Tonya Kostova Oh my Lord and The Marvelous Real in America a connection between the theory of Carpentier and Nick

k Caves music Alejo Carpentier was one of the critics who concentrated specifically on Latin American literature, which is surprising considering his cosmopolitan origins he was half Russian, half French, he was born in Switzerland but lived in Cuba. Carpentier is indeed known as one of the first practitioners of the magical realism techniques in writing which he used to illustrate the contradictory and complex nature of Hispanic culture through fantasy in order to make it more understandable and intelligible. He was also fascinated with the baroque style in American art. But literature isnt the only field he explored he also published several studies on music. The problems that On the Marvelous Real in America intends to resolve are concerning the magical realism in art production based on what can be found in the external lands and what we already have around us as a cultural legacy. The article attempts to explain the complexity of the influence the exotic unknown has on the traveler which can be divided into two different stages admiration and confusion. On the other hand, the exploration of the foreign may be the trigger for his understanding, once he is back to the piece of earth he is familiar with. In the second part of the article the author tries to explain the mechanisms of the magical realism and the difference between a first marvelous, created with well-known clichs and a second one, which is magical and oneiric without evoking trivial fantastic figures. Carpentier is trying to solve those problems with a review of the value of travelling his travel journal proves that one can understand the exotic sides of a new world only through the screen of his own cultural background and history. He explains

how one should find the marvelous without trying to produce it by force(Carpetier 462), but instead by exploring the mythical and the extreme in reality and the past itself(463) to achieve magical realism. The studys conclusions are concentrated on the authors vision of the marvelous real. According to him, the creations that belong to the magical realism dont have to be filled with miracles, magicians, mystical places, immeasurable violence and surrealistic elements (461-3). Those techniques were used excessively in the art production at the time. Actually, the marvelous doesnt have to be magical in the sense of miraculous and fantastic, but it needs to contradict reality, to challenge it, to put it to an extreme limit without provoking the readers disbelief. The foreign element can enrich the marvelous only if one is able to see it through the prism of his own cultural history. The article introduces a new point of view for its time, bearing in mind that Carpentier was one of the pioneers of magical realism. It breaks the value of well-known techniques for introducing a marvelous element into a text to privilege the originality of a realism that goes beyond the real, a realism that is more mythical and extreme than the trivial fantasy that lost its charge. The answers of this study seem conclusive if we bear in mind the authors words only, but from a more general perspective, we can ask ourselves in what new way the art creators will reintroduce fantasy if magical realism stops fascinating the public with its contradictions due to its exploitation. Carpentier gives his own reply to these questions by producing a long text fragment that strongly resembles the travel writing genre he shares his fascination during his contact with China, the Muslim world, the Soviet union, Prague and

Leipzig(458-61). But this feeling is different for the first two he admires them but finds nothing familiar in the beauty of this culture. On the other hand, he can relate to some aspects of the Russian culture due to his background and knowledge of European

architecture. The author argues his own statements with a report from his journey and his mixed feelings toward it he is amazed, but he does not always understand what stands behind the image of all this beauty. He relates to what he sees only when the view is familiar to him. But the return opens his mind for the unknown, giving him the possibility to appreciate the foreign in the literature of his own country. He proves this point by telling that after travelling, the Latin American is able to understand Bernal Diaz, Jose Marti and other authors who use the foreign element in their works (461-2). In this way he prepares the reader for the more theoretical and critical part of his article, in which he first exposes different techniques to achieve the marvelous that were used in literature, such as trivial figures like magicians, extreme and contradictory violence and surrealistic elements. He gives many examples with mostly French authors, like Rimbaud, Sade, or Andr Masson(462). He criticizes them all to reach the moment when he explains his ideas of the veritable magical realism, based on contradictions in reality that can be miracles, but not only the basis of the marvelous real lies in the extreme reality, a reality that is not limited by what we are accustomed to. Introducing his view of magic in literature as an opponent to all the other styles of adding a miraculous element in art mentioned in the article before getting to his final description of the marvelous real. To illustrate his point of view, he refers to the life of the Haitian leader Mackandal (463), which may not be an artistic creation, but it exhales much more magical realism than, for example, the American folk dancing that has lost its ritual and mystic value. Magical realism needs faith to exist in its full force, and it is much closer to mythology than any of the styles depicted in the earlier stages of the article. In my opinion this article represents both a break-in and an extension of the art theory we already know. It is clear that the author draws a line between his novel views

and the practices of other authors that did not belong to the realism movement. His theory is original, and as every original author he tries to impose on it by erasing the value of what was created in the past. But if we look at the larger time scale, isnt his theory inspired by the epic genre that belongs to a deeper past? We can explore in it the same values of an extreme and mythical reality. Added to contemporary art, it renews it and gives it an historical background at the same time. We can suppose that this is exactly what the author aims to do create a new revolutionary art that incorporates the chronicle of a legendary reality. The concept of magical reality is not usually applied to music. But music is rarely restricted, being not only an auditory art, but also a textual one: lyrics are one of the most important elements of a song. So if we can relate magical realism to literature, then why not to music? To prove my point I have chosen to write about a musician that can be related to the article in some controversial ways: yes, he uses the techniques of presenting reality in an extreme way to blur the limits between real and marvelous, but he also tends to sing about violence, which the author criticizes, and rarely about the myths in reality. This musician is Nick Cave, and the songs I would like to discuss are Oh my Lord from the album No more shall we part. This is not the only song that can fit with the idea of magical realism, because he also wrote many songs that fit with this concept and that also incorporate a carnivalesque element, like Where do we go now but nowhere? from The Boatmans Call and The Carny from Your FuneralMy Trial. But it is a song that can make us wonder if the story is realistic or fantastic, even if it does not transform reality physically into a fantastic realm. To summarize the plot, the song tells the story of the sudden estrangement of a man from his environment: his family and the people he knows. It depicts how he tries to reconnect, but he is completely isolated from what he belonged to, and the moment of

