Magic Realism

Term used since the 1940s to describe a form of prose writing in which the fantastic is juxtaposed with the everyday. Associated primarily with Black American Writing, it incorporates _ among others _ African myths, rituals and folklore, thus recalling cultural roots remaining a mystery to the white mainstream.
M.R. accepts the level of the supernatural as a given and normal fact, thus cultivating an alternative view of the world and of reality.
Some critics suggest that M.R. reflects the social and political situation of a colonized or powerless people, in demonstrating the manipulation and alteration of truth and the juxtaposition of harsh social reality and the absurd.
The style has been mostly employed by Latin American authors and to a lesser extent by some British and Anglo-Indian writers.
In the US, M.R. was first used to refer to a style of painting, and has been relatively unused in American literature, although it is a feature in works by various writers, including William Wharton and Toni Morrison.
A kind of M.R. may be considered an established feature of much Native American story-telling.