The Aesthetics of a Magical Realism in Mujica Lainez’s Early Work

Abstract

Sandro Abate has suggested framing the novel El Laberinto by Manuel Mujica Lainez within the aesthetics of Latin American Magical Realism. According to Abate, this approach is possible as the novel abides by some of the main premises of that poetics, such as the “enchantment effect” making it possible to avoid rational categories as the only means to know reality. This paper is aimed at extending this extremely valuable contribution of Abate’s to the author’s early work. Certain aspects of Don Galaz de Buenos Aires, his first published novel and some of the short stories in Aquí vivieron and Misteriosa Buenos Aires showing –to different degrees of development– characteristics attributable to Magical Realism, have been considered. This line within the studies on Manuel Mujica Lainez’s work will allow for the rise of a series of issues that might be enriching. These issues include: the need to go deeper into certain categories such as Latin American miscegenation, marvelous space and reality from Argentinean authors’ standpoint; the use of a special language to describe marvel; the possibility to identify more Argentinean works and authors reflecting the aesthetics of Magical Realism and include them in a broader Latin American school of thought. Regarding specific studies on the author, hypothesis confirmation will serve to prove his frequently ignored capacity of renewal.