International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 7, Issue 4 (July-August 2025) Submit your research before last 3 days of August to publish your research paper in the issue of July-August.

Navigating Identity and Belonging Through Magical Realism: A Comparative Study of Cristina García and Ben Okri

Author(s) Mr. Charles A, Dr. T. G. Akila
Country India
Abstract This study explores the intersection of magical realism and transnational feminism in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban and Ben Okri’s The Famished Road, examining how both authors employ magical realism to navigate the complex themes of identity, belonging, migration, colonialism, and gender. Hegemonic ideologies and conventional historical narratives are subverted by magical realism, a storytelling technique defined by the seamless blending of the magical with the real. Dreaming in Cuban is a critique of patriarchal control
over female bodies and dogmatic nationalism by García, who employs magical realism themes such as telepathy, embodied trauma, and non-linear time to depict the fractured identities of a Cuban diasporic family across generations. In The Famished Road, another work by Okri portrays post-colonial Nigeria, the protagonist, Azaro, grapples with tensions between myth and modernity, tradition and change, drawing on Yoruba cosmology and spirit-world imagery. Using cyclical time, spiritual visions, and mythopoeic storytelling, Okri reimagined cultural memory while criticising neocolonial corruption. These works
demonstrate how magical realism challenges the rigid notions of who we are and where we belong by offering alternative, hybrid frameworks informed by international experiences. Transnational feminist theory provides a framework for investigation, emphasising decolonisation, cultural hybridity, and intersectionality. This cross-cultural analysis illustrates how magical realism offers underrepresented groups a platform to challenge repressive systems and present alternative viewpoints.
Keywords Magical realism, Transnational feminism, Identity, Belonging, Migration, Colonialism, Gender, Embodied trauma, Spirit world, Intersectionality, Cultural hybridity, Decolonisation.
Field Arts
Published In Volume 7, Issue 4, July-August 2025
Published On 2025-07-27
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i04.52340
Short DOI https://doi.org/g9vpqt

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