Magical Realism III

Magical Realism III


So my personal journey into the hypnotic world of magical realism came through the British, came when I first read W. H. Hudson’s Green Mansions. After reading the book I was enthralled with the concepts and Hudson’s audacity to allow the magical world to encroach on the real world. For years I searched for other such experiences in the literary world. I wasn’t writing much at the time, mostly a weekly column for a local town newspaper, but I was hooked and the idea of creating and populating such real places with magical aspects took hold. But, I couldn’t find many other novels like Green Mansions. So, like with much of my writing, I tried to write the experience I wanted to encounter. I was unsuccessful at the first three novel attempts.

Then I read The Magus by British author, John Fowles. A book which touched me so powerfully, I read it at least once a year, and have given more than 30 copies of the book to other writers, poets and artists in the hope it will inspire them to believe anything is possible as it inspired me. Many papers and discussions on magical realism list The Collector by Fowles as his only magical realism book. But I disagree. Fowles, himself considered The Magus his magical realism novel (as he noted in the revised edition’s intro) and I wonder if the writers who include The Collector in their magical realism lists have actually read the book. I have a feeling they’re instead citing the title from previous publications or essays. To me The Collector is far from the field of magical realism as it doesn’t contain some of the most imperative aspects of this misinterpreted literary style.

When I undertook to write Shaman Circus, it was going to be a dark fantasy novel, but as it shifted and changed, by its own direction, magical elements crept in: ritual and carnival, political uneasiness and tragedy in both the community and in many personal lives, struggles between the established civilized order and the spiritual needs of a population very different form the rest of the US, and then there’s the magic in everyday life – the means to help people cope with events too big for the mind to grasp. Small everyday ways to be able to breathe when overwhelmed. The story evolved because of what the characters could or could not do. There was too much realism for fantasy and I wanted there to be hope and healing in the face of the horrors. I didn’t follow any format for magical realism and didn’t even realize it fell in that realm until three years after I’d finished the first draft and a couple of revisions. Previously I’d written some literary pieces, but mostly dark fantasy and psychological horror. So this was a switch. Most of it must have been subconscious. I only realized it fell in that character when trying to write the synopsis to seek publication. Strange things indeed.

And things they are a-changing again…

When I started searching on Duotrope – (an online data base and submission tracker of over 2700 print and online magazines) for publications which accepted magical realism fiction a couple of years ago, very few magazines opted to publish such stories. Now each day brings new magazines venturing into this often confused and not fully understood territory and a lot more of them came onboard within the last few months.

So you do the math…

Indroducing: Steve Viner, Shaman Circus Cover Artist

I think it's high time I introduce you to Steve Viner, the Cover Artist from Shaman Circus. Steve and I met through  Connie Stadler of Virginia, an author I whose poetry chapbook, Tinted Steam, I was publishing through my small press, Shadow Archer Press.  Connie had seen his work, contacted him where he lives in England and requested he design the cover for her book. I was so impressed with Steve's work both on Connie's book and his website that I've worked with him on Fissure #5 and three more chapbooks, The Holy Hermaphrodite by Anthony Hitchin, The Winter King by Michael Aaron Casares and The Moulding of Seers, which also featured interior artwork to illustrate the poetry of Petra Whitley. 

I knew he was the man for Shaman Circus.  For those of you familiar with the work of Dave McKean who desgined many of the covers for Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, in addition to lots of other work with Gaiman, you'll see that McKean is one of Steve greatest influences.  

Now one things that's interesting is that Steve starts with found objects or paintings and then morphs the artwork digitally.  So here's the original painting he produced of Baron Semedi for the Shaman Circus cover. You'll see how much it changes during his many layered process of digitally altering the image.

Then this was the second idea for the cover. He's added various features to the backgroun and lightened the image but didn't transform it as mucvh as he usually does with his figures.

so he went back to the drawimg board - his mac and other equipment and  took it into another dimension giving the image of the voudou spirit a less human and more sumbolic and dynamic look which to me portrays the mystery and power of the character. 

Pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Here'a s bit more about Steve.

Dorset, UK) Steve lives with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Athene and they are now expecting a second child. He is  predominately a digital artist, using various found and made objects to create dark gothic images. He is currently working on illustrating a children's book with Petra and has had a successful exhibition, which surprisingly due to the artistic content, went well with a broad cross-section of attendees. In addition to Fissure and Shadow Archer Press, Steve's art has been featured on the cover of the first issue of Deep Tissue and published in Osprey, The Glasgow Review, Unlikely 2.0.

 e-mail: visualpig@yahoo.co.uk

Magical Realism II

Magical Realism - Part II


Myth, folklore and magic in real world locations:
One of the precepts of magical realism is that the story takes place in a real setting as opposed to an imagined world setting such as those found in fantasy or Sci-fi. The characters and the atmosphere are imbued with a penchant and respect for myth and folklore and magic. Magic is considered a normal aspect of everyday life, either as a coping mechanism or even a chosen path to enlightenment, beyond the societal mores or cultural influences. The characters accept magic as common in their everyday lives. There's nothing unusual about it, either because magical ways of acting and thinking have been handed down through generations or they've adopted magic as a coping mechanism during difficult times.

Political unrest and revolution:
Often the locale is a community or country beset by political turmoil, corruption and unrest. Characters may be subjugated, oppressed, driven from their homes, persecuted imprisoned, tortured or abandoned by their governments.

Irony and paradox are stylistic tools for the author who tackles stories precariously poised on a seesaw as it teeters between political disasters and spiritual quests.


The plot line is often not linear:
Many magical realism plots are told in cycles as opposed to linear logical timelines. The stories weave in and out, spiral and return, often playing with time.
The carnivalesque and ritual in magical realism:
Another theme found in a number of magical realism novels is the carnivalesque (or carnival), ritual and the "masque". These extraordinary events become bridges for those who don’t necessarily believe in everyday magic and offers a transition where they can slip into the magical world and experience unusual, sometimes paranormal events.

“The concept of carnival celebrates the body, the senses, and the relations between humans. "Carnival" refers to cultural manifestations that take place in different related forms in North and South America, Europe, and the Caribbean, often including particular language and dress, as well as the presence of a madman, fool, or clown. In addition, people organize and participate in dance, music, or theater. Latin American magical realists, for instance, explore the bright life-affirming side of the carnivalesque." – from the magical realism website, Marginal

This opens to door to a further realm of literature (which also slips intothe surrealism movement) and gives the author the opportunity to stretch it out there while still staying within the construct of reality. During carnivalesque scenes, whether in dream or reality, the characters' perception of events is altered by the music, the masks, the activities. The whole concept of carnival is to heighten and distort the senses, and a magical realism/surrealist author uses this as a device to highlight themes and address issues already set forth in their fiction.