Magical realism, also called magic realism or marvellous realism, is a style of writing and art that shows the real world while also including magical or unusual events. This style mixes real events with magical ones, making it hard to tell where the real world ends and the magical begins. Magical realism is the most common term and is often used in literature, where magical or supernatural things happen in a normal or everyday setting. This style is found in novels and plays. Luis Leal, in his article "Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature," explains that magical realism is not the same as magic literature. He says magical realism aims to show feelings, not just create wonder. Even though it includes magical elements, it is different from fantasy because it uses many real details and uses magic to make a point about the real world. Magical realism is also closer to literary fiction than to fantasy, which is a type of genre fiction. Magical realism combines real and magical elements to create a writing style that includes more than just realistic stories or fantasy.
Description
The term "magic realism" is a broad description rather than a strict definition. Matthew Strecher (1999) explains it as "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe." The term and its wide definition can sometimes be confusing because many writers are labeled as magical realists. The term was influenced by a German and Italian painting style from the 1920s, which was also called "magic realism." In The Art of Fiction, British novelist and critic David Lodge defines magic realism as "when marvellous and impossible events occur in what otherwise seems to be a realistic story." This effect is especially common in contemporary Latin American fiction, such as the work of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. It also appears in novels from other parts of the world, including works by Günter Grass, Salman Rushdie, and Milan Kundera. These writers often experience major historical changes and personal challenges, which they believe cannot be fully described using only realistic storytelling. Kundera’s 1979 novel The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is an example of this style. Michiko Kakutani notes that the blending of the extraordinary and the ordinary in Latin American fiction reflects a reality where the fantastical is often part of daily life. Magical realism often combines history and fantasy, as seen in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, where children born at midnight on August 15, 1947—the moment of India’s independence—are telepathically connected.
Irene Guenther (1995) discusses the German roots of the term, which originated alongside the term "Neue Sachlichkeit" (or "New Objectivity") and explains how early magic realist art influenced later magic realist literature. Despite this Germanic origin, magical realism is most closely linked to Latin American literature, with key figures including Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Elena Garro, Carrión Grimes, Mireya Robles, Rómulo Gallegos, Alejo Carpentier, and Arturo Uslar Pietri. In English literature, notable writers include Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, Alice Hoffman, Louis De Bernières, Nick Joaquin, Joanne Harris, and Nicola Barker. In Russian literature, important figures are Mikhail Bulgakov, Soviet writer Andrei Sinyavsky, and playwright Nina Sadur. In Bengali literature, prominent writers include Nabarun Bhattacharya, Akhteruzzaman Elias, Shahidul Zahir, Jibanananda Das, and Syed Waliullah. In Kannada literature, Shivaram Karanth and Devanur Mahadeva incorporate magical realism into their work. In Japanese literature, Haruki Murakami is a major figure in the genre. In Chinese literature, Mo Yan, the 2012 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, is best known for his "hallucinatory realism." In Polish literature, Olga Tokarczuk, the 2018 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, represents magic realism.
Etymology and literary origins
In the 1800s, Romantic writers like E. T. A. Hoffmann and Nikolai Gogol helped start a trend in Romanticism that blended fantasy and reality. This style, called "European magical realism," showed how fantasy elements often mix with real-life situations. Anatoly Lunacharsky said Hoffmann was different from other Romantics because he used satire and noticed small details in everyday life with great honesty. His stories often included both realistic scenes and dreamlike, unsettling images, similar to Gogol’s work. Gogol was influenced by Hoffmann, especially in stories like Portrait and The Nose, where he combined real events with strange, dreamlike elements. Hoffmann’s fairy tales, such as The Nutcracker and The Royal Bride, showed his kindness and ability to create imaginative, child-friendly stories.
Philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev and poet Andrei Bely used the term "mystical realism" in 1907 to describe a type of writing that mixes realism with spiritual ideas. They pointed to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s later works, like The Brothers Karamazov, as examples. In this book, the character Ivan Karamazov’s interactions with Smerdyakov and the devil were described as moving beyond real life into a more abstract, spiritual world. They also noted similar themes in other works by Dostoevsky and writers like Gogol, Alexander Pushkin, and Leo Tolstoy. Scholar Ceylan Özdemir explained that "mystical realism" is different from "magical realism," as it focuses more on spiritual ideas rather than the magical elements often found in magical realism.
