Literary Heritage

Magic realism, a style of fiction made famous by Gabriel García Márquez, is most prevalent in South American literature. This narrative form may have originated from the mystique surrounding Latin America during its colonization, as Europeans documented peculiar and supernatural events in the new territories. Initially, the term was linked to the arts before it was applied to literature. In the 1920s and 1930s, Latin American artists, influenced by the surrealist movement, began incorporating this style into their work. Writers employing this approach blend fantastical or strange elements with realistic ones. Magic realism often features time shifts, dreams, myths, fairy tales, surreal descriptions, and elements of surprise and shock, alongside the inexplicable. Frequently, something ordinary transforms into something unreal or peculiar, highlighting life's intrinsic mysteries. Yet, the author typically crafts a supernatural ambiance while still acknowledging the natural world—a contradiction that characters generally accept without hesitation.

In a Callaloo interview, Ortiz Cofer explains that Puerto Rican writers broaden the definition of magical realism "to include a different way of looking at the world." She elaborates:

When reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez or The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, you must embrace supernatural events and practice suspension of disbelief. When I address espiritismo, I am describing an ordinary, everyday experience familiar to most Puerto Ricans...In my novel, espiritismo is depicted in ways that can be explained through natural laws. There are no flying carpets or other magical events...My work portrays the reality that espiritismo serves as an emotional outlet for many regular people, offering a sense of control over their world.

Historical Context

In a Callaloo interview, Ortiz Cofer discusses the cultural background of her poem and the collection as a whole:

The book is titled The Latin Deli because the core of the barrios in New Jersey revolved around the bodegas, which some of us referred to as delis. There were also Jewish and Italian delis. If you sold sandwiches, it was called a deli, and this became part of our vernacular. Food plays a crucial role in nurturing the barrio. For my parents, their vision of paradise was indulging in pasteles (pork turnovers). All my stories, I believe, carry a political message, but in "Corazon's Cafe," there is a woman wholly devoted to revitalizing the barrio. She does this not by delivering speeches or becoming a renowned philosopher but by keeping her bodega open. This allows the residents of "el building" to enjoy their pasteles, sip their cafe (coffee), and savor what they needed for spiritual nourishment. This is a political narrative in that the woman prioritizes the needs of the barrio over her own. This is the Puerto Rican experience I am familiar with.

In a Melus interview with Edna Acosta-Belen, Ortiz Cofer discusses the challenges faced by Spanish-speaking immigrants in the United States due to their encounters with contrasting cultures. Acosta-Belen remarks that the works of Latina writers like Ortiz Cofer "offer an excellent example of how issues of gender, race, culture, and class become interwoven, broadening the ways marginalized groups define their identity in relation to mainstream U.S. society." Ortiz Cofer explains, "One of the most conflicting aspects of life for children in my situation was attending school in Paterson, where I mingled with Anglos and Blacks, whose values and rules differed vastly from those in our apartment, which my mother considered sacred. Inside our home, we spoke only Spanish, listened exclusively to Spanish music, and constantly talked about la casa (our home in Puerto Rico). We practiced a deeply rooted Catholic faith, with candles in the...