HL808: Introduction to Magical Realism
In this module we will be exploring the literary and
cinematic style known as magical realism. This term describes a work of fiction
or a film which introduces an element of magic into the everyday lives of its characters.
In magical realism, miracles take place in broad daylight and ordinary people
undergo strange transformations: men are turned into giant insects, the dead
are brought back to life, women predict the future or ascend to heaven while
folding their laundry. And it is typical of magical realism that such miracles
should be seen not as something unusual or bizarre, but as evidence that there
is magic to be found in even the most ordinary of lives.
Since first achieving widespread
recognition in the 1960s, magical realism has become a global phenomenon,
making its presence felt in everything from The Simpsons to Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The module will reflect this diversity by focusing on
literature and films produced in various different times and places. Our
discussion will be structured around Franz Kafka’s powerful novella, Metamorphosis,
and two short novels: Gabriel García Márquez’s Of Love and Other Demons,
and Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate. We will also be looking
at a number of magical realist films, and one of Shakespeare’s simplest and
most engaging plays, The Tempest.
Our primary objective will be to
explore the relationship between the magical and the real within each text, and
to understand the wider significance of the author’s decision to bring them
together in such a way.
Core Texts
FICTION
Laura Esquivel, Like
Water for Chocolate (Black Swan 1993)
Gabriel García
Márquez, Of Love and Other Demons (Penguin 1996)
Franz
Kafka, Metamorphosis (Penguin 2006)
William Shakespeare,
The Tempest (Oxford
World’s Classics 1998)
(All four texts
will be available at Popular Bookstore, NTU. Additional reference material will
be provided in class.)
FILMS
Amélie (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet; 2001)
Like Water for
Chocolate (dir. Alfonso
Arau; 1992)
Run Lola Run (dir. Tom Tykwer; 1998)
(All
three films will be available for viewing at the NTU Media Library.)
Assessment
Coursework
essay 50%
Examination 50%
Dr. Bede Scott
S3.2–B4–08
67906714
Week |
Topics |
Readings |
1 12 Aug |
Introduction
to Module |
|
2 19 Aug |
Defining
Magical Realism |
|
3 26 Aug |
Magical
Realism and the Grotesque I |
Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis |
4 2 Sept |
Magical
Realism and the Grotesque II |
Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis |
5 9 Sept |
Magical
Realism and the New World I |
Gabriel García
Márquez, Of Love and Other Demons |
6 16 Sept |
Magical
Realism and the New World II |
Gabriel García
Márquez, Of Love and Other Demons |
7 23 Sept |
Magical
Realism in Film |
FILM: Amélie |
8 |
Recess |
|
9 7 Oct |
Magical
Realism and Gender I |
Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate |
10 14 Oct |
Magical
Realism and Gender II |
Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate |
11 21 Oct |
Magical
Realism and Empire |
William Shakespeare,
The Tempest |
12 28 Oct |
Magical
Realism in Film |
FILM: Run Lola Run |
13 4 Nov |
Conclusion/Revision |
|