In 2009, Alexandra Berlina wrote that Viktor Shklovsky’s 1918 essay Art as a Device; Theory of Prose discussed ideas similar to those later used in magical realism. Shklovsky focused on how Tolstoy’s story Kholstomer used a horse as a narrator to make familiar things seem strange.
In 1932, artist Serge Charchoune wrote about his own work in an article titled Magical Realism, explaining that his art used symbolism and blended reality with magic, following the ideas of Edmond Jaloux. Critic Gleb Struve later said that writers like himself, Gaito Gazdanov, Irina Odoyevtseva, and Nina Berberova clearly showed magical realism in their work. Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita, written in the 1920s and 1940s but published in 1966–1967, was called a major example of magical realism by scholars. They noted it continued the styles of earlier Russian writers like Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy, and showed a different path of magical realism outside Latin America.
The term "magical realism" first appeared in German as magischer Realismus in 1925. Art critic Franz Roh used it to describe a painting style called Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), which was an alternative to expressionism. Roh said magical realism focused on realistic details and showed the strange, mysterious side of the modern world. He believed it was different from surrealism, which focused more on dreams and the subconscious.
German magical realism influenced Italian writer Massimo Bontempelli, who is often called the first to use magical realism in writing. In 1926, he started a magazine called 900. Novecento and inspired writers like Johan Daisne and Hubert Lampo in Belgium.
Roh’s ideas also reached writers in Latin America, where magischer Realismus was translated as realismo mágico in 1927. Venezuelan writer Arturo Uslar-Pietri, who met Bontempelli, wrote magical-realist stories in the 1920s and 1930s. Critic Luis Leal said Uslar-Pietri might have been the first to use realismo mágico in literature in 1948. Mexican writer Elena Garro used the term to describe Hoffmann’s work but said her own writing did not fit the genre. Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier, who disliked Roh’s ideas, created his own concept called lo real maravilloso (marvelous realism) in 1949. This style blends practical views of reality with acceptance of magic and tradition.
In the 1940s and 1950s, American painters like Ivan Albright and George Tooker used magical realism to show everyday life in a strange, realistic way. Unlike literary magical realism, their art rarely included overt magic but focused on making the ordinary seem mysterious.
The term "magical realism" was first used in 1955 by critic Angel Flores to describe writing that combined elements of magical realism and marvelous realism. Flores said Jorge Luis Borges was the first magical realist but did not credit Carpentier or Uslar-Pietri for spreading the idea in Latin America. After Flores’s essay, magical realism became more popular, especially after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, when writers began blending everyday life with magical events in their stories.
Magical realism started in Latin America, where writers often traveled to Europe and were influenced by art movements like Surrealism. Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier and Venezuelan Arturo Uslar-Pietri were inspired by European art during their time in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. A key moment was when Franz Roh’s book was translated into Spanish by Spain’s Revista de Occidente in 1927, led by writer José Ortega y Gasset. This helped connect magical realism in art and literature.
Characteristics
The characteristics of magic realist texts can vary. Each text is unique and uses some of the qualities listed here. These qualities accurately describe what readers might expect from a magic realist text.
Magic realism shows fantastical events in a realistic way. It brings fables, folk tales, and myths into modern social situations. Characters may have magical abilities, like floating, reading minds, or moving objects with their thoughts. These abilities help explore modern political issues that can seem strange or confusing.
The presence of magical elements in everyday life is central to magic realism. Writers do not create new worlds but instead show the magical in the real world, as Gabriel García Márquez did in One Hundred Years of Solitude. In magic realism, the supernatural and the natural world mix. For characters in these stories, events that seem strange, like an angel falling from the sky, are treated as normal.
Authorial reticence means writers intentionally avoid explaining magical events. The narrator remains neutral, and the story continues as if nothing unusual has happened. Magical events are presented as ordinary, so readers accept them as normal.
