A Comparative Study of the Themes of Oriental-Iranian Mysticism in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude

The purpose of comparative literature studies has arguably been to pave the way for a deeper understanding of the homogeneity of all literary works by taking a comprehensive look at artworks in different cultures. What is presented in this article is an attempt to prove that the treasure of Eastern-Iranian culture and literature has played a fundamental role in inspiring and creating many masterpieces in world literature. Gabriel García Márquez is one of those authors who created a unique example of his works under the influence of this rich heritage. The present paper first provides the definitions and features of magic realism. Then following a descriptive analytical method, it investigates the traces of the Eastern-world and in particular Iranian-Islamic mysticism in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967). Finally, by comparing the Sufi and surreal layers of the novel with their counterparts in Eastern-Iranian Sufi works, this paper reveals how Márquez was influenced by the introspection and ontology of great Iranian-Islamic writers’ mystical works. The scientific result of this research shows that Márquez was influenced by the elements of Eastern-Iranian mysticism in One Hundred Years of Solitude. The most significant and common links between this novel and Eastern-Iranian mysticism are the disappearance of the borderline between reality and surreality and the union of the two, the characters’ wonderful and extraordinary behavior in the story, and the achievement of truth through imagination.