THE PRESENCE OF MAGIC REALISM IN THE NOVEL AND SHORT STORY OF ŽIVKO ČINGO

Abstract

This paper first provides a brief history of the term Magic Realism, which is linked to two significant anniversaries: 100 years since the establishment of the term by the German art historian Franz Roh and 90 years since the birth of the Macedonian writer Živko Čingo. The primary aim of this paper is to highlight the magical realist writing style in Čingo's prose. The theoretical insights of Wendy Faris and her five constituent elements of magical realist narrative are utilized to achieve this. After conducting a detailed analysis with numerous examples from Čingo's work, the conclusion reaffirms and emphasizes Čingo's need to employ magic realism as the most fitting way to describe the Macedonian socialist reality, complete with all its anomalies.

Keywords: irreducible element of magic; phenomenal world; unsettling doubts; merging of different realms; disruptions of time, space, and identity.