Magic Realism is a label that has been applied to a number of works of art and literature at different points in time. At first, it appears that those who have used the term, or continue to use it, have in mind widely different concepts. On closer inspection, however, it is possible to detect similarities and links between the different usages. This makes it necessary, for the sake of clarity, to differentiate between the various types of work being categorised as magic realist. The fact that there is a degree of overlap between the three types of Magic Realism suggested here, and the fact that works by the same author can belong to different types, demonstrate that they are all related in different ways.

The magic realist novels belonging to Italo Calvino's trilogy I nostri antenati, for example, are difficult to categorise. Two of them, Il visconte...