or magical realism
Latin-American literary phenomenon characterized by the matter-of-fact incorporation of fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction. The term was first applied to literature in the 1940s by the Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980), who recognized the tendency of his region's contemporary storytellers as well as contemporary novelists to illuminate the mundane by means of the fabulous. Prominent practitioners include Gabriel Garcia Marquez , Jorge Amado , Jorge Luis Borges , Miguel Angel Asturias , Julio Cortazar , and Isabel Allende
born 1942
.
The term has been applied to literature and art outside of Latin America as well.