ABSTRACT
Magical realism provides a formal release from the restrictions of realism, without the ultimate escapism and disconnection of fantasy or the purely marvelous. The aesthetic traditions of British literature alone provide insufficient criteria in exploring the cultural heritage of US Latino art. By even suggesting narrative literary influences upon Latino writers, the critic then falls into the trap Saenz wishes to avoid. William Faulkner’s novels are in part responsible for the coming together of US and Latin American literature in twentieth-century Latino fiction. The case can be made that Faulkner’s influence upon Latino fiction overshadows that of any other twentieth-century North American novelist, and that Garcia Marquez rivals any other Latin American source of inspiration. The interaction of European and Latin American influences upon Latino fiction results in dramatic mixtures of subject and style which then generates a dynamic, hybrid quality in the books.
