Magical Realism is defined as the inclusion of magic or the supernatural within an otherwise realistic or grounded setting in a piece of literature. As an avid reader of the fantasy genre I find the concept fascinating. I’ve read two such works in the past month, That Dead Man Dance by Kim Scott and Flames by Robbie Arnott, both set in Australia and containing a powerful connection to the land.
The great Terry Pratchett himself declared in a very Pratchett way that describing something as Magical Realism is “like a polite way of saying that you write fantasy”. It calls into question how one might perceive a text such as Beowulf; many of the same principles apply. A conceptualisation of the world different to our contemporary western understanding. Is this ‘magical realism’? The tendency seems to be to classify it as mythology. Is it similar or disparate to the two texts I’ve consumed of late? I’m still pondering the question.
That Dead Man Dance was powerful. It begins to reveal to the reader insight to the manner in which a particular culture might view and understand the world. The experiences as they are described have internal consistency and adhere to an Aboriginal worldview, which has been dubbed Maban realism, a sub-genre of this concept. Flames, being set in a contemporary Tasmania, made the interesting choice of exploring connections to the land in the absence of an Indigenous population whilst still following elements of the way in which they perceive that land. It’s anthropomorphism of fire (unsurprisingly considering the title) is particularly marked in bridging that gap between our physical world and that spiritual dreaming and indeed simply making them one and the same. There is no disparity or disconnect in these texts. The spiritual seamlessly flows through the world and never does it feel unnatural. That isn’t easy to do and it has great implications for the reader:
It once again illustrates the power of language to convey meaning and broaden your understandings, to walk in another’s shoes and begin to see the world through their eyes, and it is a privilege to do so!
Andrew Colman: Adventures in Literature 