[Ads-l] Antedating of "Magic Realism"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Not to quibble or retract any praise, but both cases now seem to me
factitious.  In other words, Kipling isn't practicing a kind of
realism that includes and relies on magical or fantasy elements;
he's practicing realism with "magical" skill, like making us believe
it when animals talk.

The difference is between that of skill and that of genre.

I think this is especially likely since the OED's earliest cites refer
to paintingand  not literature. Its earliest literary ex., moreover,
seems to be erroneous. To quote from a 1972 review of the 1970
academic book cited:

"First, one should point out that what Serrano-Plaja calls 'magic
realism' has nothing to do with what is called _realismo magico_ in
contemporary Spanish-American fiction. The key word in both cases is
magic, which occurs, according to Serrano- Plaja's definition, when 'a
thing is true, and at the same time it is a lie' (pp. 19-20)."

As a grad student in English (not Spanish,_ n.b.)_, I'm sure I didn't
hear of "magic realism" before the mid-to-late '70s

My two bits (currency inflation).

JL


On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 9:56 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
> Really great, or magic:
>
> "All these elements present an almost magical realism."
> The Athenaeum, 1887:
>
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Athenaeum/KWRIAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22magical+realism%22&pg=PA708&printsec=frontcover
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2023 9:06 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Antedating of "Magic Realism"
>
> Really a great find.
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 9:05 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> > magic realism (OED 1933)
> >
> > 1901 The Academy 19 Oct. 359 (Google Books)  There is nothing of Mr.
> > Kipling's magic realism in assuming the personalities of animals.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!oxkaMmFVY2H82DM18kKr5-VqRDM-0QsihAU6J9JWFG_BOkMTnTzu4bJoj57ol8W2yzAMGO0BkdCBvyD8hVgznQ$
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!oxkaMmFVY2H82DM18kKr5-VqRDM-0QsihAU6J9JWFG_BOkMTnTzu4bJoj57ol8W2yzAMGO0BkdCBvyD8hVgznQ$
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org