Magic realism possesses opposing characteristics such as realist, fantastic, ordinary, extraordinary, natural, supernatural, normal, abnormal, yet presents them in harmony by skillfully melting them in its pot. This study, while explaining the reasons for the emergence of magical realism and how it began to be used in literary criticism after its emergence in painting, aims to mention the features that distinguish it from other genres by showing examples from famous works of different literatures. It also reveals the differences between magical realism and Latin American marvellous realism, which is used synonymously. Although it is difficult to define this term, which exceeds the boundaries drawn by critics for literary concepts and even combines these boundaries, it seems that it contains certain features that reveal its difference from other genres. The history of magical realism dates back to the 1920s, when it was first discovered in European painting by Franz Roh and later spread to literary circles. Magical realism, whose first examples in literature are found in Latin American works, is later adopted by other nations. This genre, which is considered as a hybrid because it combines different genres, shows itself with differences in usage in European literature as well as Latin American literature. In the works that contain this genre, extraordinary and supernatural events are described as if they were ordinary by applying non-fictional writing techniques such as biography and history, and they are presented in a world similar to the one we live in in order to make the story more realistic.

Magic Realism, supernatural, realism, marvellous realism, genre.