A RE-EVALUATION OF MAGIC REALISM IN BEN OKRI’S THE FAMISHED ROAD AND NGUGI WA THIONGO’S WIZARD OF THE CROW

Abstract

In literature, magic realism is an artistic technique or genre of fiction in which mysterious elements intermingle with the real world. Unfortunately, most critics of magic realism tend to ground magic realism as shallow, dangerous, primitive, a term that we ought to do away with and a term arising out of post colonial unevenly developed society as well as an expression of a particular belief system. This paper therefore, re-evaluates magic realism. It sees magic realism as not only a post colonial style of writing but a term that should not be done away with. It sees magic realism as a productive fictional mode of critique. A style of writing that includes innovation, political, literary and post modern currents. In this paper, Ben Okri’s The famished Road is seen as a magic realist attempt at a critical presentation of the travails of life in the author’s contemporary society. The Famished Road is seen as a graphical representation of the mysterious relationship between man and his circumstances and the nature of human existence in the author’s society. Ngugi wa Thiongo in Wizard of the Crow uses Magical realism as a tool to mock leadership in Africa. He does this by effectively manipulating the realistic mode. Here, character representation exceeds the limits of conventional realism. The two works throws light to the fact that magic realism is not shallow but occupies a pivotal position in literature, it reflects cultural, literary and political currents. This research work is hinged on Carl Jung’s Mythological criticism.