The program will begin on September 11 with a reading from author Ibtisam Azem. She will then discuss elements of magical realism in her own writing and in Arabic literature in general with Arabic studies scholar Sanabel Abdelrahman.

Additional readings and discussions throughout the series will involve international authors such as Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, Bora Chung, Jennifer Neal, Mónica Ojeda, and Ricardo Romero. The participating authors write about alienation and horror, blurring the boundaries between the real and the fantastic. However, despite thematic similarities in their writing, the literary and linguistic contexts in which these authors work are quite disparate. The series celebrates this fact, presenting the magical not as a homogenous, but as a multi-voiced category of literature.

On September 13, in a panel discussion entitled New Magical Realisms, authors Ibtisam Azem, Bora Chung, and Shehan Karunatilaka will discuss the legacy of the genre of magical realism and the problematic tendency to exoticize the magical. The event will also explore the potential of the magical as a literary instrument through which to focus attention on political and societal realities. It will be hosted by the scholar and poet Ana Rocío Joli.

Echo. Echo is one of the most significant long-term projects run by CONSTELLATIONS, the Cluster of Excellence’s literary and artistic outreach hub. It works in close cooperation with various cultural institutions across Berlin and organizes events that bring research questions into fruitful conversation with artistic approaches and methods.

The Cluster’s research project “Magical Realism and Speculative Literature,” led by Beatrice Gründler and Alexandra Shraytekh, played a significant role in designing this year’s Echo. Echo program. With their focus on the transtemporal and transcultural dynamics of magical realism at play in Arabic literature, the researchers aim to draw attention to perspectives on the magical in contexts that go beyond those of the Western literary tradition.