Editing Magical realism (section)

===Fabulism===
Fabulism traditionally refers to fables, parables, and myths, and is sometimes used in contemporary contexts for authors whose work falls within or relates to magical realism.

Though often used to refer to works of magical realism, fabulism incorporates fantasy elements into reality, using myths and fables to critique the exterior world and offer direct allegorical interpretations. Austrian-American child psychologist [[Bruno Bettelheim]] suggested that fairy tales have psychological merit. They are used to translate trauma into a context that people can more easily understand and help to process difficult truths. Bettelheim posited that the darkness and morality of traditional fairy tales allowed children to grapple with questions of fear through symbolism. Fabulism helped to work through these complexities and, in the words of Bettelheim, "make physical what is otherwise ephemeral or ineffable in an attempt&nbsp;... of understanding those things that we struggle the most to talk about: loss, love, transition."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Haggard |first1=Kit |title=How a queer fabulism came to dominate contemporary women's writing |url=https://theoutline.com/post/5751/fabulism-fiction-carmen-maria-machado-daisy-johnson-melissa-broder?zd=2&zi=uju7vyr3 |website=The Outline |access-date=24 November 2018}}</ref>

Author Amber Sparks described fabulism as blending fantastical elements into a realistic setting. Crucial to the genre, said Sparks, is that the elements are often borrowed from specific myths, fairy tales, and folktales. Unlike magical realism, it does not just use general magical elements, but directly incorporates details from well known stories. "Our lives are bizarre, meandering, and fantastic", said Hannah Gilham of the ''[[Washington Square Review]]'' regarding fabulism. "Shouldn't our fiction reflect that?"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilham |first1=Hannah |title=Discovering the Fabulists: The Value of the Bizarre in Literature |url=http://www.washingtonsquarereview.com/blog/2018/2/7/in-defense-of-the-fantastic-breaking-up-with-realism |website=Washington Square Review |access-date=25 November 2018}}</ref>

While magical realism is traditionally used to refer to works that are Latin American in origin, fabulism is not tied to any specific culture. Rather than focusing on political realities, fabulism tends to focus on the entirety of the human experience through the mechanization of fairy tales and myths.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Capettini |first=Emily |title=A Second Ribcage: Fiction and an Article on New Wave Fabulism, Trauma, and the Environment |date=2014 |type=Doctoral dissertation |institution=University of Louisiana at Lafayette |url=https://proquest.com/docview/1548306771 |id={{ProQuest|1548306771|access=free}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref> This can be seen in the works of [[C. S. Lewis]], whose biographer, A.N. Wilson, referred to him as the greatest fabulist of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kirk |first=Russell |date=1990-04-01 |title=THE FAITH OF A FABULIST |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1990/04/01/the-faith-of-a-fabulist/a855894c-0126-490b-a4a0-ed6b9829978b/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> His 1956 novel ''[[Till We Have Faces]]'' has been referenced as a fabulist retelling. This re-imagining of the story of [[Cupid and Psyche]] uses an age-old myth to impart moralistic knowledge on the reader. A [[The Washington Post|Washington Post]] review of a Lewis biography discusses how his work creates "a fiction" in order to deliver a lesson. Says the Post of Lewis, "The fabulist&nbsp;... illuminates the nature of things through a tale both he and his auditors, or readers, know to be an ingenious analogical invention."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kirk |first1=Russell |title=The Faith of a Fabulist |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1990/04/01/the-faith-of-a-fabulist/a855894c-0126-490b-a4a0-ed6b9829978b/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=25 November 2018}}</ref>

[[Italo Calvino]] is an example of a writer in the genre who uses the term ''fabulist''. Calvino is best known for his book trilogy, ''Our Ancestors'', a collection of moral tales told through surrealist fantasy. Like many fabulist collections, his work is often classified as allegories for children. Calvino wanted fiction, like folk tales, to act as a teaching device. "Time and again, Calvino insisted on the 'educational potential' of the fable and its function as a moral exemplum", wrote journalist Ian Thomson about the Italian Fabulist.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thomson |first1=Ian |title=Italo Calvino: a celebration of the fairy king |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/italo-calvino-the-fairy-king/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/italo-calvino-the-fairy-king/ |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=The Telegraph |date=19 September 2015 |access-date=8 December 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

While reviewing the work of Romanian-born American theater director [[Andrei Şerban]], ''New York Times'' critic [[Mel Gussow]] coined the term "The New Fabulism". Şerban is famous for his reinventions in the art of staging and directing, known for directing works like "The Stag King" and "The Serpent Woman", both fables adapted into plays by [[Carlo Gozzi|Carl Gozzi]]. Gussow defined "The New Fabulism" as "taking ancient myths and turn(ing) them into morality tales",<ref name="Magic World Behind the Curtain">{{cite book |last1=Menta |first1=Ed |title=Magic World Behind the Curtain |date=1995 |publisher=Peter Lang |location=New York |pages=89–105}}</ref> In Ed Menta's book, ''The Magic Behind the Curtain'', he explores Şerban's work and influence within the context of American theatre. He wrote that the Fabulist style allowed Şerban to neatly combine technical form and his own imagination. Through directing fabulist works, Şerban can inspire an audience with innate goodness and romanticism through the magic of theatre. "The New Fabulism has allowed Şerban to pursue his own ideals of achieving on sage the naivete of a children's theater", wrote Menta. "It is in this simplicity, this innocence, this magic that Şerban finds any hope for contemporary theatre at all."<ref name="Magic World Behind the Curtain"/>