magic realism

American  

Or magical realism

noun

1. a style of painting and literature in which fantastic or imaginary and often unsettling images or events are depicted in a sharply detailed, realistic manner.

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magic realism British  

noun

1. a style of painting or writing that depicts images or scenes of surreal fantasy in a representational or realistic way

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Other Word Forms

• magic realist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of magic realism

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

magic realism

“Tigers Are Not Afraid” was a horror film shot through with magic realism, and both those elements find a home in “Night Country.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2024

His 1979 work The Book of Laughter and Forgetting spanned seven narratives and containing elements of the magic realism genre, while in 1988 he wrote one of his best novels, Immortality.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2023

As in “Sorry to Bother You,” that world is a surreal, capitalist-dystopian version of our own, equal parts magic realism and B-movie sci-fi.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

There are surreal moments and scenes of magic realism.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2023

Songwriters draw on the grim language of news bulletins, and military terminology, put to literary use, takes on a kind of magic realism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2023