A Hybrid Discourse: From Latin American Magic Realism to the British Postcolonial Postmodern Novel

Öz

The aim of this study is to theoretically trace the evolution of Latin American magic realism, of the early 20^th century, into the British postcolonial postmodern novel, of the late 20^th century. In many contemporary British novels, postmodern narrative strategies and postcolonial subject matter are amalgamated within magic realist frameworks. Through this blending, these novels contribute to the enrichment of both the postmodern and the postcolonial discourses by eliminating the hierarchy between conventional binary oppositions, such as between reality and magic, ‘us’ and ‘them,’ and the West and the East. A unique recontextualization in itself, postcolonial postmodern fabulation enables opening up a hybrid discourse in which alternative representations of (post)colonial experiences can be articulated, as well as valued. Yet the fact that the roots of this discourse lie in Latin American magic realism is almost always overlooked. To this end, this study clarifies the close links among these various literary and cultural perspectives to suggest that the resulting discourse, which is essentially hybrid, bridges the postcolonial and the postmodern.