Conclusion

Summary

This book has examined the use of magical realism in Ovid's Metamorphoses, using García Márquez's Cien años de soledad as a comparative tool. Chapter one examined how magical realist effects were produced by manipulating aspects of narration; cultural perspectives were explored in chapter two, specifically how and to what effect these were incorporated into the texts by the authors. The third chapter analysed the influences of Latin America upon García Márquez's novel, exploring political, historical and cultural spheres. Finally, case studies were used in chapter four to examine realistic depiction, and how magical realism can supplement the failings of the realist mode in expressing reality. It now remains to use the evidence considered in the previous chapters to offer specific conclusions regarding the role of magical realism in Ovid's poem.

Chapter Analysis

The first chapter was primarily concerned to analyse how the narrator of the text produces a magical realist effect; it explored the various techniques involved and the ways in which these devices act to invoke a magical realist tone. It began by studying the first overtly magical instance from García Márquez's text, the transformation of a gypsy into a puddle, and isolated the features that produced its magical realist effect. It noted the careful manipulation of the reader by the narrator through characters' unsurprised responses to magical events, and the narrator's own deadpan response.