Magic Realism

Rivera's "African Passions" is written in a style referred to as magic realism. This term was coined to define the way in which art forms, especially literature, display odd and dreamlike anomalies as if they were commonplace events. Thus, there is the mixture of what might be termed magical with what is deemed everyday reality. Rivera's use of magic realism comes about with the materialization of the African deities. Although the characters themselves are not aware of the presence of the gods, the depth as well as the fun of the story relies on the reader knowing that it is the gods who are controlling the fate of Teresa and Armando.

That gods can be jealous, hungry, sexually aroused, and petty (in other words, that they can have human qualities) is taken for granted. As a matter of fact, it is this display of their human side...