Magical Realism in the Published World

Okay. Hi all...

I know I said I'd post in a day or two after my last posting... I lied. Sorry ... so sorry but,well, life goes on and constantly gets in the way. Anyway; on to a REAL post:

So we've looked at movies and definitions of the genre, now it's time to look at some literary examples. Another Magical Realism site ( which I must say is very informative ) lists some authors that every magical realism lover should know.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ben Okri
Isabel Allende
Syl Cheney-Coker
Kojo Laing
Allejo Carpentier
Toni Morrison
Kwsme Anthony Appiah

Mario Vargas Llosa 

Sadly I must find more information on these authors and their book... so that's it till next time. ( I promise next time will be sooner that this time. ) Also; just because I enjoy how posts look with images, here's a picture to help your mind roam:

 

This is by Rigel-5; you can see more of his work here.

Honey; I'm Home!

Okay, school is over ( yeah!) for the semester. And I've had a little time to enjoy my complete and utter illusion of free time...

Last time I said I'd be back online in about 3 weeks... well its been much longer ( sorry ). 

In fact I wasn't sure if I was going to come back. ( After all this was homework not pleasure. ) But I noticed this site seems to be getting a good amount of traffic so ... here I am. 

In the next day or so I'll post something good so keep a look out!

A Time Out

Hey all! 

Well...

The little presentation of my two genres went over pretty well ( or at least I think they did ). But now its final time. I HATE finals...who doesn't? The stress, the business, the total lack of sleep...well you get the picture. Anyhow... I'm taking a blogging break. Till after finals are over.

I'm not abandoning my blogs; I just probably won't post for a good three weeks.

So..

See you all then.

Another Movie: A Little Princess

I think its safe to say that almost everyone has seen some version ( or read ) or A Little Princess. The one I'm talking about is the 1995 film with Liesel Matthews.

The synopsis on Wikipedia is:

" Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) loves her childhood home in India, but she has to leave it when her beloved father (Liam Cunningham) enlists to fight for the British in World War I. He enrolls her at Miss Minchin's Seminary for Girls in New York, the same school Sara's late mother attended, and spares no expense to make sure his daughter will be comfortable while he is gone.

Sara quickly becomes popular and well-liked by the other students, whose boring, mundane lives are made exciting by the wonderful stories Sara tells. The school's spoiled bully, Lavinia, becomes angry over Sara's increasing popularity. She often clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron), who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth. Sara attempts to befriend the school's black servant girl Becky (Vanessa Lee Chester) but is told to avoid her. Miss Minchin throws Sara a lavish birthday party in order to extract more money from her father, but when word comes that her father was killed in battle and his estate has been seized by the British government, she forces Sara to become a servant. Miss Minchin also confiscates all of Sara's possessions, including a locket her father gave her. Sara's belief that "every girl is a princess" is tested to the limit and she stops telling stories. Her friendship with Becky grows and her other school friends sneak up to the attic to see her. Feeling sorry, Sara's friends decide to surprise her by stealing her locket. Touched by this, Sara continues "The Ramayana".

Meanwhile, in the mansion next door, a rich old man named Charles Randolph (Arthur Malet) has recently received word that his son John, also fighting in the WWI, is MIA, resulting in his being relegated to a wheelchair. He is cared for by an Indian immigrant named Ram Dass (Errol Sitahal) who had traveled to America on the same ship as the Crewes. Ram Dass keeps an eye on Sara, knowing that she is a kind hearted girl. Mr. Randolph is called to a military hospital hoping an unidentified soldier suffering from blindess and amnesia due to exposure to poison gas is his son. Ram Dass convinces Mr. Randolph to take the injured soldier in anyway, reminding him that the soldier may know what happened to John.

One evening, as Sara tells the girls a frightening tale of Ravana, the girls scream in terror and Miss Minchin finds them. She punishes Sara and Becky by denying them any food the next day. To stay full, Sara suggests that they eat a feast that night. The two girls then pretend to have a banquet in the room as Ram Dass watches. The next morning, they wake up to find that the room has turned into a palace-like bedroom, with the same food they dreamed of eating the night before, courtesy of Ram Dass. Miss Minchin enters the room later that day and accuses them of stealing everything. She turns them in to the police and the girls decide that Sara must try to escape. Using a plank as a bridge, Sara narrowly crosses from the school to Randolph's house. The police arrive and enter the house to find her, and to arrest Becky as well. In Randolph's house, Sara meets the soldier and realizes that he is her father. He is unable to remember her however, even though she tries to remind him. Miss Minchin tells the police that Sara has no family, though she clearly recognizes Sara's father. Just as she is being taken away by the police, however, Ram Dass helps Captain Crewe to regain his memory and rescue her.

The movie ends with Sara, her father, whose assets and fortune have been restored by the British government, and Becky all leaving for India together. Sara says goodbye to all of the girls and leaves them her favorite doll, Emily, given to her by her father before the war, as a present. Even the bullying Lavinia overcomes her jealousy and parts with Sara on good terms. Mr. Randolph learns of how Sara's father attempted to save his son's life in the trenches during the gas attack, and becomes the school's new headmaster. Meanwhile, Miss Minchin becomes a chimney sweep, working for a boy she previously mistreated."

Michael Parkes: Master of Magical Realism

Here's what his website says:

"Michael Parks - Magical Realist. What is unusual about Michael Parkes is that in his images metaphysical and spiritual elements are joined into reality. His work evokes a mysterious atmosphere, which can often only be deciphered with the help of ancient mythology and eastern philosophy.In the fantasy world of Parkes, the laws of earthly reality are abolished, and space and time enter into their own motionless communion. It is tempting to speak of a dream world with Parkes, if it were not for the fact that the ‘dream world’ of Michael Parkes surpasses all of our dreams in audacity, freedom and intensity. In short, in Michael Parkes, the figurative art of our age has found a new, fascinating and extremely authentic exponent.

