Reeds, Kenneth S.

Dr. Kenneth S. Reeds holds a Ph.D in Comparative Literature from University College London. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Salem State University in the Department of Foreign Languages.

What is Magical Realism?: An Explanation of a Literary Style

2012 0-7734-2925-5
This is the first book to carefully show the ways that magical realism emerged in the twentieth century in places other than Latin America. For example, the definition is given that works must contain elements of the neo-fantastic along with re-casting history. Gabriel García Márquez being the acknowledged representative author of the genre contains both in his novels. Authors like Gunter Grass, Franz Kafka, Jorge-Luis Borges, and Alejo Carpenter all contain some but not all elements of the genre. They can be considered early progenitors but not fully within the same classification as magical realism. Today in its fully developed form, magical realism is often viewed as being purposefully vague with determining the lines between fact and magic.