Magical Realism

[fleckneymike]

To me that is just fantasy as there is no interaction between the fantasy and the mundane, if it was a modern world where ghosts were just accepted as an every day occurrence, and people would be joined by their dead grandparents for breakfast, and ghosts went to work etc

Agree, also the fact they 'haunt' makes them unusual. If we lived in a world where we could see the dead then that would eventually not scare us at all meaning they could not haunt us. It would have political and civil rights repercussions though.

[Rincewind]

Yes I think I see where you are coming from. With my liking of fantasy I am sure I can think of something.

So I need non-humans and humans interacting as if its normal..

So if there was no predujices and phobias against other people that would count? because that would be unusual.

In Star Trek nobody says to Worf you're an ugly bastard but accept him as part of the crew.

[fleckneymike]

Personally I'd avoid humans and non humans talking. Keep it simple

[Raw Dykes]

I think the key might be how plausible the story would be set in the real world. Something like a person living for 200 years or psychic abilities isn't as much a stretch of the imagination as say, a wizard, but that's not to say magical reality necessarily has to be less imaginative than fantasy. I think The Matrix might be an example of magical realism, as it fits into a real-world setting. It's possible that our senses are being fooled, and reality is an illusion.

I think you might have stepped over into fantasy as soon as there's mention of things like fairies, talking dogs, ghosts, etc. Especially if characters are acting as if they are normal, everyday things. It doesn't ring true.

It might help to think ultra-realistic, and take small steps towards fantasy. What magic could there be, in the real world, that would be difficult to sense? I think, on the face of it, the story should be set firmly in reality.

[Guest]

Don't think Pratchett is. I guess ma,y ghost stories and "horror" fiction are since it's often accepted as normal.

I guess the bible is too.

[Captain...]

Don't think Pratchett is. I guess ma,y ghost stories and "horror" fiction are since it's often accepted as normal.

I guess the bible is too.

Pratchett is fantasy, but I was just trying to illustrate a world where the fantastical, like dragons and wizards, are treated as commonplace and mundane. Nobody is surprised that these things exist. Whereas horror stories about ghosts usually people don't expect to see ghosts or zombies or monsters so in that sense it is not the case.

[Rincewind]

Addams family or the Munsters? Deputy Dawg?

[Trav Le Bleu]

Addams family or the Munsters? Deputy Dawg?

No Addams Family or Munsters because when people visit them they find them unusual, in fact, they're freaky and they're kooky. Deputy Dawg is just anthropomorphism, that is applying human characteristics to something that isn't human, most commonly animals. Pretty common in cartoons.

[Trav Le Bleu]

How about a world where people never see themselves in reflections, they see whoever, wherever or whatever they think about, but then one day someone sees themselves in a reflection (don't make it somewhere special or magical - just bog standard ordinary) and then provide some drama to the consequences of the discovery (maybe they don't like what they see?)

[21st Century Fox]

The Ricky Gervais film The Invention of Lying would be another example of magic realism. It's not a particularly good film though with some gaping plot holes.

[lavrentis]

A word beginning with R and ending with ism that isn't 'racism' on foxestalk, that's magical.

[Guest]

The Ricky Gervais film The Invention of Lying would be another example of magic realism. It's not a particularly good film though with some gaping plot holes.

I like it. - not the film although I didn't dislike that, the idea.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Magical realism?

[Raw Dykes]

Pratchett is fantasy, but I was just trying to illustrate a world where the fantastical, like dragons and wizards, are treated as commonplace and mundane. Nobody is surprised that these things exist. Whereas horror stories about ghosts usually people don't expect to see ghosts or zombies or monsters so in that sense it is not the case.

No Addams Family or Munsters because when people visit them they find them unusual, in fact, they're freaky and they're kooky. Deputy Dawg is just anthropomorphism, that is applying human characteristics to something that isn't human, most commonly animals. Pretty common in cartoons.

It's fantasy, not magical realism, where people react to ghosts, goblins, pixies, etc. as if they're normal. The normal people in The Munsters and The Addams Family react to those families like people would in the real world, so I think those two shows could be examples of magical realism. The Munsters and The Addams Family are both set in the real world, which I think could be the main distinguishing point between fantasy and magical realism.

[Captain...]

It's fantasy, not magical realism, where people react to ghosts, goblins, pixies, etc. as if they're normal. The normal people in The Munsters and The Addams Family react to those families like people would in the real world, so I think those two shows could be examples of magical realism. The Munsters and The Addams Family are both set in the real world, which I think could be the main distinguishing point between fantasy and magical realism.

I would agree with you about the Munsters and Addams Family, to an extent, their existence is accepted, but they are still seen as different, well the Addams family are, I've not watched the Munsters for years, but horror films, like Nightmare on Elm Street, they find it unbelievable that someone could be killing people through their dreams.

[ADK]

I still don't get the difference between this and pure fantasy.

Is it in the way the audience perceives the story? Or the characters in the actual story?

[Raw Dykes]

I would agree with you about the Munsters and Addams Family, to an extent, their existence is accepted, but they are still seen as different, well the Addams family are, I've not watched the Munsters for years, but horror films, like Nightmare on Elm Street, they find it unbelievable that someone could be killing people through their dreams.

Yes, you're right - they are seen as different by the normal folk, which is what would happen if they existed in the real world. I think the characters are too far-fetched for magic realism, but the way other people react to them is realistic.

I still don't get the difference between this and pure fantasy.

Is it in the way the audience perceives the story? Or the characters in the actual story?

I think magic realism is far more subtle than fantasy, and it's set in the real world.

From Wikipedia,

Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction^[1] in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of thought. Although it is most commonly used as a literary genre, Magic Realism also applies to film and the visual arts.

One example of magic realism is when a character in the story continues to be alive beyond the normal length of life and this is subtly depicted by the character being present throughout many generations. On the surface the story has no clear magical attributes and everything is conveyed in a real setting, but such a character breaks the rules of our real world. The author may give precise details of the real world such as the date of birth of a reference character and the army recruitment age, but such facts help to define an age for the fantastic character of the story that would turn out to be an abnormal occurrence like someone living for two hundred years.