Definitions
According to the definition given by the most current edition of ''Diccionario de la Lengua Española (Dictionary of the Spanish Language)'' by the Royal Spanish Academy (''DRAE''),The Royal Spanish Academy is the final authority of the Spanish language in Spain. ''esperpento'' is: #A grotesque or unwise act #A literary genre created by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, a Spanish writer from the Generation of 1898, in which reality is deformed to overemphasize the grotesque and colloquial or harsh language is subjected to personal elaborations. #(colloquial) Person or thing notable for their ugliness, disarray, or rough appearance. The Royal Spanish Academy first defined the term ''esperpento'' in the fourteenth edition of the ''DRAE'' (1914), where the first and third meanings above were accepted. Reference to the second sense first appeared in the supplement to the nineteenth edition (1970):Literary genre created by Ramón del Valle-Inclán. It systematically deforms reality, emphasizing its grotesque and absurd traits, while at the same time degrading consecrated literary values. For this purpose,This definition was maintained until the last edition, in which the reference to "consecrated literary values" was removed.colloquial language Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...is dignified for artistic purposes to allow cynical expressions andjargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ....Untranslated: "Género literario creado por Ramón del Valle-Inclán. En el que se deforma sistemáticamente la realidad, recargando sus rasgos grotescos y absurdos, a la vez que se degradan los valores literarios consagrados; para ello se dignifica artísticamente un lenguaje coloquial y desgarrado, en el que abundan expresiones cínicas y jergales"
Esperpento in works by Valle-Inclán
Metaphor of deformed mirrors
Esperpento first made its appearance as an authentic dramatic genre in the 1920 play ''Esperpento according to Valle-Inclán
''The classical heroes reflected in concave mirrors give rise to the esperpento. The tragic sense of Spanish life can only be understood by an esthetic which is systematically deformed...The most beautiful images in a convave mirror are absurd...Deformation stops being such when it is subjected to perfect math. My actual esthetic is to transform the classical norms using the mathematics of the concave mirror.Untranslated: "Los héroes clásicos reflejados en los espejos cóncavos dan el Esperpento. El sentido trágico de la vida española sólo puede darse con una estética sistemáticamente deformada...Las imágenes más bellas en un espejo cóncavo son absurdas...La deformación deja de serlo cuando está sujeta a una matemática perfecta. Mi estética actual es transformar con matemática de espejo cóncavo las normas clásicas."The idea of esperpento is based on Valle-Inclán's perception of the mixture between the great and the grotesque, which he considered typical of Spanish society. He employed this method of portraying reality in all his works from then on, including in ''Martes de Carnaval (Carnival Tuesday)'', ''La hija del capitán (The Captain's Daughter)'', ''Las galas del difunto (The Galas of the Deceased)'', and ''Los cuernos de don Friolera (The Horns of Don Friolera)''. According to Valle-Inclán, "There are three ways of seeing the world artistically or esthetically: on one's knees, standing up, or levitating in the air." In the first method, "You give the characters, the heroes, a higher status...at least when compared to the narrator." The second method is to view them "as though they were our own selves", and the third is "to look at the world from a superior plane and consider the characters in the plot to be inferior to the author, with a point of irony. The gods become farces. It is a manner very Spanish, a
This consideration is what moved me to change my writing and write ''esperpentos'', the literary genre that I baptize with the name ''esperpentos''. The world of the ''esperpentic''—as one of the characters in ''Bohemian Lights'' explains—is as though the ancient heroes have become deformed in the concave mirrors of the street, with a grotesque transportation, but rigorously geometric. And these deformed beings are the heroes called to represent a classic fable that is not deformed. The ones who play the tragedy are minute and bow-legged. And with this sense, I've carried them to ''Tirano Banderas'' and to ''El ruedo ibérico (The Iberian Bullring)''.Untranslated: "Y esta consideración es la que me movió a dar una cambio en mi literatura y a escribir los «esperpentos», el genero literario que yo bautizo con el nombre de «esperpentos». El mundo de los «esperpentos»—explica uno de los personajes de ''Luces de Bohemia ''Bohemian Lights'', or ''Luces de Bohemia'' in the original Spanish, is a play written by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, published in 1924. The central character is Max Estrella, a struggling poet afflicted by blindness due to developing syphilis. ...''—es como si los héroes antiguos se hubiesen deformado en los espejos cóncavos de la calle, con un transporte grotesco, pero rigurosamente geométrico. Y estos seres deformados son los héroes llamados a representar una fábula clásica no deformada. Son enanos y patizambos que juegan una tragedia. Y con este sentido los he llevado a ''Tirano Banderas'' y a ''El ruedo ibérico.''"
Characteristics
The main characteristic of esperpento is usage of the grotesque as a form of expression, which includes reification of characters, fusion of animal and human forms, legitimizing colloquial language via its use in literature, an abundant use of contrast, distorting scenery, and mixing the real world with nightmares. The systematic deformation of reality plays a key role, often calling on the appearance of caricatures. Death appears as a fundamental character. Esperpento comes with a semitransparent moral lesson, filled with criticism and satire. The degradation present in esperpento affects both environments and characters. The dominant settings are taverns and brothels, miserable interiors, and dangerous streets inNotes
References
Works cited
* * * *{{cite book, last=Zamora Vincente, first=Alonso, title=La realidad esperpéntica. Aproximación a "Luces de bohemia" he esperpentic reality: Approach to "Bohemian Lights"location=Madrid, publisher=Editorial Gredos, year=1969 Spanish literature