similarities between gothic literature and magical realism

In my opinion the best bet as a creator is to simply forget about genre and make whatever it is you want to make and somebody who reads or plays or looks at your stuff will give it a label somewhere down the line. Works are sometimes intended to be in conversation with a particular genre and instead find themselves most often considered as belonging to a different one. Works belong to multiple genres at once and that's okay. The thing about genre is that it's labels we've made up to apply to works, often for the sake of academic analysis, frequently for the sake of marketing, and they all overlap. People read the label and make assumptions about the thing and that's how we get 'urban fantasy is about fantasy stories that take place in cities'. I could make something up based on the name but that's often the trap of these labels.

Ghosts exist and everyone knows about them and really it's a metaphor for overbearing parents and the weight of tradition (for example).Ī quick browse at Wikipedia suggests Supernatural Fiction is in the vein of old ghost stories where something happens and unlike Scooby Doo or Sherlock Holmes the answer in the end is 'ghosts' instead of a clever trick.įantastic realism doesn't have a wikipedia page, I've never heard it before so I can't quite help you hear. Nobody is surprised that they're being haunted by the ghost of their mother in magical realism. Magical Realism is literary genre popular in South American literature where magical things are treated as mundane realities within the world of the story. It is a direct descendant of Gothic Fantasy and uses lots of the same themes and monsters. Fantasy that takes place in the 1800s or later is called 'urban fantasy' in reference to this. In the 19th century the amount of human beings living in cities finally exceeded the amount of humans living in the countryside. I really want to know the difference between all of them so I can better tell them apart and how much of an overlap they all have to each other. I wanted to build something like that, but I've been finding it hard to research any media using it because the internet always points me to either urban fantasy, magical realism or supernatural fiction. I really like the idea of a fictional world reflecting the real world and it's conflicts without (or with very little) magical intervention. (Fictional countries, fictional currency, fictional religions, similar politics, similar technology, pretty much no fantasy/magical elements, but some are hinted at but with great scepticism and doubt). Which is pretty much set in a fictional world of the real world. From what I've read supernatural fiction is 'real world with fantasy elements that contradict the real world.'Īnother term I found interesting, but haven't been able to find much research on is 'fantastic realism.' There was an art group in the 1950's who's works were described as such (known for depicting real life trauma/experiences in a fantasy context but painted realistically).īut I've also seen 'fantastic realism' used to describe worlds in media, like the game Disco Elysium.

However, reading up on supernatural, I'm not sure if I can tell the difference between it and urban fantasy. Now I'm not sure if I hit the nail on the head or not because I'm very new to world building (and the worlds I have built are entirely fantasy). From what I've read urban fantasy is more 'real world with fantasy elements that are considered unusual' and magical fantasy is 'real world where magical elements are considered normal.' I think I have a clear understanding of the difference between urban fantasy and magical realism.

Similarities between gothic literature and magical realism