what is Hysterical Realism?

Question

if someone could explain this to me in laymen's terms. i dont see how some says that it's in the spirit of the classic Russian novel....i dont make that connection...

no snow i mean Hysterical realism. it's not a typo, thanks though.

Answer 1

Hysterical Realism is a writing style where the author attempts to talk about a real social phenomenon with funny and strange characters, an odd plot and over elaborate prose. It is a form of social commentary meant to both amuse and comment on society.

Think of political cartoons and you have the right idea, now put it into the context of a story or novel. Now think of the Andy Griffith show populated not with normal people poking fun at the south, but with Shakespearian characters. It becomes even funnier because of the prose they would use.

It is a complex method of writing that requires humor in the language used while poking fun at modern society. The fatwa (Islamic death warrant) was issued against Salman Rushdie because he used humor in talking about the Moslem religion. Therefore he was seen as mocking the religion.

Another words make it your plot silly, your characters foolish in how they speak and what they do while taking a poke at reality. This makes it a form of social commentary like the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. In this story animals are given the power of speech and organize to take over a farm and turn it into a commune. It was a comment on communism and the society in Russia under Soviet Rule. When the animals started killing off others it mimicked the frequent purges of Stalin. You will really need to look at the Wikipedia article and the look up the work of the authors cited at the end of the article they are hyperlinked so you can go to an article on them.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysterical_realism
“Hysterical realism, also called recherché postmodernism or maximalism, is a literary genre typified by a strong contrast between elaborately absurd prose, plotting, or characterization and careful detailed investigations of real specific social phenomena.

The term was coined by the critic James Wood in an essay on Zadie Smith's White Teeth, titled "The Smallness of the 'Big' Novel: Human, All Too Inhuman", which appeared in the July 24, 2000 issue of The New Republic and was later reprinted in Wood's 2004 book, The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel. Wood uses the term to denote the contemporary conception of the "big, ambitious novel" that pursues "vitality at all costs" and consequently "knows a thousand things but does not know a single human being."

He decried the genre as an attempt to "turn fiction into social theory," and an attempt to tell us "how the world works rather than how somebody felt about something." Wood points to Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon as the forefathers of the genre, which survives in writers like David Foster Wallace and Salman Rushdie. In response, Zadie Smith described hysterical realism as a "painfully accurate term for the sort of overblown, manic prose to be found in novels like my own White Teeth and a few others he was sweet enough to mention."”

Authors described as Hysterical Realistic
Don DeLillo, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jonathan Franzen, Thomas Pynchon, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Laurence Sterne, and David Foster Wallace

Answer 2

Hysterical Realism

Answer 3

You should definitely try The Contortionist's Handbook by Chris Cleavenger. It's amazing! Dark, twisted about a guy who must convince a psychologist that he's not crazy after he took an overdose. Oh and you should know that he's a trickster who knows more about psychology than the person sitting in front of him. Brilliant!!! Also try The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Pornographer nearly burnt alive in a car accident is visited by a woman who tells him that they were lovers back in 16th (think, might later or earlier. Think Middle Ages) Germany. Darker Arabian Nights. The Other Hand is beautiful and tragic. Story of an illegal immigrant and a reporter who met 2 years before on a beach in Kenya (again, this might not to the right African country). Little Bee (the illegal) turns up on Sarah's doorstep on the day of her husband's funeral. He committed suicide but the question is why? Sorry that's all I have for now.

Answer 4

Do you mean historical realism? It's when a book is based on a historical period or events and presents life in a realistic way, not focusing on the glory, the romance, or the personal interactions. It tries to present as true a picture of what was going on as possible. It isn't just a setting for the story. The people in the story are part of what is going on.

Oh, so it's like Monty Python!

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
what is Hysterical Realism?
if someone could explain this to me in laymen's terms. i dont see how some says that it's in the spirit of the classic Russian novel....i dont make that connection...

Answer 6

how the world works rather than how somebody felt about something.