Jan
24
Thoughts on Historical Fiction and Magical Realism
Posted by: | January 24, 2010 | Comments Off on Thoughts on Historical Fiction and Magical Realism
Historical fiction: historically based incidencts and/or characters altered or elaborated upon by an author, who may choose to mix fact with myth and/or the surreal or abstract. Blending the real and the surreal may often give the text a chaotic feel, in which the reader is never quite sure if what they’re reading is/was real or not. Similar to a psychological narrative in which real and dream aren’t seen as separate, but
El Reino de Este Mundo seems to display quite modern prose, mixing the history and the surreal as well as dream and reality in an seemingly chaotic structure. This brought to mind a favourite book of mine: Arthur Schnitzler’s Dream Story. Schnitzler, an Austrian author who was of the same progressively psychoanalytic generation as Sigmund Freud, was a pioneer in stream-of-consciousness narrative. Dream Story eloquently blurs the real from the dream and the reader is never quite sure if what is happening is really happening. Curious fact: Stanley Kubrick carried a copy of Dream Story in his pocket for over 30 years, struggling to find a way to bring such an abstract and indeterminate story to the screen. Such a psychological and psychoanalytic book that delves into the deepest desires of the conscious and subconscious/unconscious (what have you) was a challenge that proved nearly impossible to (re)create on film. He finished the film, Eyes Wide Shut, though died before its theatrical release. It is arguably his best film, though I recommend reading Dream Story before seeing the film as the film can be tough to follow. Schnitzler and Kubrick, like Carpentier, achieve in creating an obra that is chaotic and unpredictable, abstract, often unbelievable, though curiously fascinating and thought provoking. The reader/viewer are never quite sure what to think or believe and is left to imagine and decide for themselves. In doing so, Carpentier seems to illuminate the strange way in which an ancient world became the New World, and is able to show how Latin America’s fantastical and marvelous beginnings were/are chaotic and indefinite. He shows Latin America’s splendor by combining seemingly unbelievable historical incidents with myth and stipulation. All three works, however, can be tough to follow and to fully understand and this, perhaps, is another achievement. Each author/auteur achieves in creating a dreamlike sequence of events that, though based on the real, is blended with the surreal, ultimately attaining lo real maravilloso.
P.S.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