In his essay "The Baroque and the Marvelous Real," Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier describes the baroque as full of details that feel confusing. He contrasts this with the work of Mondrian. Carpentier sees the baroque as layers of elements that fit well with the mix of cultures in Latin America, as shown in The Kingdom of This World. He describes Latin America as a place where different cultures blend, creating the "marvelous real." This term refers to the extraordinary and strange, not the beautiful. This blending of cultures and ideas is seen in Latin American literature, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Magic realist stories often mix different types of real worlds, such as urban and rural, or Western and indigenous cultures.
This trait focuses on the reader's role in literature. With its mix of realities and references to the reader's world, it explores how fiction affects reality and vice versa. It is well suited for highlighting social or political issues. It also helps readers understand a related concept called "textualization." This term describes two ideas: first, when a fictional reader becomes aware of their role as a reader while reading a story, and second, when the story's world enters the reader's real world. Magic realism allows this to happen, even though it might seem confusing.
Magic realist literature often avoids explaining its magical elements or hides parts of the story, creating confusion and mystery. For example, when reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, readers must let go of traditional storytelling methods, such as clear explanations or linear time, to understand the book's deeper meanings. Luis Leal describes this as "seizing the mystery that breathes behind things" and says writers must heighten their senses to grasp all levels of reality, especially mystery.
Magic realism often includes an "implicit criticism of society, particularly the elite." In Latin America, the style challenges the dominant ideas of "privileged centers of literature." It is focused on people who are geographically, socially, and economically marginalized. This "alternative world" challenges traditional views of reality, such as realism or modernism. Magic realist texts are subversive and can be used by those in power to distance themselves from their influence. Theo D'haen calls this shift in perspective "decentering."
In his doctoral thesis Magical Insurrections: Cultural Resistance and the Magic Realist Novel in Latin America (University of Essex, 1996), William Spindler argues that Latin American magic realist novels often include themes of cultural resistance, drawn from popular culture. His work examines how these themes appear in five novels: Men of Maize by Miguel Angel Asturias, The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier, Deep Rivers by Jose Maria Arguedas, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and Daimón by Abel Posse. Other texts are also used for comparison. The thesis explores how these novels relate to cultural resistance, language, power, and popular culture in what Spindler calls the "political economy" of magic realism.
In his review of Gabriel García Márquez's novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Salman Rushdie argues that the formal style of magic realism allows political ideas to be expressed in ways that might not be possible through more traditional literary forms:
"Magic realism," as practiced by Márquez, is a development from Surrealism that expresses a truly "Third World" perspective. It deals with what Naipaul calls "half-made" societies, where ancient struggles face modern challenges, and public corruption and private suffering are more extreme than in the "North," where wealth and power have hidden the real issues. In Márquez's works, impossible events happen constantly and plausibly, as if they are normal under the midday sun.
Major topics in criticism
Mexican critic Luis Leal explained the difficulty of defining magical realism by saying, "If you can explain it, then it's not magical realism." He described magical realism as a way writers show the world through the characters' attitudes, not by thinking about the idea of magical realism first.
Leal and Guenther both mention Arturo Uslar-Pietri, who said, "Man is a mystery surrounded by realistic facts. A poetic prediction or a poetic denial of reality. What could be called magical realism."
The idea that magical realism creates a conflict between reality and the unusual comes from Western readers not understanding mythology, which is a root of magical realism in non-Western cultures. Western confusion about magical realism happens because magical realist texts create a reality where events, characters, and settings are not explained by physical laws or typical Western ideas.
Guatemalan author William Spindler wrote an article called "Magic Realism: A Typology," suggesting there are three types of magic realism, though they are not always separate.
Spindler’s classification has been criticized for trying to define magical realism as something connected to specific cultures, focusing on societies where myths and magic still exist. Some argue that Western thinking may not fit Western models and that both magical realism and other knowledge systems can coexist.
Alejo Carpentier created the term lo real maravilloso ("the marvelous real") in the prologue to his novel The Kingdom of This World (1949). Some debate whether he is a magical realist or just an inspiration for others. Maggie Bowers says he is widely seen as the originator of Latin American magical realism, describing it as a kind of heightened reality where miracles seem natural. She explains that Carpentier wanted to show how Latin America’s history, geography, and beliefs make impossible things possible. She also says that writing about Latin America naturally creates literature filled with marvels.
