What term did Alejo Carpentier coin for the Latin American magical realism tradition?

The term Alejo Carpentier coined for his vision of Latin American magical reality was 'lo real maravilloso'. He presented the concept most influentially in the prologue to his 1949 novel The Kingdom of This World, which concerns the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath.

Carpentier argued that Latin America's history, cultures, political upheavals, religious traditions, and cultural mixture could produce realities that seemed marvelous without needing European-style fantasy. In this view, the extraordinary is not an escape from reality; it is part of the continent's lived historical experience. The phrase is often translated as 'the marvelous real' or 'marvelous reality'.

A common mix-up is treating 'lo real maravilloso' and 'magical realism' as exact synonyms. Critics often connect them, but Carpentier's phrase emphasizes the historical and cultural marvels of the Americas, while 'magical realism' became a broader international label. The expression is also distinct from 'surrealismo', the European avant-garde movement that Carpentier encountered while living in France.