realization that he can never be a part of it again. The story itself is very blurred and difficult to extract from the lyrics, but it is one of the reasons why this song fits the magical realism concept a story that has no miraculous element in itself is playing with the limits of what is real and seems oneiric. The tempo changes: in the beginning it is slow, by the end it reaches a moment of escalation when the protagonist panics and slows down again in the moment of realization. Firstly, I will analyze the contradictions in the songs reality, and then I will attempt to find references to a mythical universe to describe in the end how the music reinforces the influence of textual material. But before starting with a more detailed analysis, I need to mention that this song refers to the authors difficult relationship with the Media and how it forcefully changed his life. The universe in Oh my Lord is not fantastic, it is realistic, but it is depicted in a way that it appears abstract by the clash produced by some lines. Some actions or moments, considered trivial, are opposed to others that challenge the logic of the text. I thought I'd take a walk today(Nick Cave 1) is followed by the rather strange line It's a mistake I sometimes make(2). The family idyll in the beginning is ruptured by the stony(7) look of the protagonists wife. The lyrics later become even more obscure a crowd appears, telling the protagonist that he lost the plot, attacking the security with marshmallows (23-27). This could be interpreted as a lack of respect from the surrounding society for the protagonists life because of him being different and losing the plot, the predestined order of the events. His reaction to the sudden estrangement he experiences, though, is very realistic Oh Lord/How have I offended thee?(35-36). The contradictions continue during the scene at the hair dresser (which is far from being the first place one would go in such a situation), where he is trying to reconnect with his wife but ends up being completely rejected. This more or less realistic scene is followed by a surprising one: the protagonist is frightened by his reflection in the mirror; he stops

recognizing himself and doesnt believe that the face he sees is his own. This is the moment of realization that he is no longer the part of the society he used to be; he is now different, transformed physically in a magical way that stays covered in mystery for the listener. The song finishes with the lament of the protagonist who feels hatred for those who rejected him and looks for protection, calling those he loves: Oh I hate them, Ma! Oh I hate them, Pa! Oh I hate them all! For what they went and done to you Oh Lord, Oh my Lord Oh Lord How have I offended thee? Wrap your tender arms round me (63-70) In this moment we can clearly see that this mad, plausible but yet marvelous because of the contradictions and the challenge of the limits of reality story expresses the pain of a human being, subjected to a constant exposure without being able to fit in the society. What also brings this song closer to magical realism are the references to some myths, to religion and to an epic past. In the beginning we have The sword of Damocles(12). The story behind this object is the following: Damocles and Dionysius, a powerful Italian tyrant, decided to switch places. Damocles joyfully accepted, but the king arranged for a sword tied to a thread to hang above his head while sitting on the throne. So we can see this is an image that represents a constant torture with the threat of a future tragedy, such as the social death of the hero. The sword is a premonition, as he calls it and it contributes to the magical charge of the lyrics. The second reference we can analyze is in the second verse: For even I could see, the way they stared at me/The

Spears of Destiny are sticking right through me (31-32). The Spear of Destiny, as we know, is the lance that pierced Jesus Christ on his crucifixion. So the heroes feel punished for something he couldnt prevent from happening, something which he didnt know the consequences of. So we can conclude that the contradictions and the references to the myths and religion contribute to the magical dimension of the song, while the lament of the protagonist and the plot itself support the realistic one. Finally, the music also enriches the crafty lyrics and helps us to connect this creation with the concept of magical realism. The instrumental is melodic, rather slow in the beginning, but before the religious or mythical references the vocals emphasize those moments by becoming stronger, louder, and somehow more desperate. During the chorus where the hero realizes that he is no longer a social being they become screams, made even louder by the violin. The chorus is also calm, but definitely more melodic and peaceful. In this way the episodes of the story become brighter, it is almost impossible for the listener to accept them as a background. The violin solo expresses the later lament of the hero with a melody, as a premonition for his later desperation. In this way this music is not completely realistic it is still melodic and carries all the elements of the song as we know it today, but it is far from being traditional the instrumental is too expressive, the vocals too strong, the voice of the singer too rough and deep. In this way it challenges the limits of the music one would hear on the radio, which brings it close to the magical realism. So, in conclusion I would like to emphasize on the statement of Carpentier that the marvelous real isnt related to the fantastic and the surrealistic like one would expect it is a contradiction, challenging realism. The public should not know when the magic starts and when reality stops. This can be perfectly applied to the music of Nick

Cave and the Bad Seeds if music can be realistic, fantastic, surrealistic, theirs is definitely close to magical realism.

Bibliography 1. Alejo Carpentier, On the Marvelous Real in America, in Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, ed. Zamora and Farris (Duke UP, 1995), 76-88 2. Cave, Nick and the Bad Seeds, Oh my Lord, in No More Shall We Part, Mute Records 2001, CD