In
Spanish and
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
literature, a is a short statement, usually one sentence, in which the author expresses a philosophical, pragmatic, or humorous idea in a witty and original way. A ''greguería'' is roughly similar to an
aphorism or a
one-liner joke in comedy. It is a
rhetorical and
stylistic device.
History
Ramón Gómez de la Serna
Ramón Gómez de la Serna y Puig (3 July 1888 in Madrid – 13 January 1963 in Buenos Aires) was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel.
Ramón Gómez de la Serna was esp ...
is considered the father of the ''greguería'', which he defined as humor plus metaphor. Gómez de la Serna first used the ''greguería'' in about 1910.
Gómez de la Serna devoted many books throughout his literary career to this new genre, which he also practiced in newspaper sections. The greguería was used to renew the frozen concept of metaphor and poetic image. The greguería anticipates surrealism.
In his preface to Total de greguerías, Ramón cites as predecessors of greguería authors such as Lucien de Samosata, Horace, Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Quevedo, Jules Renard, Saint-Pol-Roux, George Santayana, among others.
Examples
Some examples of ''greguerías'' by
Ramón Gómez de la Serna
Ramón Gómez de la Serna y Puig (3 July 1888 in Madrid – 13 January 1963 in Buenos Aires) was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel.
Ramón Gómez de la Serna was esp ...
, originally in Spanish.
*''"El par de huevos que nos tomamos parece que son gemelos, y no son ni primos terceros."'' ("The couple of eggs we eat look like identical twins, and they're not even third cousins.")
*''"El pavo real es un mito jubilado."'' ("The peacock is a retired myth.")
*''"Las puertas se enfadan con el viento."'' ("Doors get angry with the wind.")
*''"El perfume es el eco de las flores."'' ("Fragrance is the flowers' echo.")
See also
*
Aphorism
*
Jakugo
, or of a ''kōan'' is a proof of solution of the case riddle, but not the solution itself. In Zen Buddhism, kōan is used both as a meditation device and as an expression of – a radical experiential insight into the nature of things and t ...
References
Rhetorical techniques
Latin American literature
Spanish literature
Jokes
1910s introductions
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