The term "marvelous" can be confused with magical realism because both include supernatural events that are not surprising to the reader. In both, these events are normal in the story’s world. However, the "marvelous" is a one-dimensional world where everything is already supernatural, like in fairy tales. Readers know this world is different from their own. Magical realism, on the other hand, blends the supernatural with the natural world, creating a two-layered reality. While some use the terms lo real maravilloso and magical realism interchangeably, the key difference is that lo real maravilloso focuses on the American experience.
Critic Luis Leal says Carpentier was a key figure in magical realism, writing that "The existence of the marvelous real started magical realist literature, which some critics call truly American literature." This shows that lo real maravilloso is different from magical realism because it specifically refers to the Americas. Lee A. Daniel groups critics of Carpentier into three categories: those who do not see him as a magical realist, those who call him a magical realist but not a lo real maravilloso writer, and those who use both terms together.
Ángel Flores says magical realism is an international style but has roots in Hispanic literature, calling it a continuation of romantic realism in Spanish and European traditions. Some argue magical realism is a Latin American invention, while others see it as a global product of postmodernism. Guenther says magical realism was mainly studied in Latin America and later spread worldwide through translations and adaptations. Today, many non-Hispanic writers are also considered magical realists, showing it is now an international style.
Some compare magical realism to postmodernism. Belgian critic Theo D’haen notes similarities, such as self-reflection, mixing different styles, and themes like post-colonial discussions. Authors like Günter Grass, Italo Calvino, and Angela Carter are often called postmodern but could also be seen as magical realists. Both styles share traits like metafiction and blending reality with the supernatural.
Magical realist works aim to please a thoughtful audience, not just a general one. Postmodern writers criticize simple stories like fantasy or crime fiction but are still connected to them. Postmodern literature has two sides: one for the general public and one for intellectuals. Magical realist writers struggle to balance popularity with deep ideas. Wendy Faris discusses how magical realism connects to readers’ needs and the writer’s responsibility to them.
Comparison with related genres
When trying to explain what something is, it can be helpful to first explain what it is not. Many literary critics try to place novels and other works into only one category, such as "romantic" or "naturalist," without considering that many works belong to more than one group. Many discussions come from Maggie Ann Bowers' book Magic(al) Realism, where she tries to explain the differences between "magic realism" and "magical realism" by comparing them to other genres like realism, surrealism, fantastic literature, science fiction, and a type of African storytelling called "animist realism."
Literary realism aims to show real life as it is. A realist novel does not only focus on what happens in the story but also how it is told. In this way, a realist story helps readers build a world using details from real life. To understand both realism and magical realism, it is important to see how they fit into the way stories are told. Magical realism includes real, imagined, or magical elements that are treated as if they are real. It uses realism as a base but pushes the idea of what is real to its limits. Literary theorist Kornelije Kvas wrote that magical realism creates a world close to reality, filled with unusual and magical elements. These elements highlight problems in society without breaking the logical structure of the story. Magical elements appear as part of everyday life and help people face challenges like unfairness or control by others. Magical realism also uses the calm, clear storytelling style found in traditional 19th-century realism.
To compare, Roh's ideas about expressionism and post-expressionism in German Art in the 20th Century can help explain the differences between realism and magical realism. Realism uses terms like "history," "familiar," "real life," and "cause and effect." Magical realism uses terms like "myths," "fantasy," "unfamiliar," "magic," and "imagination."
Surrealism is often confused with magical realism because both explore unusual or non-real aspects of life. Franz Roh's idea of magical realism is closely linked to surrealism and influenced Carpentier's concept of "marvelous reality." However, there are key differences. Surrealism focuses on the imagination and the inner thoughts of people, aiming to express hidden feelings and ideas. It tries to show the unconscious mind and things people cannot easily talk about. Magical realism, on the other hand, rarely uses dreams or psychological experiences to show the extraordinary. Instead, it makes the magical part of everyday life feel normal and real.
