Magical Realism in George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo as A Postmodernist Fiction

Abstract

This study focuses on analyzing the use of magical realism proposed by Wendy B. Faris in George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo and how these elements reflect a postmodernist view of fiction. A qualitative approach is used to identify data containing elements of magical realism and postmodernist fiction in the form of narration and dialog in the novel. The results of this study show that Lincoln in the Bardo has all five characteristics of magical realism that are built through defocalization as a narrative strategy. The five characteristics are irreducible elements, phenomenal worlds, unsettling doubts, merging realms and disruptions of time, space, and identity. It is known that Saunders utilizes magical realism to blur the boundaries between reality and fiction by creating a liminal world that contains historical and supernatural elements. The view of postmodernist fiction is also found in this study through the supernatural that blurs the boundary between fiction and reality, which reflects the view of postmodernist fiction that the boundary between reality and fiction is often unclear and questionable. An additional finding is that Saunders uses the characters, mostly from the primary ghosts, in the novel to construct his view of the past especially in President Lincoln’s era.