Magical Realism in Libya

Abstract

AbstractThis essay argues that the writings of Libyan Ibrāhīm al-Kūnī, and particularly Nazīf al-hajar with its emphasis on animal-human juxtapositions and metamorphoses, should be considered examples of Arab magical realism. The circular narrative tells the story of a multi-generational struggle of a Touareg family with a legendary animal called a waddan. The last scion, he is taken on a trip to the border between the natural and the supernatural where he metamorphoses into the predator, the legendary animal and the history that both contain.