneity. And finally, drawing on the narrative innovations and cultural scenarios that magical realism enacts, she extends those principles toward issues of gender and the possibility of a female element within magical realism.

In this research at first step the concept of magical realism and its characteristics are explained from literature perspective. Afterwards the theory of Gilles Deleuze on time and crystal-time and Related time structures are described. Then the concept of Time in magical realism literature and its effect on narrative patterns are explained as well. After that it comes the analysis of some of contemporary films influenced by magical realism which have a modern narrative structure in order to formulate time patterns for reading and analyzing time in this kind of films. Magical realism or magic realism is a genre of narrative fiction and, more broadly, art that, while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while also adding or revealing magical elements. Films has been analyzed from this stand point of view. This research seeks to discover how and with what tools the films depict this duality of time and which narrative patterns are used for this purpose.

An abridged version of this article (reported by Prof. Nicola Colaianni, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”) was presented at the Seminar on “Secularism and Liberal Constitutionalism”, held at the University of LUISS “Guido Carli” (Rome) on 6th July 2010.This article is due to be published in the International Review of Sociology, in 2011. SUMMARY: 1. Introduction – 2. Relation-Collaboration between the State and Churches in Constitutional Democracies – 3. The laicité à la française Tested by a Deprivatised Religious Process – 3.1. The French Rigid Secularism. Freedom (of Religion) through the State – 4. Canada’s Open Secularism. The question of Religious-Based Family Law Disputes – 4.1 Reasonable Accommodation and “New” Religious Nomoi Groups – 5. Collaboration-Relation between the State and Churches in Italy – 5.1. The Italian Secularism Tested by the New “Religious Geography” – 6. Conclusion. Abstract Under the pressing process of immigration and globalisation many Western constitutional democracies have moved from a number of religions, sharing a common culture, to today's age of diversity. As opposed to the past, the current democracies are facing the lack of overlapping consensus over the basic constitutional laws: namely, the meaning and the scope of freedom of religion, secularism, the separation Church-State, equal treatment and the rule of law. This is because individuals often come to adopt their basic values by very different ways. The nature, scope and force of such values are likely to be affected by competing and, sometimes, contested fundamental values and worldviews. From here stems the pressing tension – or dilemma – between “unity” and “diversity”. This essay starts with general considerations about the freedom of religion principle, strictly related with the “separation” as well as “collaboration” between secular States and Churches; then the author analyses three case-studies (France, Canada and Italy), pointing out some specific legal approaches. In particular he focuses the analyses over the French “droit commun”, the Italian ecclesiastic law and the Canadian arbitral tribunals that, especially in family law, allow disputes to be arbitrated using religious jurisdictions.

The aims of this research were to characterize magic realism by analyzing existing magical reality literature reviews and research and to identify material that may inspire ideas for stage and film costume design by analyzing and drawing design characteristics and magic realism of costumes from Director Tarsem Singh’s movie, ‘Mirror, Mirror’.
\nFor the methodology, characteristics of magic realism in literature and, movies were analyzed, with a theoretical consideration of these materials on magical realism. Data
\non costume design and magical realism characteristics for use in the analysis were collected from the main characters of ‘Mirror, Mirror’ as well as from other characters.
\nThe result of this analysis was the emergence of five common characteristics of the magic realism Historicity, the most remarkable characteristic seen in Tarsem Singh
\nfilms, was expressed through the symbolic meaning and decorative patterns shown by the traditional-style costumes, colors. Symbolization was expressed through the
\nsymbolic meaning, decorative elements, and traditional clothes, as shown by the colors and forms of the costumes. Fantasy was expressed through the colors, decorative elements, forms of traditional clothing, and forms with symbolic meaning. Reproducibility was expressed through the method of decorative element, symbolic meaning, traditional forms and de-structural clothes. Ambiguity, which can be associated with
\nthe combined characteristics of historicity and fantasy, was expressed in the clothes worn in the scenes that confounded time and space within the film.

Amphibious Magical Realism? <i>The Shape of Water</i> as Cinematic Trauma Narrative

ABSTRAKPenelitian ini berjudul “Realisme Magis Dalam Novel Stasiun Karya Putu Wijaya”. Peristiwa yang terjadi dalam novel ini di analisis menggunakan teori realisme magis Wendy B. Faris. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan unsur-unsur atau wujud realisme magis dalam Novel Stasiun karya PutuWijaya.Metode dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif kualitatif, di mana peneliti hanya berfokus pada menjelaskan dan menempatkan makna, deskripsi, dan informasi yang berbeda dalam konteksnya. Secara teoritis peneliti menggunakan teori realisme magis Wendy B. Faris yang menyatakan bahwa terdapat adanyakelima unsur yang terdiri dalam realisme magis yaitu; The Irreducible Element, The Phenomenal World, Merging Realism, Unsettling Doubts, dan Disruption of Time, Space, and Identify. Hasil dalam penelitian yang diperoleh peneliti dalam penelitian ini adalah; (1) ditemukan empat peristiwa yang menggambarkanunsur the irreducible element; (2) empat peristiwa yang menggambarkan unsur the phenomenal world; (3) tiga peristiwa yang menggambarkan unsur merging realism; (4) lima peristiwa yang menggambarkan unsur unsettling doubts; (5) empat peristiwa yang menggambarkan unsur disruption of time, space, and identify. Kata kunci: realisme magis, novel, metode deskriptif kualitatif ABSTRACTThis study is entitled "Magical Realism in the Novel Station by Putu Wijaya". The events that occur in this novel are analyzed using Wendy B. Faris' magical realism theory. This study aims to describe the elements or forms of magical realism in Putu Wijaya's Novel Stasiun. The method in this study is a qualitativedescriptive method, in which the researcher only focuses on explaining and placing different meanings, descriptions, and information in context. Theoretically, the researcher uses Wendy B. Faris' magical realismtheory which states that there are five elements that comprise magical realism, namely; The Irreducible Element, The Phenomenal World, Merging Realism, Unsettling Doubts, and Disruptionof Time, Space, and Identify. The results of the research obtained by the researchers in this study were; (1) four events were found that described the irreducible element; (2) four events that describe the elements of the phenomenal world; (3) three events that illustrate the elements of merging realism; (4)five events that illustrate the elements of unsettling doubts; (5) four events that illustrate the elements of disruption oftime, space, and identify. Keywords: magical realism, novel, qualitative description methods