Fabulism usually refers to stories like fables, parables, and myths. It is sometimes used today to describe works that connect to magical realism. Fabulism mixes fantasy with real life, using myths and fables to comment on the world and offer clear lessons. Bruno Bettelheim, an Austrian-American psychologist, said fairy tales help people understand difficult emotions and experiences. He believed traditional fairy tales allowed children to face fears through symbols. Fabulism helps people deal with complex ideas by turning them into stories. As Bettelheim wrote, it helps make things that are hard to describe into something people can understand.
Amber Sparks described fabulism as blending fantasy into a realistic setting. Fabulism often uses details from specific myths, fairy tales, and folktales, unlike magical realism, which uses general magical elements. Hannah Gilham of the Washington Square Review said, "Our lives are strange and full of wonder. Shouldn't our stories show that?"
Magical realism is often linked to Latin American works, but fabulism is not tied to any one culture. Fabulism focuses on the full range of human experiences by using fairy tales and myths. This can be seen in the works of C. S. Lewis, who a biographer called the greatest fabulist of the 20th century. His novel Till We Have Faces is a reimagining of a myth to teach lessons. A Washington Post review said Lewis used stories to deliver messages. The review noted, "The fabulist… uses a story to explain truths."
Italo Calvino is an example of a writer who uses the term "fabulist." He is known for his book Our Ancestors, a collection of moral tales told through surreal fantasy. His work is often seen as a lesson for children. Calvino believed stories, like folktales, could teach important lessons. Journalist Ian Thomson wrote that Calvino insisted on the "educational value" of fables and their role in teaching morals.
New York Times critic Mel Gussow created the term "The New Fabulism" when reviewing the work of Romanian-born American theater director Andrei Şerban. Şerban is known for reimagining plays like The Stag King and The Serpent Woman, which are based on fables by Carl Gozzi. Gussow described "The New Fabulism" as using old myths to create moral stories. Ed Menta, in The Magic Behind the Curtain, wrote that Şerban used the fabulist style to combine creativity with technical skill. Through his work, Şerban inspired audiences with kindness and romance through theater. Menta said, "The New Fabulism allows Şerban to explore the simple, innocent magic of children's theater, which he sees as a source of hope for modern theater."
Fantasy and magical realism are often seen as separate, even though they share some roots in myths and folklore. Amaryll Beatrice Chanady explains the differences between magical realism and fantasy by comparing three areas: how they use stories, how they handle the unknown, and how they resolve conflicts.
Major works and authors
Although critics and writers debate which authors or works belong to the magical realism genre, the following authors are well-known examples of this style. In Latin America, some of the most famous magical realist writers are Jorge Luis Borges, Isabel Allende, and Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude became very popular worldwide.
García Márquez said: "My biggest challenge was making it clear what is real and what is imaginary." Allende was the first Latin American woman writer to gain recognition outside her home country. Her most famous book, The House of the Spirits, shares similarities with García Márquez's style. Another well-known author is Laura Esquivel, whose novel Like Water for Chocolate describes the lives of women who face challenges within their families and society. The main character, Tita, is prevented from marrying by her mother. Her unfulfilled love and being excluded from the family lead her to express her emotions through cooking. People who eat her food experience her feelings. For example, after eating a wedding cake Tita made while feeling heartbroken, the guests feel a strong sense of longing.
The Mexican author Juan Rulfo used a storytelling method that did not follow a clear order in his short novel Pedro Páramo. The story describes the town of Comala both as a lively place during the time of Pedro Páramo and as a ghost town through the eyes of his son, Juan Preciado, who returns to Comala to fulfill a promise to his dead mother.
In the Portuguese-speaking world, Jorge Amado and Nobel Prize winner José Saramago are famous for writing magical realism. Other authors include Murilo Rubião, playwright Dias Gomes (Saramandaia), and José J. Veiga. A novel titled Incidente em Antares by Erico Verrissimo is also included, even though the author is not widely known. Amado is the most famous modern Brazilian writer, with his work translated into 49 languages. His stories have been adapted into films, plays, and television shows, such as Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976) and its American remake Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). In Africa, Angolan author Ondjaki's novel Transparent City is an example of magical realism. It won the José Saramago Prize in 2013.
