Magic Realism in the Novels of a Kurdish Writer, Bakhtiyar Ali

Magic realism, for many decades associated mainly with the Latin American literary manifesto, has crossed national and cultural borders and established itself as an international style and technique. This article, examining the narrative technique of the works of Kurdish novelist, Bakhtiyar Ali, aims to identify the generic features of his novels and explore whether they fit the genre of magic realist literature. The article, pointing out the Kurdish themes used in Aliʹs novels, explores whether the ‘supernatural’ events in his novels are connected to the reality of the Kurdish society. Looking for the realist impulses behind the magical elements in Aliʹs novels, this article argues that various social, historical and political references in Aliʹs novels show that his works are clearly linked to the reality of Kurdistan. Magic realism has, in Aliʹs novels, become a native literary style to narrate the social and political situation of the Kurds.