The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)

While many studies have focused on Salman Rushdie’s use of magic realism in his highly-acclaimed novels, the way it is employed in his children’s fiction remains understudied. This paper, hence, attempts to fill in this gap by applying Anne Hegerfeldt’s (2005)’s theoretical framework on magic realis...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ali, Nuurzahirah, Mohd Ramli, Aimillia
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/1/75116_The%20real%20in%20the%20magic.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/2/75116_The%20real%20in%20the%20magic_SCOPUS.pdf
_version_ 1848788069233197056
author Ali, Nuurzahirah
Mohd Ramli, Aimillia
author_facet Ali, Nuurzahirah
Mohd Ramli, Aimillia
author_sort Ali, Nuurzahirah
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
description While many studies have focused on Salman Rushdie’s use of magic realism in his highly-acclaimed novels, the way it is employed in his children’s fiction remains understudied. This paper, hence, attempts to fill in this gap by applying Anne Hegerfeldt’s (2005)’s theoretical framework on magic realism onto its reading of Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990). This framework relies on five techniques or features namely: a realist mode of writing to describe fantastic events and characters; a marginalized focaliser; subverted scientific and historical discourses; a supernatural reality; and, finally, a literal manifestation of a figurative expression. This paper also suggests that Rushdie employs magic realism to undermine the realist narrative mode as well as scientific and historical discourses in order to present an alternative worldview that places narrative knowledge, gathered from stories with magical characters and events, as a legitimate source of knowledge regarding the world.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T17:34:58Z
format Article
id iium-75116
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T17:34:58Z
publishDate 2019
publisher Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling iium-751162020-08-19T03:08:57Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/ The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990) Ali, Nuurzahirah Mohd Ramli, Aimillia PE English While many studies have focused on Salman Rushdie’s use of magic realism in his highly-acclaimed novels, the way it is employed in his children’s fiction remains understudied. This paper, hence, attempts to fill in this gap by applying Anne Hegerfeldt’s (2005)’s theoretical framework on magic realism onto its reading of Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990). This framework relies on five techniques or features namely: a realist mode of writing to describe fantastic events and characters; a marginalized focaliser; subverted scientific and historical discourses; a supernatural reality; and, finally, a literal manifestation of a figurative expression. This paper also suggests that Rushdie employs magic realism to undermine the realist narrative mode as well as scientific and historical discourses in order to present an alternative worldview that places narrative knowledge, gathered from stories with magical characters and events, as a legitimate source of knowledge regarding the world. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia 2019 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/1/75116_The%20real%20in%20the%20magic.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/2/75116_The%20real%20in%20the%20magic_SCOPUS.pdf Ali, Nuurzahirah and Mohd Ramli, Aimillia (2019) The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990). Kemanusian: The Asian Journal of Humanities, 26 (2). pp. 123-139. ISSN 1394-9330 E-ISSN 2180-4257 http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol26_2_2019/kajh26022019_06.pdf
spellingShingle PE English
Ali, Nuurzahirah
Mohd Ramli, Aimillia
The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
title The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
title_full The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
title_fullStr The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
title_full_unstemmed The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
title_short The real in the magic: a study of magic realism in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
title_sort real in the magic: a study of magic realism in salman rushdie’s haroun and the sea of stories (1990)
topic PE English
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/1/75116_The%20real%20in%20the%20magic.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75116/2/75116_The%20real%20in%20the%20magic_SCOPUS.pdf