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Lies that Tell the Truth
Magic Realism Seen through Contemporary Fiction from Britain
Series: - Costerus New Series Online, Volume: 155
- Costerus New Series, Volume: 155
Author:
Magic realism has long been treated as a phenomenon restricted to postcolonial literature. Drawing on works from Britain, Lies that Tell the Truth compellingly shows how magic realist fiction can be produced also at what is usually considered to be the cultural centre without forfeiting the modeâs postcolonial attitude and aims. A close analysis of works by Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, Jeanette Winterson, Robert Nye and others reveals how the techniques of magic realism generate a complex critique of the Westâs rational-empirical worldview from within a Western context itself. Understanding magic realism as a fictional analogue of anthropology and sociology, Lies that Tell the Truth reads the mode as a frequently humorous but at the same time critical investigation into peopleâs attempts to make sense of their world. By laying bare the manifold strategies employed to make meaning, magic realist fiction indicates that knowledge and reality cannot be reduced to hard facts, but that peopleâs dreams and fears, ideas, stories and beliefs must equally be taken into account.
Introduction
Part One: The Problem of Definition
Chapter 1 The Critical Debate: an Overview
Chapter 2 A Working Definition
Part Two: Literary Techniques
Chapter 3: Magic âMongrelâ Realism: The Adaptation of Other Genres and Modes
Chapter 4: Through AnOtherâs Eyes: Magic Realist Focalizers
Chapter 5: Mythos Meets Logos: Paradigms of Knowledge in Magic Realist Fiction
Chapter 6: Making the Real Fantastic and the Fantastic Real: Strategies of Destabilization
Chapter 7: Making the Immaterial Matter: Techniques of Literalization
Part Three: Magic or Mimesis? Reading the Mode
Chapter 8: Mimicking the Mind: Magic Realism as an Inquiry into Human Thought
Chapter 9: âThe only real ism of these back-to-front and jabberwocky daysâ: Mimicking a fantastic reality
Bibliography
Index
Part One: The Problem of Definition
Chapter 1 The Critical Debate: an Overview
Chapter 2 A Working Definition
Part Two: Literary Techniques
Chapter 3: Magic âMongrelâ Realism: The Adaptation of Other Genres and Modes
Chapter 4: Through AnOtherâs Eyes: Magic Realist Focalizers
Chapter 5: Mythos Meets Logos: Paradigms of Knowledge in Magic Realist Fiction
Chapter 6: Making the Real Fantastic and the Fantastic Real: Strategies of Destabilization
Chapter 7: Making the Immaterial Matter: Techniques of Literalization
Part Three: Magic or Mimesis? Reading the Mode
Chapter 8: Mimicking the Mind: Magic Realism as an Inquiry into Human Thought
Chapter 9: âThe only real ism of these back-to-front and jabberwocky daysâ: Mimicking a fantastic reality
Bibliography
Index