In the English-speaking world, major authors include British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie, whose book Midnight's Children mixes real events with fantasy. African American writers Toni Morrison (though she has questioned this label) and Gloria Naylor are also included. American Latino writers such as Ana Castillo, Rudolfo Anaya, Daniel Olivas, Rudy Ruiz, and Helena Maria Viramontes write in this style. Guatemalan author Miguel Ángel Asturias, Native American writers Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexie, English writer Louis de Bernières, and English feminist writer Angela Carter are also part of this group. Rushdie is perhaps the most well-known, as his writing combines elements of European surrealism and Latin American myths. Morrison's novel Beloved tells the story of a mother who deals with the memory of her child's ghost and the pain of being a slave. The Welsh author Glyn Jones's novel The Island of Apples (1965) is often overlooked, possibly because it was written before the term "magic realism" was widely used or because of its connection to the poet Dylan Thomas. However, the story's mix of reality and fantasy, told by a young narrator in a dreamlike setting, fits the genre. Jonathan Safran Foer uses magical realism in Everything Is Illuminated to explore the history of a Jewish community and the Holocaust. South African-Italian author Patricia Schonstein uses this style in A Time of Angels and A Quilt of Dreams to examine the Holocaust, the Rhodesian War, and apartheid.
Dino Buzzati's books are often cited as examples of magical realism in Italian literature.
In Norway, writers Erik Fosnes Hansen, Jan Kjærstad, and young novelist Rune Salvesen are known for writing magical realism, a style that is unusual in Norwegian literature.
In Kannada literature, Shivaram Karanth's Mookajjiya Kanasugalu and Devanur Mahadeva's Kusuma Baale are examples of magical realism. Both books are widely read and have been adapted into films and television shows. Mookajjiya Kanasugalu follows the journey of a character who can see the history of objects. Kusuma Baale blends magical realism with surrealism to describe the lives of people from oppressed castes in rural Karnataka.
During the end of the Soviet Union, magical realism became popular in Eastern Europe. Important authors included Viktor Pelevin, Ludmila Petrushevskaya, Tatyana Tolstaya, and Ludmila Ulitskaya. Other influential works from this time include The Soul of the Patriot (1989) by Yevgeni Anatolyevich Popov, Russian Beauty (1990) by Viktor Yerofeyev, and The Manhole (1991) by Vladimir Makanin. Dmitri Lipskerov's 1997 novel Forty Years in Chanchzhoe shows the influence of Latin American magical realism, especially One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Dimitris Lyacos's Poena Damni trilogy, originally written in Greek, is also considered to have elements of magical realism because it combines real and imaginary events in the same story.
Visual art
The painterly style began changing as early as the first decade of the 20th century, but in 1925, Magischer Realismus and Neue Sachlichkeit were officially recognized as important art movements. This year marked the publication of Franz Roh’s book, Nach-Expressionismus, Magischer Realismus: Probleme der neuesten europäischen Malerei (Post-Expressionism, Magical Realism: Problems of the Newest European Painting), and the opening of a major exhibition called Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) at the Kunsthalle Mannheim in Germany, curated by Gustav Hartlaub. Guenther often refers to the term New Objectivity rather than magical realism, because New Objectivity is connected to real artists, while magical realism is more theoretical or related to critics’ ideas. Later, under Massimo Bontempelli’s influence, the term magic realism became widely accepted in both Germany and Italy.
New Objectivity rejected earlier art styles like Impressionism and Expressionism. Hartlaub’s exhibition included only artists who focused on showing a clear, real version of the world to reveal the truth of their time. The movement had two main groups: conservative artists who used classical styles, and Verists, who were often politically left-wing and aimed to expose the harsh realities of the modern world. Hartlaub described these groups as follows:
In the new art, he saw a right wing and a left wing. One group was conservative, inspired by classical art, and focused on creating realistic, timeless images. The other group was modern, less concerned with traditional art, and aimed to show the chaos and truth of the present time by focusing on raw, unembellished facts.
This style spread across Europe during the 1920s and 1930s, from the Netherlands to Austria, France to Russia, with Germany and Italy as key centers. Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico, who painted in the late 1910s under the style arte metafisica (Metaphysical Art), is considered a precursor to New Objectivity and had a major influence on its artists.
