Possible truths of an apocryphal prologue. The transition from the filandón tradition to the conciseness of the short story in José María Merino: a state of the art.

Abstract

In this article – based on the analysis of José María Merino micro-stories included in Palabras en la Nieve. Un filandón (2007)– we will propose an analysis of the confidence that readers must give to the contents of the prologue to the volume, written by an apocryphal author who exalts the experience of long and traditional evenings of stories around the fireplace, typical of the rural tradition. Can the inheritance of the filandón, a ritual of stories narrated over many sessions, be compatible with the features of the mini-fiction? Is there a link between certain foundational elements of ultra-brief fiction –polysemy, conciseness, language compression, ellipsis and concentration– and the prolonged experiences of narration and listening to which the apocryphal creature refers in his prologue? A study of Merino’s texts is proposed here, to analyze if the translation to the micro- story’s concise writing of those experiences of the “narrative word” based on prolonged narrativity is feasible.