LIT 2000 Lecture 6: Beloved Overview 1

• School: University of Florida
• Department: Literature
• Course: LIT 2000
• Professor: Thomas Kayley

Document Summary

Often times beloved is classified under the literary genre of magical realism. By definition, magical realism is an unexpected alteration of reality: an unaccustomed insight that is singularly favored by the unexpected richness of reality or an amplification of the scale and categories of reality. It achieves its power by weaving together elements we tend to associate with realism and elements we associate with fabulous. Characteristics: a(cid:374) (cid:862)irredu(cid:272)i(cid:271)le(cid:863) (cid:373)agic which cannot be explained by typical notions of natural law, a realist description that stresses normal, common, and every day phenomena, which is then revised by the marvelous. Extreme or amplified states of mind or setting are often used to accomplish this. This distinguishes the genre from true fantasy. It causes the reader to be draen between two views of reality: these two visions or realms nearly merge or intersect, time is both history and timeless.