A headline on Electric Lit promises a “master class on magic realism” and the lengthy article by Marie-Helene Bertino delivers. Bertino eschews definitions and instead examines why we want to take ourselves out of reality when we write. We do it every time we put pen to paper, regardless of genre. All writing translates reality to concept and is not itself reality.
“The working definitions and methods contained herein are imperfect. They are, however, mine,” Bertino says. “They are tools I’ve invented to classify work that falls within the realm of what I consider the uncanny. They are intended to provide ways to build the uncanny into a new practice or bolster an existing one.”
