Glossary
Ambiente
The physical and social setting in which a story takes place, including details like location, time period, weather, and cultural context, which contribute to the overall mood.
Example:
The oppressive heat and dust of Comala in Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo create a desolate and haunting ambiente that reflects the spiritual decay of the town.
Ambiguëdad/Ambiguity
A literary device where a text, word, or phrase has multiple possible meanings or interpretations, leaving the reader uncertain about the true nature of events or characters.
Example:
The ending of 'El Sur' by Borges leaves the reader in ambigüedad, unsure if Juan Dahlmann's final moments are real or a dying man's fantasy.
Atmósfera/Atmosphere
The prevailing mood or emotional tone of a literary work, often created through descriptive details, imagery, and the author's word choice, influencing the reader's feelings.
Example:
The constant sense of impending doom and the eerie silence in 'La casa de Bernarda Alba' establish a suffocating atmósfera of repression and tragedy.
Desdoblamiento/Splitting
A literary technique where a character's personality or identity is divided into two or more distinct aspects, often representing conflicting desires, realities, or psychological states.
Example:
In 'No oyes ladrar los perros,' the father's internal conflict between love and resentment for his son illustrates a psychological desdoblamiento as he carries him.
El tiempo y el espacio
A literary concept where the traditional boundaries of time and space are manipulated or blurred, often creating parallel realities or a sense of disorientation.
Example:
In Cien años de soledad, Macondo's isolation and cyclical events demonstrate how el tiempo y el espacio can feel both expansive and confined, repeating patterns across generations.
Flashback
A narrative technique that interrupts the chronological sequence of events to present an earlier event or scene, providing background information or revealing crucial details.
Example:
In Crónica de una muerte anunciada, the entire story is told through flashbacks as the narrator reconstructs the events leading up to Santiago Nasar's death years later.
La construcción de realidad
The literary technique where an author challenges the reader's perception of what is real, often by blurring the lines between dreams, imagination, and objective reality.
Example:
Gabriel García Márquez often uses magical realism to explore la construcción de realidad, presenting fantastical elements as commonplace, forcing the reader to question their own understanding of the world.
Sinestesia/Synesthesia
A literary device that involves the blending or intermingling of different sensory perceptions, where one sense is is described in terms of another.
Example:
When a poet writes about a 'loud color' or a 'sweet sound,' they are employing sinestesia to evoke a more vivid and multi-sensory experience for the reader.
Suspenso/Suspense
A feeling of anxious uncertainty or apprehension about what will happen next in a story, often created through foreshadowing, rising action, and unresolved conflicts.
Example:
The slow, deliberate build-up of tension as the characters approach the unknown in a horror story is a classic way to generate suspenso.