#But certain kinds of literary analysis r um. Not. My thing. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bsaka7 · 2 years ago

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i am mellowing my anti-english major opinion (some of my beloved friends were English majors ok) bc i just learned about the literary usage of the term "magical realism" and how it's related to post-colonial latin america and latin american indigenous knowledge and practice... something i vaguely was aware of as a connection bc like... Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but really didn't know at all about its categorical use and IMPORTANCE and had no idea how "watered down" the term is popular culture. anyway ppl who know about english and witness my constant book talk/hating/grumping... feel free to weigh in/correct me etc on things like this now and in the future....

#I was previously annoyed with how some north American indigenous authors had been lumped in with my like. Lay understanding #Of magical realism #Which is how the convo started. And I def am learning a lot about the connotations of the term #Needless to say I have removed the tag from my fic that used it and replaced it with 'everyday fantasy'#Idk like it seems like bc of said popular understanding there is a broader meaning #But I know this now and will know it forever #Also like....interesting debate about the contours of the term in relationship to geography and colonial power I think #Definitely well within my interests so very happy to learn #I should clarify I'm like not totally anti English as a discipline lol #But certain kinds of literary analysis r um. Not. My thing.#And have dunked on them heavily in history classes lol.#But I like understand the importance of multidisciplinary connections... Like in this case lol #Anyway we're not getting into my philosophies here I'm just saying I learned something #Also like. I think my misunderstanding of the term was explicitly due to the tag being used in fic lol #I should say also that like my reading world is probably still fairly western centric and American centric which affects this #Though I have been trying to read more translations from across the world #I try to do a balance #Anyway thoughts etc

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