Connecting Magical Realism and the Sublime in A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" connects magical realism and sublime literature among them such that Magical Realism appears to be a genre of the Sublime. This story was published with a collection of other stories titled Leaf Storm and Other Stories in 1955. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, originally from Colombia, has accomplished much in the field of magical realism. This particular tale meets the requirements of Magical Realism and, at the same time, the Sublime. This fact leads one to believe that Magical Realism is, in fact, a genre of the Sublime rather than the Fantastic. The characteristics of Magical Realism correspond to those of the Sublime much more broadly than those of fantasy literature. “A very old man with huge wings” includes many aspects that can be described as magical. In the story, an old man with a pair of very bad wings is found and kept as a pet for several years. These wings were described by the doctor in the story as "...so natural in that thoroughly human organism that he could not understand why other men did not have them too" (528). The fact that the old man had Wings in the first place seems very acceptable to the characters, and this nonchalance is conveyed to the reader. Taking an idea or object that you are familiar with and distorting that image into something unfamiliar is called defamiliarization (Simkins 150). This use of defamiliarization is a very important feature of both Magical Realism and the Sublime. An angel is something that most people are somewhat familiar with; However, Marquez's angel is a completely different type of angel. One and... half of the paper... between Magical Realism and Sublime Literature seems very obvious when you examine the criteria for each. Márquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" links magical realism and sublime literature together in such a way that magical realism appears to be a genre of the sublime. This short story meets everyone's requirements. However, the requirements are the same ideas and principles. Therefore Magical Realism should be classified as a type of the Sublime.Works CitedLoginus. On the Sublime. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1995.Sandner, David. The fantastic sublime. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996. 51-55.Simpkins, Scott. "Sources of Magical Realism / Supplements to Realism in Contemporary Latin American Literature." Magical realism: theory, history, community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1995: 145-159.