Encanto (2021) is a movie set in a village in the mountains of Colombia. Encanto has a family background where each family member has magical gifts that are useful to help the villagers. The magical realism aspect in this movie is very thick which makes the researcher make this movie as the object of research. The problem that needs to be solved in this research is to explore the elements of magical realism in Encanto (2021) and how the elements of magical realism are depicted. This research is a descriptive qualitative research. In this research, Encanto movie by Jared Bush and Byron Howard is used as the data source. To support this research, e-books, e-journals, articles, and other online sources relevant to magical realism are used. The result of this research shows that all elements of Wendy B Faris' magical realism such as irreducible elements, phenomenal world, unsettling doubts, merging realms, disruption of space, time, and identity can be identified in the movie. The depiction of magical realism in this film is shown in several magical phenomena that occur. The combination of realistic phenomena with magic is used to convince that this story is true. There is also a decentered ideology in the film that depicts the third world. Keywords: Magical realism; Five characteristic; Encanto.

This study aims to uncover magical realism as historical discourse portrayed in the novel Beauty is A Wound by Eka Kurniawan. Descriptive qualitative method used in this study. The data were collected by reading, classifying and interpreting. The result is the novel Beauty is A Wound has five elements of magical realism as Faris stated, they are; irreducible elements, phenomenal world, the unsettling doubt, merging realms and disruptions of time, space and identity. In relation with magical realism, New Historicism also applied to unearth Indonesia historical discourse since the time of late Dutch colonization, the invasion of Japan, the Independence Era and the New Order Era. Then, the massacre of everyone who were labeled as communist. And the genocide of all the thugs or preman in order to make safer and better society. In this novel, the history of Indonesia was camouflaged and mixed with magical realism because every event that categorized as magical realism led to the past events which related to the history of Indonesia.&#x0D; Keywords: historical discourse, magical realism, new historicism

Magic Realism came of German language first used in 1925 by Franz Roh an art critic, in her criticism on an art exhibition. Latter, Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier used the term for literature and consequently it got world-wide popularity as a trend of Latin American prose. Gradually, especially after eighties, it became a vital literary element. The entrance of the essay is a brief reflection of magic realism in the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and then how Gunter Grass applied it in his novel Tin Drum (Grass 1959). After that, to illuminate its application in the South Asian literature, magic realism in Salma Rushdie's Midnight's Children (Rushdie 1980) has been analyzed. Then, the essay deals with Bangla Literature - Pterodactyl, Puran Sobay and Pirtha (1989) written by Mohashweta Devi, Herbert (1992) and Kangal Malsat (2003) of Nabarun Vatcharjee, Khoabnama (1996) by Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Se Ratey Purnima Chilo (1995) by Shahidul Jahir and Che and Kolabati (2014) by Angsuman Kar. Moreover, the essay discusses South Asian literature in Urdu, Hindi and Bangla languages in light of the theory of magic realism. The essay finally concludes by stating that the history of magic realism in literature proves that some literary movement overcomes borders of East and West, North and South it comes to be a universal atmosphere.

Magical realism started to be loved in the field of movies. One of the movies that adopts magical realism elements is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie. Amélie is a movie that tells the life story of a woman named Amélie Poulin who has lived in loneliness since she was a child until one day, she finds a childhood treasure box hidden behind the wall of her apartment which then takes her on an adventure that can change her life. Amélie’s life journey, which is filled with things beyond reason, makes the theory of magical realism by Wendy B. Faris that contains irreducible elements, phenomenal world, unsettling doubt, merging realism, and disruption of time, space, and identity is appropriate. In addition, this research will also analyze the relation of each magical realism in supporting the theme of the movie by using Maggie Ann Bowers theory. The result of this study reveal that magical realism in this movie is depicted through the imagination and unique traits of the characters and also through the events experienced by the characters. In addition, the magical realism elements in the movie used to elaborate the theme of the movie which is loneliness and the journey of happiness or self-discovery.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the fifth volume of C.S. Lewis's novel The Chronicles of Narnia. In this volume, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie were unexpectedly attracted to the land of Narnia by painting a ship on the wall of their chamber with their unpleasant cousin Eustace. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was chosen as the subject of this research because it depicts characters caught between the mythical and actual worlds. Which element of the magical Realism of the Narnia story? Furthermore, how are the characteristics of magical Realism expressed? Are the question to be solved in this study. This study is a descriptive qualitative study. This research uses the novel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis as a data source. The story is read using magical Realism by paying attention to e-books, e-journals, periodicals, articles, and other online resources relevant to Magical Realism. The result of this study indicates that the novel can identify all elements of Wendy B. Farris' magical Realism, including irreducible elements, a phenomenal world, unsettling doubts, merging realms, and disruption of time. This work's view of supernatural events demonstrates the representation of magical Realism—the fusion of natural phenomena with magic to persuade that the story is true.