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1 Decembrie 1918  University of Alba Iulia	Centre for the research of the imaginary SPECULUM 1 Decembrie 1918  University of Alba Iulia	University of South Africa

 

                                               

 

 

invite you to submit papers for the conference

 

 

Magical Realism in Literature

 

 

Venue: Virtual or 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia

Date:  June 13^th –15^th 2024

 

The term magical realism was coined around 1924 or 1925 by a German art critic named Franz Roh. What he called

magical realism was simply a painting where real forms are combined in a way that does not conform to daily reality, an

expressionist painting in fact. If surrealism pursued the magic, one would have to say that it very rarely looked for it in

reality. The magical real, that is another way of perceiving reality, is encountered in its raw state, latent and

omnipresent, in all that is Latin American.  Here the strange is and always was commonplace. (Alejo Carpentier, The

Baroque and the Marvelous Real. Magical Realism. Ed. Zamora and Faris, p. 102-104).

In magical realism we look at the world, this same world, with new eyes. We are offered a new style that is thoroughly of this world that celebrates the mundane. This new world of objects is still alien to the current idea of realism. It employs various techniques that endow all things with a deeper meaning and reveal mysteries that always threaten the secure tranquility of simple and ingenuous things. This art offers a calm admiration of the magic of being, of the discovery that things already have their own faces. This means that the ground in which the most diverse ideas in the world can take root has been reconquered in new ways. For the new art it is a question of representing before our eyes, in an intuitive way, the fact, the interior figure, of the exterior world. (Franz Roh, Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism (1925). Magical Realism. Ed. L. P. Zamora and W. B. Faris. Durham: Duke UP, 1995. p. 15-32)

In magical realism we find the transformation of the common and the everyday into the awesome and the unreal. It is predominantly an art of surprises. Time exists in a kind of timeless fluidity and the unreal happens as part of reality. Once the reader accepts the fait accompli, the rest follows with logical precision (Angel Flores, Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction. Magical Realism. Ed.  Zamora and Faris, p. 113-116).

Magical realism is, more than anything else, an attitude toward reality that can be expressed in popular or cultured forms, in elaborate or rustic styles in closed or open structures. In magical realism the writer confronts reality and tries to untangle it, to discover what is mysterious in things, in life, in human acts. The principal thing is not the creation of imaginary beings or worlds but the discovery of the mysterious relationship between man and his circumstances. In magical realism key events have no logical or psychological explanation. The magical realist does not try to copy the surrounding reality or to wound it, but to seize the mystery that breathes behind things. (Luis Leal, Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature.  Magical Realism. Ed. Zamora and Faris, p. 119-123).

In a more or less conscious way, magical realism is present in tales, in numerous expressionist creations, and some of the most representative authors of this genre are Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Haruki Murakami, Olga Tokarczuk, Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Mo Yan, Aimee Bender, Edward Swift, Eowyn Ivey, Neil Gaiman, Leslye Walton, Chloe Benjamin, etc.

 

Your papers can focus on one of the following topics:

 

The society mirrored in magical realism

Tales as an expression of magical realism

On text-building in magical realism

Magical realism in Latin-American literature

Magical realism and the therapeutic novel

On time and space in magical realism

Magical realism between literature and art

 

 

 

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

 

Those interested in presenting a paper (not more than 25 minutes in length) are requested to submit the title together with an abstract in English of not more than 300 words, accompanied by at least 5 keywords, via e-mail before April 15^st, 2024. You will receive confirmation of participation via e-mail by May 15^st, 2024. Prior to their publication, papers, written either in English, French or Romanian will be reviewed by the editorial committee. After selection, the papers will be published in Incursiuni în imaginar, the Speculum’s Center review, Alba Iulia, Romania (Erih+, EBSCO, MLA, CEEOL, Cosmos).

 

 

Send abstracts for the papers by e-mail to

Maria Mureşan: elimuresan@gmail.com

Rodica Gabriela Chira: rogabchira@yahoo.fr

 

Organizing committee:

Gabriela CHICIUDEAN, Maria MUREŞAN, Lucian Vasile BÂGIU, Cristina Matilda VĂNOAGĂ, Diana AVRAM, Rodica Gabriela CHIRA, Simona BUZAŞI (1 Decembrie 1918 University, Romania); Sibusiso H. MADONDO (Universitatea din Africa de Sud)

 

Scientific Committee:

Prof. Philippe WALTER (Universitatea Stendhal, Grenoble III, Franţa)

Prof. Corin BRAGA (Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, România)

Prof. Ruxandra CESEREANU (Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca, România)

Prof. Anna CAIOZZO (Universitatea Paris-Diderot - Paris 7, Franţa)

Prof. Sibusiso H. MADONDO (Universitatea din Africa de Sud)

Prof. Madeea AXINCIUC (Universitatea din Bucureşti, România)

Prof. Felix NICOLAU (Universitatea Complutense Madrid, Spania)
Prof. Virginia POPOVICI (Universitatea din Novisad, Serbia)

Prof. Dragoş VARGA (Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu)

Prof. Doina BUTIURCĂ, (Universitatea de Medicină, Farmacie, Ştiinţe şi Tehnologie George Emil Palade, Târgu-Mureş, România)

Dr. Rodica Gabriela CHIRA (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

Dr. Luminiţa CHIOREAN (Universitatea de Medicină, Farmacie, Ştiinţe şi Tehnologie George Emil Palade, Târgu-Mureş, România)

Dr. Corina BOZEDEAN (Universitatea de Medicină, Farmacie, Ştiinţe şi Tehnologie George Emil Palade, Târgu-Mureş, România)

Dr. Valerica SPORIŞ (Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu)

Dr. Rodica GRIGORE (Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu)

Dr. Crina HERŢEG (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

Dr. Coralia TELEA (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

Dr. Petru Ştefan IONESCU (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

Dr. Gabriel BĂRBULEŢ (Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, România)

Dr. Oana Andreea SÂMBRIAN (Institutul de Cercetări Socio-Umane, Craiova, România)

Dr. Dana SALA (Universitatea din Oadea)

Dr. Delia Maria RADU (Universitatea din Oradea)

Dr. Silviu MIHĂILĂ (Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti)

 

Contact person:

Maria MUREŞAN: elimuresan@gmail.com

Gabruiela CHICIUDEAN: gabrielachiciudean@gmail.com