Many people have conflicting ideas about when and who first used the term.
It is likely that most people are completely confused when confronted with this subject, but after they read a few papers on magical realism, it becomes a little clearer. The papers that Amaryll Chanady, Luis Leal, Angle Flores, Franz Roh, and Scott Simpkins wrote have been helpful in studying the history and theory of magical realism. Each paper has many good points in it, but the authors argue so much over who is right or wrong that it is hard to decide who to agree with. Angel Flores has several good points in his essay on magical realism. Flores believes that Jorge Luis Borges' 1935 book A Universal History of Infamy was the first use of magical realism.