Magical Realist Design

We expand the critical scope of HCI by discussing features of Magical Realism, a body of literature with roots in Latin America but now global in scope. Through the discussion of our failures to treat the canon of Magical Realism as a resource for designing an augmented reality app for children we expand to consider how the world view of Magical Realist literature presents challenges for design and new critical perspectives particularly around temporality, techno-politics, and reality and presence. We conclude by asking what a truly Magical Realist design practice that resists moves to treat literature as a resource to be used preferring instead to approach is as a context of engagement.