Magic Realism: An Overview of Gabriel Garcia Marquezs’ One Hundred Years of Solitude

Abstract

Magic Realism refers to the method of describing reality in a mythical, magical and supernatural version of the indigenous cultures. This paper highlights the significance of the tool of Magic Realism with reference to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude as a fantastic literary form employed by the writer to present his culture, society and political history. Reality combined with magical elements, this paper has Magic Realism as theoretical framework to prove how Gabriel Garcia Marquez manipulates this tool to tell the reality of his national history, colonialism, and post-colonialism period. Employing the tool of Magic Realism, the writing is all about troubles, loss and death in the Colombia. The intention is to combine fantastic in order to present his Colombia, where myths and modern inventions are part of the same environment; where the indigenous culture has not been subdued by the advent of modern technology. The writer of the novel also wants his people to acquire true knowledge in lieu of mere imitation of the West. The main source of the data in this paper was literature review that helped identify the gap. This paper is meant to bridge the gap identified through the literature. The specific objective is to ascertain as to how Magic Realism has been employed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude so as to stick to the truth of his national history.