Much literature of Latin America is characterized by magical realism, sometimes referred to as symbolic mysticism. Much of the time, this means that the writer blends together naturalism and supernaturalism seamlessly. Often the literature of this area incorporates folktales and legends into the text, making the legends appear a natural part of the author's work. Magical realism erases the borders between the character's reality, the explicable and the inexplicable, and the natural world and the magical world.

Traditional Western literature has relied upon literary realism for more than one hundred years. This "realism" attempts to create a story and characters that are plausible, a representation of our everyday lives. The literature of magical realism attempts to portray the unusual, the spiritual, and the mystical, as ordinary facets of the character's lives. For the reader, magical realism requires an acceptance of the coexistence of the real and...