Gabriel Garcia MarquezBackground on ColombiaBiographyMagical Realism

History of Colombia

Spanish colony until 1810

1815 - General Murillo reconquers country

1820 - reliberated by Simon Bolivar, who became Colombia’s first president

1849 - beginning of feud between two political factions: Liberals and Conservatives

History of Colombia

1800s - Country nearly always in a state of civil war

Unrest between regional groups Coast = Liberals Mountains = Conservatives

History of Colombia

Imperialism American-run United Fruit Company comes

to Colombia (Aracataca) in 1910

1928 - Banana Strike Massacre American United Fruit Company took economic

control and exploited Colombian people Conservative government killed unarmed workers

holding a demonstration Denied by government and removed from history

books

GGM Photos

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Early Life

Born in 1928 (some say 1927) in Aracataca, a small town near the Caribbean coast of Colombia

Parents were poor and had 12 children

Gabriel (aka Gabito or Gabo) was the oldest child

GGM: Early Life

Lived with his mother’s parents until the age of 8 Grandparents against parents’ marriage for

political and military reasons

Influenced by grandparents

Began writing stories as a child

GGM: Early Life

Grandfather Military career - led Aracataca to become a

Liberal town Storyteller GGM’s closest bond Represented in some of GGM’s characters Told GGM there’s no greater burden than to

kill a man

Grandmother Storyteller - Superstitious - blurred lines

between living and dead

GGM: Early Life

At age 8, moved back with parents to river port of Sucre Town in Chronicle is modeled after Sucre

Attended boarding school

GGM: University

One of his professors would later become president of Colombia

Classmates with Camilo Torres - active in guerilla movement later in life

Studied law, but dropped out of law school in 1950

History of Colombia

La Violencia - 150,000 Colombians killed by 1953 Liberal Jorge Gaitan investigated Banana

Massacre 1946 - Conservatives terrorized Liberal voters,

murdering them 1947 - Gaitan became party leader 1948 - Gaitan assassinated

3 days of deadly riots Guerilla soldiers killed 2500 Peasants fled to Venezuela

World Events

1949 - tyrant ruler Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro took power

1957 - Colombian dictatorship in full force- curfews, news blackouts - dictator fled

1959-1961 - Cuban Revolution

GGM: Middle Years

Lived in a brothel Friends with and taken care of by

prostitutes Portrays prostitutes favorably in his novels

Lived in and worked in many countries France Cuba Mexico England United States

GGM: Middle Years - Marriage

1958 - Married Mercedes Barcha Childhood sweetheart Known as “the sacred crocodile” due to Egyptian

origin He first proposed when he was only 13

GGM: Middle Years

After Cuban Revolution, returned to Central America

Worked as a journalist and a screenwriter First newspaper jobs - wrote about

various topics: astrology, twins, the length of women’s skirts

As a journalist, worked for magazines and newspapers, some of which had political overtones

GGM: Political Conflict

1981 - returned to Colombia only to be accused by the government of funding a guerilla group

Promptly fled to Mexico

Covers of Chronicle

GGM: Writing

Has said his stories came from an image and not an idea

Published Chronicle of a Death Foretold in 1981 Supposedly, Fidel Castro helped him edit it!

Won Nobel Prize for literature in 1982

Known for Magical Realism

Most famous novels: One Hundred Years of Solitude Love in the Time of Cholera

GGM: Writing

Major literary influence: Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (we’re

reading this!) Taught him that narrative didn’t have to

unfold by a traditional plot

Read works of: Faulkner Hemingway Joyce Virginia Woolf

Magical Realism

Originally used in 1920s by German art critic Franz Roh to describe a style of painting

Mixes realism with fantasy, supernatural, and dreamlike elements or references to myths and fairy tales

Magical Realism

Setting is “normal,” not fantasy

Time seems timeless - not chronological - shifts

Narrative sounds reliable despite fantasy elements

Challenges polar opposites like life and death by linking them

Ordinary events and descriptions

Magical Realism

Horror

The inexplicable

Strong narrative drive - contains a message

Fantasy elements never explained

Another example of Magical Realism

Amelie

A French film from 2001

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet Delicatessen (1991) Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Classified as Magical Realism

Amelie

Audrey Tautou Plays Amelie You know her from The Da Vinci Code (Sophie

Neveu) Originally Emily Watson was supposed to play

Amelie Couldn’t speak French Another commitment in London

Amelie

Mathieu Kassovitz Plays Nino You may recognize him from Munich

Dominique Pinon Plays Joseph Also starred in Delicatessen

Jamel Debbouze Plays Lucien Made a rap featuring Snoop Dogg