As human beings, we limit our sense of perception to what is generally comfortable and present in everyday life. In limiting our perceptions to suit our individuality, we miss the vastness of other perceptions and the doors they represent. Though we have been conditioned to perceive nothing except our own world, this does not mean we cannot enter other realms. - Michael Parkes

Born in 1944, Michael Parkes studied graphic art and painting at the University of Kansas and then traveled for three years through Asia and Europe. In 1975, Michael Parkes settled in Spain, where he now lives. Throughout his career, numerous international exhibitions underline the importance of Parkes’ work. Michael Parkes is both a uniquely talented painter and master of the art of original stone lithography.

Michael Parkes is the world’s leading Magical Realist.  He is a painter, a sculptor, and a stone lithographer.  His more than 30 years of success as a fine artist stand out in the art world, where fewer than 1% of artists ever achieve success in both the primary and secondary markets.  Parkes’ works are collected by celebrities, important private collectors, and museums around the world, and his body of work has stood the test of time.  That being said, Parkes’ continues to create new works, all of which are widely sought after." 

Here's some of his work: 

 Don't you just love his work?

Magical Realism Art

So...

Now that I'm thinking about Magical Realism in art; here's some stuff I found surfing the web:

 

These are by Miguel Avataneo to see more of his work go here.

These are by Rob Gonsalvez. To see more of his work go here.

Magical Realism in Art?

Apparently magical realism isn't just a writing genre it's an art form.

A Short History of Magical Realism as see on Ten Dreams Fine Arts Gallery:

"Magic Realism developed as an art movement in the years after World War I . For many decades thereafter numerous artists throughout Europe and subsequently in the Americas crafted a representational art, mixed with elements of fantasy. This art was often typified by remarkable detail and sharp focus. Yet more importantly Magic Realism taps into emotional reservoirs within all of us. It tricks us by hiding unexpected or suggestive content in what at first might seem to be a common or ordinary scene.

Magic Realism evolved as a current within the Post-Expressionism movement in Weimar Germany. Related to the Return to Order movement as seen elsewhere in Europe, Post-Expressionism exhibited fewer neoclassical impulses than the parallel postwar realist trends in Italy and France. 

Post-Expressionism  evolved by shedding Expressionism's emotionally charged nature and abstract style. This process moved much slower than the related trends in other European countries, not fully maturing until the mid 1920s. 

The term Magic Realism was coined by the writer Franz Roh in 1925. He was referring to works within Post-Expressionistic art in which some mystery or a secret seemed to be hidden within the subject matter. This type of art differed from  19th Century Realism, which was generally naturalistic or narrative in nature. Important influences on Magic Realism  came from the naive art of Henri Rousseau and the Metaphysical works of Giorgio de Chirico.

Magic Realism is a type of realism using contemporary subjects, often in cool detachment and sometimes injecting an eerie atmosphere. Juxtapositions of sharply rendered and detailed elements, both in the foreground and background, are used to develop an air of mystery or ambiguity. Although the paintings may incorporate everyday objects, their objective is not to appear dull or banal . Instead they attempt to show us the everyday world in new and unfamiliar ways. They remind us that there are still many mysteries in life. Magic Realism acted as a portal to Surrealism, and later also influenced Contemporary Realism ."

Ok ...so the thing that really caught my attention on this site wasn't actually the definition of Magical Realism as an art style, it was the Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth that topped the page.

I LOVE this painting...and pretty much anything by any of the Wyeths. Isn't it funny that one of my favorite paintings is part of the Magical Realism movement?

One of my Other Favorites: Chocolat

Here's a bit about it from Wikipedia. 

"Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) like her ancestors, drifts across France. In the winter of 1959, she travels to a tranquil French village, where she and her daughter, Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), open a small chocolaterie. The store imbues both wonder and angst within the classical villagers as it opens during the forty days of Lent.

Soon, Vianne's allure and confections enliven a married couple's sex life, encourage an elderly man's secret love, bring rapport with a willful diabetic, and comfort an awkward woman who longs to leave her drunk and abusive husband. Nevertheless, the devout village mayor, Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), sees Vianne as an immoral provocateur and quietly contests against her. The battle peaks when a band of river gypsies camp on the village outskirts and Vianne finds a strong, mutual sexual attraction with the Manush Romani (Gypsy) Roux (Johnny Depp). "

Go here to see the trailer.

Pan's Labyrinth

This is one of my favorites of the aforementioned movies. So here's a bit more about Pan's Labyrinth. 

"Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with this haunting fantasy-drama set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and detailing the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl who may be the mythical princess of an underground kingdom. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), recently remarried to sadistic army captain Vidal (Sergi López) and soon to bear the cruel military man's child, shy young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is forced to entertain herself as her recently-formed family settles into their new home nestled deep in the Spanish countryside. As Ofelia's bed-ridden mother lies immobilized in anticipation of her forthcoming child and her high-ranking stepfather remains determined to fulfill the orders of General Francisco Franco to crush a nearby guerilla uprising, the young girl soon ventures into an elaborate stone labyrinth presided over by the mythical faun Pan (Doug Jones). Convinced by Pan that she is the lost princess of legend and that in order to return to her underground home she must complete a trio of life-threatening tasks, Ofelia sets out to reclaim her kingdom and return to her grieving father as Vidal's housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú) and doctor (Alex Angulo) plot secretly on the surface to keep the revolution alive." - Jason Buchanan, Rovi on Moviefone 

If you want to see the trailer go here.