As
you know I am active on the Magic
Realism Facebook Group as
well as on the Magic Realism group on Goodreads. It is the fate of
all people interested in magic realism to be endlessly discussing the
definition of magic realism. One of the recurring debates is whether
we “white westeners” can really write magic realism. We are so
out of touch with our magical roots, that we are playing at magic
realism, whereas other cultures still have magic at their centre.
There is a lot to say for that point of view. And sometimes I do
indeed feel a fraud.
But then I think about
my childhood and I realise that in some ways I too grew up in a world
infused with magic. I went to a small Church of England school, where
I learned the bible stories, which were then reinforced by what I
learned at Sunday School. My childhood faith was profound and I
believed in a world in which angels and devils existed in equal
quantities.
But there was also
another magical world that was part of my childhood, one which had
its roots in pre-Christian tradition. There was for example the story
of the Black Dog. The dog was said to have eyes of fire and be huge
in size. It was a supernatural beast, the sight of which foretold
death. A hound of hell. Those of you familiar with British folktale
will know that the black dog appears all over the British Isles and
probably dates back to the days of Herne and the Wild Hunt. Alan
Garner features the Hunt in his Brisingamen books. Our town had its
own black dog, which sometimes could be seen on Sudeley Hill. Perhaps
it is not by accident that hill is also the location of a prehistoric
trackway. As children my sister and I believed in the black dog, so
much so that on one occasion my sister became hysterical when she
thought she saw it at the window. That was about fifty years ago now.
I
haven’t heard talk of the black dog for many years. But that
doesn’t mean that the myth has died, merely that it has morphed.
What you get now in Gloucestershire and indeed in other areas where
the black dog once roamed are sighting of big cats – usually
described as black, presumably pumas. Take this account on the BBC
– https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-1676059938 sightings of big cats were reported to the Gloucestershire police in four years, and no doubt many more went unreported. I even know someone who claims to have seen the beast. What is going on here? Is it that we are trying to apply a modern realist interpretation (escaped captive animal) to ancient magic? Maybe you only have to scratch the surface of modern realism to find the magical hiding underneath.
