Matter, memory, myth : recasting magic(al) realism.

Abstract

This thesis considers literary and other forms of magic(al) realism in the context of postcolonial studies. Its premise, simply put, is that magic(al) realism is best understood in terms of its historical- and new-materialist elements, that magic(al) realism occurs when nonhuman matter and human modes of interpretation, organization, and production coalesce in ways that reveal the agency of nonhuman matter, the contingency of historical-material conditions, but also the continuity of history across discrete human lives. While magic(al) realism has been used by creatives and critics of a broadly postcolonial persuasion, I argue that postcolonial theories of magic(al) realism do not fully account for the mode’s varied origins, its particular geohistorical movements, or its idiomatic emphasis on vibrant and storied matter. Of course, postcolonial theories of magic(al) realism are vital to accurate and useful accounts of the mode and its historical development. However, this thesis challenges some of the particular postcolonial theories that are dominant in magic(al)-realist literary studies, specifically identity-political theories of postcolonial magic(al) realism. By recasting magic(al) realism along historical- and new-materialist lines, this thesis provides a more ‘responsible’ account of magic(al) realism’s aesthetics and applications, postcolonial and otherwise; transcends impassable debates of who is ‘allowed’ to produce magic(al) realism, where, and after what influences; and identifies and rehearses possibilities for theories of magic(al) realism in the future. Indeed, it is to this effect that I develop my own concept of ‘magic(al)-materialism’. It is my sincerest hope that this thesis prompts other critics to consider and to take seriously materialist approaches to magic(al) realism and other modes.