Réalisme magique et réalisme merveilleux: des théories aux poétiques (review)

The arguments and analyses of this book are based on the distinction the author makes between magical realism and 'réalisme merveilleux' which, he says, are essentially 'faux jumeaux' (p. 11). The first part of the book seeks to bring out the differences between the two notions, which, even if they are sometimes used interchangeably, are based on, Scheel says, different cultural connotations and theoretical references. Taking a historical approach to the twentieth-century development of the concept of the fantastic, the author sees four distinct periods of change and innovation: first, he traces the initial mentions of the concept from 1925 to 1940, and notably in Franz Roh's Magischer Realismus (1925) and in Massimo Bontempelli's writings on contemporary aesthetics. Second, Scheel considers the period from 1948 to 1973, in which the notion of the 'real maravilloso americano' ignited the naissant Latin American literary scene, and also, less famously but none the less significantly, the Haitian author Jacques-Stephen Alexis presented his influential theories on the 'Ré alisme merveilleux des Haï tiens' at the Sorbonne (1956). Taking care to explain the controversies and debates that have characterized the evolution of the idea of the fantastic, the author presents the period from 1974 to 1987 as one of deepening and diversifying critical reflection, and pays particular attention to the work of Irlemar Chiampi and Amaryll Chanady. The latter in particular is seen by Scheel as the most perceptive of all critics of magical realism. During the period from 1988 to the present, the book argues, anglophone magical realism has been harnessed to the emerging concepts of postcolonialism and world literature, a development that Scheel views with some scepticism. At the same time, Scheel's own work has sought to distinguish between the anglophone, anti-colonial 'cultural studies' model of magical realism and what he sees as the less reductive, more formally engaged criticism of French- and Spanish-speaking authors. The second part of the book is a series of analyses of selected works by Roh, Carpentier, Alexis, Chiampi and Faulkner, which are dealt with competently, and which demonstrate the virtues of Scheel's textually engaged approach. Although its structure and style recall at times those of a graduate dissertation (albeit a very good one), and if it perhaps lacks a convincing and coherent conclusion, this is an engaging work that offers a very useful introduction to the evolution of magical realism and 'réalisme merveilleux'.