Gabriel Garcia Marquez

1. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Background on Colombia Biography Magical Realism

2. History of Colombia • Spanish colony until 1810 • 1815 - General Murillo reconquers country • 1820 - reliberated by Simon Bolivar, who became Colombia’s first president • 1849 - beginning of feud between two political factions: Liberals and Conservatives

3. History of Colombia • 1800s - Country nearly always in a state of civil war • Unrest between regional groups • Coast = Liberals • Mountains = Conservatives

4. History of Colombia • Imperialism • American-run United Fruit Company comes to Colombia (Aracataca) in 1910 • 1928 - Banana Strike Massacre • American United Fruit Company took economic control and exploited Colombian people • Conservative government killed unarmed workers holding a demonstration • Denied by government and removed from history books

5. GGM Photos

6. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Early Life • Born in 1928 (some say 1927) in Aracataca, a small town near the Caribbean coast of Colombia • Parents were poor and had 12 children • Gabriel (aka Gabito or Gabo) was the oldest child

7. GGM: Early Life • Lived with his mother’s parents until the age of 8 • Grandparents against parents’ marriage for political and military reasons • Influenced by grandparents • Began writing stories as a child

8. GGM: Early Life • Grandfather • Military career - led Aracataca to become a Liberal town • Storyteller • GGM’s closest bond • Represented in some of GGM’s characters • Told GGM there’s no greater burden than to kill a man • Grandmother • Storyteller - Superstitious - blurred lines between living and dead

9. GGM: Early Life • At age 8, moved back with parents to river port of Sucre • Town in Chronicle is modeled after Sucre • Attended boarding school

10. GGM: University • One of his professors would later become president of Colombia • Classmates with Camilo Torres - active in guerilla movement later in life • Studied law, but dropped out of law school in 1950

11. History of Colombia • La Violencia - 150,000 Colombians killed by 1953 • Liberal Jorge Gaitan investigated Banana Massacre • 1946 - Conservatives terrorized Liberal voters, murdering them • 1947 - Gaitan became party leader • 1948 - Gaitan assassinated • 3 days of deadly riots • Guerilla soldiers killed 2500 • Peasants fled to Venezuela

12. World Events • 1949 - tyrant ruler Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro took power • 1957 - Colombian dictatorship in full force- curfews, news blackouts - dictator fled • 1959-1961 - Cuban Revolution

13. GGM: Middle Years • Lived in a brothel • Friends with and taken care of by prostitutes • Portrays prostitutes favorably in his novels • Lived in and worked in many countries • France • Cuba • Mexico • England • United States

14. GGM: Middle Years - Marriage • 1958 - Married Mercedes Barcha • Childhood sweetheart • Known as “the sacred crocodile” due to Egyptian origin • He first proposed when he was only 13

15. GGM: Middle Years • After Cuban Revolution, returned to Central America • Worked as a journalist and a screenwriter • First newspaper jobs - wrote about various topics: astrology, twins, the length of women’s skirts • As a journalist, worked for magazines and newspapers, some of which had political overtones

16. GGM: Political Conflict • 1981 - returned to Colombia only to be accused by the government of funding a guerilla group • Promptly fled to Mexico

17. Covers of Chronicle

18. GGM: Writing • Has said his stories came from an image and not an idea • Published Chronicle of a Death Foretold in 1981 • Supposedly, Fidel Castro helped him edit it! • Won Nobel Prize for literature in 1982 • Known for Magical Realism • Most famous novels: • One Hundred Years of Solitude • Love in the Time of Cholera

19. GGM: Writing • Major literary influence: • Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (we’re reading this!) • Taught him that narrative didn’t have to unfold by a traditional plot • Read works of: • Faulkner • Hemingway • Joyce • Virginia Woolf

20. Magical Realism • Originally used in 1920s by German art critic Franz Roh to describe a style of painting • Mixes realism with fantasy, supernatural, and dreamlike elements or references to myths and fairy tales

21. Magical Realism • Setting is “normal,” not fantasy • Time seems timeless - not chronological - shifts • Narrative sounds reliable despite fantasy elements • Challenges polar opposites like life and death by linking them • Ordinary events and descriptions

22. Magical Realism • Horror • The inexplicable • Strong narrative drive - contains a message • Fantasy elements never explained

23. Another example of Magical Realism

24. Amelie • A French film from 2001 • Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet • Delicatessen (1991) • Alien: Resurrection (1997) • Classified as Magical Realism

25. Amelie • Audrey Tautou • Plays Amelie • You know her from The Da Vinci Code (Sophie Neveu) • Originally Emily Watson was supposed to play Amelie • Couldn’t speak French • Another commitment in London

26. Amelie • Mathieu Kassovitz • Plays Nino • You may recognize him from Munich • Dominique Pinon • Plays Joseph • Also starred in Delicatessen • Jamel Debbouze • Plays Lucien • Made a rap featuring Snoop Dogg