Olga Tocarczuk And The Magical Realism

Olga Tokarczuk is one of the most influential female writers in contemporary Poland.In 1987,she formally showed up in the literary world through a poetry anthology City in the Mirror.She then published a number of novels afterwards,such as The Journey of Characters in the Book,Primeval and Other Times,etc.which received widespread praises from critics in Poland.Also,Olga Tokarczuk was the winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature,enjoying great fame at home and abroad.In her works,the history,reality and myth of Poland are mixed,creating a wealth of magical worlds for readers with her rich imagination.The content of her stories is often mysterious and symbolic with distinctive characteristics of magic realism.Since Tokarczuk’s being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature,China is gradually paying more attention to her works,which are being pushed by different circles,such as the literary circles,the press,academic circles and news media.However,domestic research on her works so far is still in the preliminary stage with limited achievements.That is not proportionate to the literary achievements of Tokarczuk.It is of great significance to promote and deepen the research of her works from the aspect of comparative literature.In terms of magic realism,this paper takes her works of Primeval and Other Times,House in the Day,House at Night,A Collection of Fantastic Stories,The Wardrobe and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead as research objects,to deeply analyze the relationship between her works and magic realism after systematically sorting out and integrating previous research results.In this process,this paper not only takes hold in theoretical interpretation,but is also closely linked to text,aiming to achieve the unity of theory and practice.The paper is divided into three parts of introduction,body and conclusion.The introduction part mainly describes Tokarczuk’s life and literary creation,the current research of her works at home and abroad,as well as the purpose and method of this paper.The body part consists of three chapters,mainly focusing on the relationship between Tokarczuk and magic realism.The first chapter compares the similarities and differences between her works and the Latin American magic realism,and preliminarily discusses the commonalities between her works and traditional magic realism.The second chapter analyzes the characteristics of magic realism in her works from four aspects,that is,narrative across the boundaries of time and space,creation of mysterious images,prototype introduction of mythical and religious legends,metaphor and symbol of dreams,etc.The third chapter explores the historical and practical significance of her works from the perspective of tradition,namely,concern for the national history and reality of Poland,universal concern for human nature and the root seeking of works,exploring the national cultural heritage hidden behind her magic realism.In the conclusion part,the writer summarizes the full paper,restates the relationship between Tokarczuk and magic realism,summarizes the characteristics of her works and elaborates her great contribution to the Polish literature.