Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 3 Ways He Changed American History

Born6th of March, 1927
Died17th of April, 2014
Famous Quote“No medicine cures what happiness cannot.”
Known ForStarting literary magic realism, highlighting Latin and South American culture
Region of WorldColumbia/Latin America, 20th century

Of all the modern writers, none have been more influential in changing history than Gabriel Jose Garcia Marquez. Today presidents of various nations, influential leaders, and scientists all read and quote his famous works.

There are 3 ways Gabriel Garcia Marquez has changed American history. First, he pioneered the literary style known as magic realism. Second, through his books he highlighted the problems that the people of Latin and South America faced. Third, Marquez’s work brought world attention to the already flourishing cultural literary circles in Latin and South America.

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Without further ado, here are the 3 ways that Gabriel Garcia Marquez changed American history.

Pioneering The Literary Style of Magic Realism

Photo by Viex in Paris detailing Marquez's accomplishments.

One of the main reasons that Gabriel Garcia Marquez has changed history was by pioneering the new literary style of magic realism.

Magic Realism is where the author describes the magical elements of his work in a mundane and normal way while detailing the normal parts of life as magical.

An example of this can be seen in Marquez’s book One Hundred Years of Solitude where he describes the family members of the members of the Buendia family as magical. In the same light he would go to explain the magical elements of his work in a mundane way.

This narrative style served two purposes. First, it allowed Marquez to subtly criticize events within a society. Second, it allowed him to provide a narrative hook that constantly served to capture the attention of his readers.

Marquez created this literary style called magic realism. Almost immediately it exploded overnight and came to influence the world.

Today presidents across the world read Marquez’s work. His most famous book One Hundred Years of Solitude continues to be translated and has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works are highly influential and continue to alter history to this day.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Books Highlighted The Problems of Latin and South America

Until Gabriel Garcia Marquez Latin and South America was forgotten on the world stage.

However upon the publication of his books the rest of the world could not ignore the people of Latin and South America.

An example of this can be seen in One Hundred Years of Solitude where the underlying theme of the book is how unless anything changes the culture and style of the people of South American and Latin America will disappear forever.

This book alone brought significant attention to the culture of America. In Marquez’s book this culture was vibrant and engaging. It made people want to save it and visit the mythical town of Macondo.

Because of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works the culture of the America’s received revitalized attention. As a result overnight he would become an internationally recognized author.

Further, so great was his impact upon the people of South America that upon his death in 2014 the president of Columbia stated that “He was the greatest Columbian who ever lived.”

Because Gabriel Garcia Marquez forced the world to see the culture and lives of the people of South and Latin America he forever changed the history of America.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Brought Worldwide Attention To The Already Flourishing Literary Circles of South and Latin America

One of the main ways that Gabrial Garcia Marquez changed history was by forcing the rest of the world to look at the literary authors of Latin and South America as masterful writers.

Long before Marquez in the 19th century Latin and South America would explode in literature. National novels were designed and epic novels were written.

However, the rest of the world failed to notice this. Huge writers in Europe had their influence dominating the intellectual stage. Still, the literary circles of Latin and South America continued to grow overtime.

This all changed with the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude in 1967. Overnight the world saw how beautiful novels of the Americas were. Readers started flocking to bookstores to buy more novels that detailed the intricate and beautiful culture.

Because of this history was forever changed. Across Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia the influence of South and Latin America continued to grow. Today all forms of entertainment have adapted the previously hidden styles that the American writers pioneered for almost 2 centuries.

This all started with Gabriel Garcia Marquez who opened the floodgates on the literary styles of the Americas. Because of this he forever changed history.

Conclusion

There you have it; an entire article on how Gabriel Garcia Marquez changed American history.

If you liked this article then consider subscribing to the free newsletter and sharing around the internet. It’s my goal here at The History Ace to publish the best history articles on the internet.

Further, you can check out some of the other articles below. 

Until next time.

Sincerly,

Nick

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