Later, American painters in the 1940s and 1950s were called magical realists. A connection between these artists and Neue Sachlichkeit was highlighted in a 1940s exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art titled American Realists and Magic Realists. French artist Pierre Roy, who worked in the United States, helped spread Franz Roh’s ideas about magical realism to the U.S.
In 1925, Franz Roh used the term magical realism to describe a style of art that showed everyday objects in extreme detail, revealing hidden meanings or mysteries within them, rather than adding magical elements. Roh explained that this style celebrated the ordinary world and used techniques to make viewers see deeper truths. He wrote:
We are offered a new style that is fully connected to the real world. This style shows the mundane in a way that reveals hidden mysteries. It uses techniques to make viewers see the truth of the world around them.
In painting, magical realism is often used interchangeably with post-expressionism, as seen in the title of Roh’s 1925 essay, Post-Expressionism, Magical Realism. Lois Parkinson Zamora of the University of Houston noted that Roh described a group of painters we now call Post-Expressionists.
Roh used magical realism to describe art that returned to realism after the exaggerated styles of Expressionism. Instead of redesigning objects to show their "spirit," magical realism focused on showing objects as they were, allowing their hidden qualities to emerge. This idea can be linked to the 15th-century Flemish painter Jan van Eyck, who created detailed landscapes that left parts of the scene to the viewer’s imagination.
Other key features of magical realism, according to Roh, included a focus on revealing hidden truths through careful, realistic depictions. This style inspired artists for many years. In a 1991 New York Times review, critic Vivien Raynor noted that artist John Stuart Ingle proved magic realism was still alive in his still-life watercolors. Ingle explained that his goal was to paint reality as it was, without adding magical elements, and that the "magic" came from his intense focus on accuracy.
While Ingle’s work reflects Roh’s original ideas, the term magic realism in mid-20th-century art often included more obvious fantasy or surreal elements, similar to its use in literature. Artists like Bettina Shaw-Lawrence, Paul Cadmus, Ivan Albright, and Andrew Wyeth, including his famous painting Christina’s World, were labeled magic realists. Their work, however, often included stylized distortions or exaggerated features that were not strictly realistic.
More recently, magic realism has moved further from everyday reality to depict openly magical scenes. Artists like Marcela Donoso and Gregory Gillespie are associated with this newer approach. In the early 21st century, artists such as Peter Doig, Richard T. Scott, and Will Teather have also been linked to the term magic realism.
Film and television
Magical realism is not a clearly defined film genre, but traits found in magical realism literature also appear in many films that include fantasy elements. These traits are often shown in a straightforward way and are not explained.
Many films use magical realism to show the contrast between real and magical parts of a story, or between different ways of making films. This technique helps explore what is real. Fredric Jameson, in On Magic Realism in Film, suggests that magical realism in film is a style that depends on historical events that naturally include differences or conflicts. The film Like Water for Chocolate (1992) starts and ends with a first-person story to set up the magical realism style. Telling a story from a child’s perspective, showing gaps in history, and using bright colors in the film are tools used in magical realism.
Several films by Woody Allen, such as Midnight in Paris (2011), include magical realism elements. Most films directed by Terry Gilliam are strongly influenced by magical realism. The animated films of Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki often use magical realism. Some films by Emir Kusturica also include magical realism, with Time of the Gypsies (1988) being a well-known example.
Other films and television shows that include magical realism elements are:
Video games and new media
In his essay "Half-Real," Jesper Juul, a professor at MIT and an expert in games, claims that the true nature of video games is closely related to magic realism. Early video games, such as the 1986 text adventure game Trinity, included elements from science fiction, fantasy, and magic realism. Later games, like the point-and-click adventure Kentucky Route Zero (2013) and Memoranda (2017), also used ideas from the magic realism genre. The Metal Gear series of games is often noted for blending realistic military stories with supernatural elements, making it a well-known example of magic realism.
In electronic literature, early writer Michael Joyce’s work afternoon, a story uses unclear storytelling and a narrator whose reliability is uncertain, features common in high modernism. The story also includes suspense and romance, and its meaning can change greatly depending on the order in which readers explore its sections during each reading.