The GREGUERÍAS of Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Ramón Gómez de la Serna he is one of the best known Spanish authors in late 19th and early 20th literature. His contribution to the literary scene of the moment was very active, in fact, he wrote novels, plays and newspaper articles. But if de la Serna stood out in something, it was in the creation of the greguerías, a unique and very special literary genre that was invented by the author and that, today, is still in vogue for many other authors. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to introduce you the greguerías of Ramón Gómez de la Serna, an approach to this literary genre created by this brilliant author who has given the XIX.

Index

1. What is a greguería (with examples)
2. Ramón Gómez de la Serna, the creator of the greguerías
3. Work of Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Ramón Gómez de la Serna is the creator of the greguerías, a literary genre that this author coined in 1910 and that achieved enormous success in its time, as well as in the members of the

In fact, the author himself created a formula that summarized how to create a good greguería. It was the following:

humor + metaphor = greguería

Therefore, the basic elements of this type of literary genre are humor and the use of the literary device of metaphor. With this combination it was as possible to create greguerías, ingenious and original phrases. Although at first glance the greguería may seem something simple and quick to build, the truth is that the formulation is more complicated than it seems. In the sentence, a metaphorical idea must be summarized in a summarized way and that, in addition, it is humorous.

There are many authors who have opted to use greguerías and, each of them, has a particular style. But since in this lesson we are talking about the greguerías of Ramón Gómez de la Serna, it is important that we know that the author's style was very specific: they present a poetic style and always with an ironic touch that launches a social criticism.

10 examples of greguerías

So that you better understand what a greguería is, below we are going to offer you a list with examples that will help you better understand what we have just explained. Some examples of greguerías are:

1. The first kiss is a robbery.
2. Steam is the ghost of water.
3. Etc., etc., etc. It is the braid of the writing.
4. The head is the fish tank of ideas.
5. The O is the I after drinking.
6. Psychoanalysis is the corkscrew of the unconscious.
7. Love is born from the sudden desire to make the temporary thing eternal.
8. The baby greets himself by shaking hands at her foot.
9. What if the ants were already Martians established on Earth?
10. The hen is tired of reporting to the police station that her eggs are stolen.

Image: Slideplayer

The creator of the greguerías was Ramón Gómez de la Serna, a Spanish author in 1955 published "Total de greguerías" in which he mentioned other predecessor authors who, unknowingly, had also used this literary genre created by him. In fact, in the prologue to this publication he speaks of such prominent writers as Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Horacio or Quevedo.

Much of his literary life was devoted to cultivation and the diffusion of the greguería as a new literary genre. Thanks to his work in some newspapers of the time, the author published different greguerías that, later, he collected in published works. Some of the most prominent titles are "Greguerías" (1917), "Flor de greguerías" (1933) or the already mentioned "Total de greguerías" (1955).

Brief biography of Ramón Gómez de la Serna

We are going to get to know the creator of the greguería better to understand his importance in the literary history of Spain. Since, in addition to coining this new genre, the truth is that he was a very prolific author and is usually included in the Generation of 14 or the noucentistas.

In his bibliography we find works of various kinds: from traditional essays, to biographies, novels or theater. He was born on July 3, 1888 in Madrid and died in Buenos Aires in 1963; his work is very extensive and his style was characterized by going against all the classical and artistic conventions. The central axis of his production were the greguerías and he cultivated different styles: jokes, philosophical notes, word games, and so on.

Image: José Antonio Benito

In addition to being the creator of the greguerías, Ramón Gómez de la Serna was a very important writer at the time due to his personality and his vast literary work. (he wrote more than 100 books). He was closely linked in the study of everything that was new and, therefore, his production was so extensive and varied. In fact, it was said of him that:

"Everything he could think of he wrote, everything he wrote he published and everything he published he gave away, because his books were hardly sold"

He wrote a large number of literary genres, in addition to the greguerías. And here we are going to review his influence in different fields:

• Novels: The work of Ramón Gómez de la Serna has 18 novels, a genre in which the author shines with his own light and where the originality of his pen is clearly seen. "La viuda blanca y negra" is his first title and, from this moment, the author begins to innovate and try different styles. He stepped into the Surrealism and "The lost man" (1947) is a clear example of his influence.
• Journalism: He worked in newspapers in Spain as varied as La Tribuna, El Liberal or El Sol, as well as in important literary magazines of the time such as La Gaceta Literaria or Revista de Occidente. It is in his journalistic work that he best reflected his greguerías, since it had sections specially designed for this new literary genre.
• Theater: Ramón Gómez de la Serna was also a playwright. His works were very novel and approximated one of the avant-garde movements closest to the author, Surrealism. "The media beings" is the best known work of the author, although it was not very well received by the public of the time.
• essays: He also cultivated in essays and, above all, stood out for the publication of "Ismos", a book in which he introduces in Spain the avant-gardes that are triumphing in Europe.

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