Magical Realism in Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap

Abstract

This study analyzes the phenomena of magical things and real things in the novel entitled Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. Magical phenomena in this story are presented through the depiction of Greek mythology whereas the reality is the realistic detail of the magical things. The story highlights both phenomena which are emerged as supernatural realm and ordinary realm as the representation of the realms that has purpose to show the acceptance of the supernatural realm in the ordinary life. In this case, I use magical realism because the merging of those realms as the important phenomena in the novel that becomes the main concept in magical realism analysis. Thus, I analyze it using magical realism theory by Wendy B Faris who serves 5 elements to categorize the text is magical realism or not. These 5 elements include the irreducible element (magical events), the phenomenal world (realistic events), unsettling doubt (hesitation circumstances), merging realm (intersection of the world), and the disrupted time, space and identity (the strange phenomena that disrupt the normal time, space and identity). The elaboration of these elements then will be analyzed using defocalization as a narrative technique. The defocalization hereby is used to determine the mode of writing to find out the discourse of indeterminacy. Qualitative research is used in this research since the data are in the form of words and sentences. The data are divided into primary and secondary data. The primary data are taken from the narrative structures in Bone Gap that presents about magic and realistic phenomena. The secondary data are taken from some books and literary reviews which related to the topic discussed, such as books, thesis, internet sources and literature journal to obtain facts and ideologies of magical realism. As the result of this thesis, it can be concluded that the five elements of magical realism are definable proportionally in Bone Gap. Bone Gap belongs to all of the elements though the emphasizing is on the supernatural realm and ordinary realm that are presented together. The story also serves the closeness of two realms which seen as other reality by presenting the conversation of Finn with the supernatural kidnapper. Besides, the uncanny and hesitation are presented in the story to leave a doubt which can be seen from the confusion between dream and not a dream that happens to Roza. The doubt also gives a fact that the time, space and identity are disrupted. In addition, double focalization also appears in the story since the supernatural and ordinary realms meet. This condition interprets defocalization that creates the indeterminacy of the text and the space of ineffable in between. The indeterminacy of the narrative in line with the social condition in the 21st century in America especially in Chicago that happens in the novel. The author presents the establishment of postmodernity in the 21st century since the author as a modern American recalls Greek mythology and traditionality in Bone Gap through her masterpiece. The author hereby celebrates the uncertainties and the relativities through the narrative. Besides, the author does not out of modernity patent as her trace being modern American. Accordingly, the author had succeeded in negotiating Greek mythology and traditionality as other realities in modern America that remove the boundary between traditional and modern writing through Bone Gap which saw as magical realism. In addition, Bone Gap as magical realism also can be seen as hybridization in its structure since the story presents the two contrasting terms ―Greek mythology‖ and ―realistic detail‖ that are juxtaposed. From the facts above, magical realism can be seen from postmodern perspective and hybrid mode as postcolonial perspective.