Latin America, Native America and Magical Realism Annmicha Blugh College

Magical realism is the art of infusing the supernatural in the mundane. Many Latin American authors exploit the power of magical realism in their novels, in which characters have regular encounters with the spiritual world. This capacity equips them with a 'sixth sense' so that they have superhuman insight, discern apparitions unseen to natural eyes or communicate with spirits or spirits of the departed. Laura Esquivel are Latin American authors who employed “lo real maravilloso” or magical realism into literature, pervasive in her best-seller Como Agua Para Chocolate. This method serves to weave in legend, religion and spiritism into reality (Jameson 1986). The reader realizes that magical realism is not simply magic, but it forms an inextricable part of life and human experience. Also in the Native American tradition, as seen in Monkey Beach authors depict their deep religious heritage in literature, inserting religious beliefs, rites and supernatural occurrences.

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende is a text peopled by characters with magical capabilities. Characters, such as Clara, are endowed with uncanny, spiritual ability such as clairvoyance, interpretation of dreams, and telekinesis (moving objects with the...