Magic Realism: Rhetorical Parallels in Latin American Fiction
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Magic Realism and Tropical Imagination
The absurd yet real is the essence of magic realism, emerging from tropical imagination and carnivals, much like Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Both stories share a common rhetorical model: the patriarchal house, sexuality, passionate and deep love, violation, illegitimacy, and adultery.
The Rhetorical Code of Narrative Discourse
Their presence in the text is significant; both works utilize the same rhetorical code, which serves as the organizing principle of narrative discourse. The symbolism within these works reveals shared characteristics. Clearly, the emphasis placed on the unusual and extraordinary, the constant use of exaggeration and improbability, the use of semantic shifts and hyperbole, and the theming of various supernatural phenomena are central to magic realism.
The Naturalization of the Improbable
This is the magic of a simple and primitive world where the improbable is completely natural. In these works, the most unusual things occur with admirable naturalness. Clara's mental powers do not bother anyone and do not produce significant disorder, manifesting only in minor cases. One example is the salt shaker that moved across the table.
Comparative Symbolism in Literature
Nívea's head and the bones of Rebeca's parents provide further examples of the similarity in the rhetorical code used in these works. Along with a splint, Clara, about to give birth, travels in a rental car to find the lost head of her mother. In The House of the Spirits, the grandmother's madness is confused with the daily experiences of a girl looking for love and witches' brews.
Generational Evolution and Social History
These elements serve as inspiration for the cuisine of the employees, while strong men on horseback chase girls and abuse them in the pastures of the stables. The House of the Spirits is composed of small and frequent revolutions—changes that correspond to the time that elapses over three generations, each with its own characteristics. History and tradition, victims of political, economic, and social forces, evolve alongside the characters in a world that shares the ghostly and the carnal.