Quick definition of Magic Realism

A narrative technique that blurs the distinction between fantasy and reality. It is characterized by an equal acceptance of the ordinary and the extraordinary. Magic realism fuses (1) lyrical and, at times, fantastic writing with (2) an examination of the character of human existence and (3) an implicit criticism of society.

Time flows without the restriction of time. The writer suggests the supernatural atmosphere without denying the natural. Characters, things, and events are recognizable and reasonable, but because the narrator's intentions are to provoke strange feelings, the explanations are not clear or logical. There is no ambiguity in the characters; they are well defined, and they never appear confused or surprised about the supernatural.

Both magic realism and postcolonialism work against totalizing systems of thought of the imperial center. Both magic realism and postcolonialism negotiate the once tyrannical weight of colonial history in conjunction with the revalued local past.

Both mr and pc share a strong concern with the notion of marginalization, with the state of what we could call ex-centricity. Both grant value to the margin or the Other, and challenge any hegemonic force that presumes centrality.

Irony is popular rhetorical strategy of both. You can work within existing discourses, while at the same time contesting them through irony. One of the key concepts behind irony is doubleness. One of the results of the colonial mission is to establish a sense of duality, to impose cultural sameness, to impose its beliefs and institutions on the other, while at the same time maintaining and producing differentiations and discriminations.