Magic Realism or Superstition It-s Literary Application in Selected Works of African writers- Elechi Amadi-s Trilogy and Zakes Mda-s Ways of Dying,.pdf

The term "MAGIC REALISM originated from the literary works of Chiampi. Chanady and Faris are among the European writers' circle. But the term superstition, which is its African equivalent, has been in existence since the evolution of African cosmology, grounded in African mythology and legends. The term signifies a mode of narration that naturalizes the supernatural, representing real and unreal in a state of equivalence. A text that deals with the supernatural could rightly be described as a magic realist text. Wendy B. Faris posits that a text which is a magic realist must show an "irreducible element of magic, and this must be represented within a setting that adheres to the usual demands of realism" (7). This implies that the text constructs an empirically verifiable object world but includes within that world events that fall outside the boundaries of rational explanation. It exhibits the existence of supernatural impression and phenomenon, which presents as a living continuity between antiquity and modernity, the natural and the fantasy in a work of art.