Magic Realism and Gabriel Garcia Marquez When life and art combine!

Timeline with real-but sometimes absurd facts: Born 1927. His father, a postal clerk, telegraph operator and itinerant pharmacist--could barely support his wife and 12 children; Gabriel, the eldest, spent his early childhood living in the large, ramshackle house of his maternal grandparents. Age 9, his grandfather dies, and he is sent to live with his parents and then, boarding school.  1947, majoring in law in Bogota—falls in love with writing and literature, thanks to Franz Kafka, German Existentialist writer whom we will study after our Middle Eastern Unit. The school is burned down in 1949, during a revolution in Columbia Working as a journalist, he must flee South America for Europe in 1955, starts his first novel.

More real life: 1957, In Paris, Gabriel García Márquez led a hand-to- mouth existence, resorting on occasion to dumpster diving for food. During the war in Algeria, he frequented the separatist National Liberation Front. He was even arrested and roughed up by the French police who had taken him for an "Algerian rebel.“ In 1958, he married Mercedes Barcha, whom he had known since his student days and for whom he has expressed boundless admiration. She accompanied him throughout his life. He explained the secret of marital success: "There are three lives: public life, private life and secret life. Women are present in all three. I get along better with women than I do with men. 1959, moved to Mexico City. Admired Castro, Cuban Revolution, and American Cinema. Moved back to Columbia in the 1960s. Nobel Prize 1982. Said he loves music more than literature. Friends included Fidel Castro, Robert Redford, Barack Obama, and Shakira Died 2014, age 87. considered father of magic realism and Latin American Literature

What is Magic Realism Magical realism is characterized by two conflicting perspectives, one based on a so-called rational view of reality and the other on the acceptance of the supernatural as reality. Magical realism differs from pure fantasy primarily because it is set in a normal, modern world with authentic descriptions of humans and society. It is a paradox of real and magic both being either real or magical. Often absurd, and inspired by Latin American postcolonialism and French and German Existentialism. The idea that truth has many diminisions holds true. Characteristics: Multiethnic and multicultural perspectives. Irony. Paradox. Mixing supernatural and real seamlessly. Author does not state a clear opinion or message—open to multiple interpretations of truth. Relates to surrealist or dadaism in artworld.