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Realism and Intertexuality in One Hundred Years of Solitude

Realism and Intertexuality in One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude has often been alluded to as a work of magical realism with many intertexual references. Magical realism can be defined as literature usually characterized by elements of the fantastic woven into the story with a deadpan sense of presentation. This is evident in many instances throughout the novel. Also, there are many intertexts within the work. Such outside sources that Marquez uses are The Bible and the style of the ancient Greeks, mainly the tragedians.

Wendy Faris best describes magical realism in that she believes that if a piece of fiction is truly magical realism it must have five primary characteristics. The first characteristic is that, “The text contains an ‘irreducible element’ of magic, something we cannot explain according to the laws of the universe as we know them” (Faris 167). This is evident throughout the book. Such examples from the text are the scene in which Jose Arcadio Buendia was murdered and blood ran through the streets to Ursula’s house. Garcia Marquez writes, “A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed up curbs…” (Marquez 144). As the reader we know that this is physically impossible for blood to travel and climb up objects. Another example is Remedios’ ascension into heaven. Marquez writes, “Amaranta felt a mysterious trembling in the lace on her petticoats and she tried to grasp the sheet so that she would not fall down at the instant in which Remedios the Beauty began to rise” (Marquez 255).

The second characteristic deals with descriptive details that create a realistic world out of the phenomenal (Faris 169). There are also many instances in the novel that this occurs. The reader is able to see this when Marquez writes about Melquiades’ manuscripts. The writings are detailed and there is a sense that these manuscripts actually exist. Another example is the town of Macondo itself. We, as the reader feel as if we could live there. Marquez produces this feeling through the use of descriptive, detailed and long sentences.

The third characteristic of magical realism evident in the novel...

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