The Dinosaur (short story)
El dinosaurio (The dinosaur) is a flash fiction written by the Honduras-born Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso, published as a part of the book Obras completas (y otros cuentos), in 1959. It is considered one of the shortest stories in Spanish,[1] and its whole text is the following:
Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí.
| "The Dinosaur" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Augusto Monterroso | |
| Original title | El Dinosaurio |
| Country | Guatemala |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Obras completas (Y otros cuentos) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Publication date | 1959 |
Meaning: When he/she/it woke, the dinosaur was still there.
It is a simple sentence that forms a flash story, probably the most famous of all those published by Monterroso throughout his career. It was considered the shortest short story in the Spanish language until the publication of another three works during the 21st century: one in 2005, El emigrante, by Luis Felipe Lomelí;[2] other, in 2006, Luis XIV, by Juan Pedro Aparicio, and one in 2015, Epitafio para un microrrelatista, by Marcelo Gobbo.[3]
Impact in Mexican popular culture
In the history of Mexico, the Institutional Revolutionary Party remained in power for more than seven decades. It was compared to a "Dinosaur" by commentators due to the length of its time in power; as such, the El dinosaurio poem was often used to mock them.[4]
References
- "Augusto Monterroso. Biografía". Centro Virtual Cervantes. Instituto Cervantes. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- "Escriben cuento más corto que "El dinosaurio"". Universia (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- Gobbo, Marcelo (2015). Mini. Vela al Viento Ediciones Patagónicas. ISBN 978-9871638-76-5.
- "Sobre el regreso de los dinosaurios". Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
Bibliography
- Varios (2009). Cuentos breves para leer en la cama [Short stories to read in bed.] (in Spanish). Madrid: Santillana Ediciones Generales SL. ISBN 978-84-663-2340-6.