Magical realism is the inclusion of magical, fantastical, or supernatural elements in a realistic narrative. Magical realism in literature might take the form of real characters who experience fantastic or supernatural events or characters who, although realistic, have fantastical or supernatural characteristics. The effect of magical realism within a narrative is typically to further the plot, to reveal the text’s underlying thematic structure, or to emphasize important ideas within the story. Although not exclusively a Latin American tradition, magical realism is often associated with Latin American texts, and through its inclusion, Cristina García places Dreaming in Cuban in dialogue with a tradition of writing that employs magical realism to explore the cultural importance of oral storytelling traditions, myth, and spirituality within Latin America. Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude is the most often cited exemplar within the broader history of Latin American magical realism, but there are many others.