[Ads-l] Antedating of "Magic Realism"

[James Eric Lawson]

Do your two bits still have purchase in light of OED's "In extended use: 
any artistic or esp. literary style in which realistic techniques such 
as naturalistic detail, narrative, etc., are similarly combined with 
surreal or dreamlike elements."?

On 1/11/23 12:21, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> 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
> 
> 
> 

-- 
James Eric Lawson

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