The Magic Realist Novel in the Americas     (Fall term: 2003)

This course will trace the evolution of magic realism from the phenomenological marvelous realism of Carpentier's The Kingdom of this World (1948) to its deconstruction in King's Green Grass, Running Water. (1993) Topics for discussion will include the relation of magic realism to social realism (Garcia Marquez), romance (Esquival), and other literary forms such as fantasy and the baroque, as well as in relation to such critical and historical contexts as feminism (Allende), and post-colonialism (Harris, and Vargas Llosa).
 

Allende, Isabel             Chile         The House of Spirits                         Bantam

Carpentier, Alejo         Cuba         The Kingdom of this World             Noonday Press

Esquival, Laura            Mexico     Like Water for Chocolate               Bantam

Garcia Marquez, G     Colombia   One Hundred Years Of Solitude      Harper Perennial

Harris, Wilson             Guyana     Palace of the Peacock                     Faber & Faber

King, Thomas             Canada     Green Grass, Running Water         Harper Perennial

Vargas Llosa              Peru          The Storyteller                                 Penguin