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59 Pages : 487-493

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-IV).59      10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-IV).59      Published : Dec 2019

Magical Realism Revisited in Erdrich's Tracks: An Interactional Thick Inscription

    This study revisits Louise Erdrich's practice of 'magic realism' to explain how the realistic presentation of unreal elements in Erdrich's writings differs from the western expression of magic realism. With the interactional thick inscription of Erdrich's magic realism, this study argues that the unreal events in Tracks are not based on Erdrich's imagination but the spiritual facts of her inheritance. Her description of naturalcum-supernatural elements cohesively achieves a synthesis of the Chippewa Anishinaabe magic-realistic world and, simultaneously, derives the social and cultural hierarchy of the Native American world. She appropriates the western concept of 'magic realism' to enlighten her oral tradition in 20th-century non-native societies. This appropriation explores the individuality of Native American traditional ways of being that have been considered cultural nonsense in modern academia. This interactional thick inscription of delimited text systematically inscribes the pre-Columbian context of 20th century Chippewa Anishinaabe, the Canadian border, and defines Erdrich's quest for her native identity.

    Anishinaabe, Culture, Erdrich, Magic Realism, Myth, Oral Tradition
    (1) Qasim Shafiq
    PhD Candidate, Department of English, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan.
    (2) Sardar Ahmad Farooq
    Lecturer in English, Department of English, Government Postgraduate College Mansehra, KP, Pakistan.
    (3) Asim Aqeel
    Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Linguistics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.

24 Pages : 246-255

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-I).24      10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-I).24      Published : Mar 2021

Magical Realism: Portrayal of Human Suffering in The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

    Magical realism is a genre of literature where fantasy and magic are normalized in reality, and the real world has an undercurrent of magical elements going on. The research is based on the qualitative method within the framework of the theory of Magical Realism presented by Wendy B. Faris (2004). The study at hand explores different aspects of magical realism in the selected novel by analyzing major themes according to Faris's theory of Magical Realism. The research aims to show how the typical presences of people in the novel have been super naturalized through heavenly magical realist segments. Moreover, the significance of this study lies in the fact that it explored seemingly opposite phenomena of 'magic' and 'realism' and established a connection between them. The study seeks to find how each character of the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is enduring in their own particular manner, representing the suffering of individuals in the real world considering the situation after World Wars. This research will open the ways for future researchers to work in the direction of magical realism and enhance its scope in general.

    The Absurdity of Modern Life, Faris's Magical Realism, Feelings in the Food, Magic, Realism, Ordinary Sufferings
    (1) Aemen Murtaza
    MPhil Scholar, Department of English, The Women University Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (2) Mamona Yasmin Khan
    Assistant Professor, Department of English, The Women University Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (3) Masroor Sibtain
    Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government Graduate College of Science, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.