Magic Realism in Haroun and the Sea of Stories

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What is Magic Realism?
The definition for magic realism can be explained as fantasy combined with realism: a style of art or literature that depicts fantastic or mythological subjects in a realistic manner. “Magic realism--the capacity to enrich our idea of what is 'real' by incorporating all dimensions of the imagination, particularly as expressed in magic, myth and religion.” (Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia)

Examples of Magic Realism

Invisible Tap
Rashid tells Haroun where he receives the source of his stories—the Invisible Tap—installed by a Water Genie.” I drink the warm story waters and I feel full of steam. It comes out of an invisible Tap installed by one of the Water Genies”(Rashid,17)The magic realism here is the tap itself appearing to be a normal or real object, but actually it dispenses Story Waters, where Rashid receives stories that made him the infamous “Ocean of Notions”. [pic]

Twilight Strip and Chattergy’s Wall
Iff the Water Genie and Butt the Hoopoe explain to Haroun the location of the Twilight Strip “As a result the Land of Gup is bathed in endless Sunshine, while over in Chup it’s always the middle of the night. In between the two lies the Twilight Strip, in which the Guppees long ago constructed an unbreakable (and also invisible) Wall of Force.”(Butt the Hoopoe, 80)The Twilight Strip is what separates the darkness—from the land of Chup—from the endless light--- from the land of Gup.The magic realism shown is that Chattergy’s Wall and the Twilight Strip are both barriers, but cannot be seen because they are invisible, like the equator for example.

The Ocean of the Stream of Story
[pic]Haroun is depressed about his father losing his subscription of Story Water, and his mother leaving. Iff the Water Genie tells Haroun about the Ocean of the Stream of Story, and the Ocean’s magic begins to cheer him up." He looked into the water and saw that it was made up of a thousand thousand thousand and one different currents, each...
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