Abstract
Although fantastic narrative and humor increasingly go together –both arise from an incongruity that affects objective reality and pragmatics, respectively–, this combination is not always unambiguous. More specifically, the humorous effect depends on the modality in which the fantastic takes place: in ‘the fantastic of perception’, humor is only a consequence of the clash between the uncanny and everyday life, while in ‘the fantastic of language’ it is incorporated into the enunciation and causes the very fantastic effect. Both modalities are illustrated in some relevant short stories of Julio Ramon Ribeyro. The first occurs in Doblaje, La insigniaand La botella de chicha, where the hero’s confrontation with a disquieting event leads to mere situational humor. The second is realized by a defective narration in Escena de cazaand El carrusel, or by a suggestive focalization in Sobre las olasand Scorpio, which kindle an absurd humor that triggers the fantastic.
Highlights
In his study of the modernization process in Peruvian fantastic narrative, Elton Honores states that very often the fantastic effect is expressed by means of parody and humor (2010: 209)
The humorous effect depends on the modality in which the fantastic takes place: in ‘the fantastic of perception’, humor is only a consequence of the clash between the uncanny and everyday life, while in ‘the fantastic of language’ it is incorporated into the enunciation and causes the very fantastic effect
If we focus on Peruvian literature, which includes Julio Ramón Ribeyro’s short stories, the ‘fantastic of perception’ fits in with what Honores calls «the transgressive aspects» («los aspectos transgresivos») that take shape in the transgression of time and place and in the figure of the double (2010: 33)
Summary
In his study of the modernization process in Peruvian fantastic narrative, Elton Honores states that very often the fantastic effect is expressed by means of parody and humor (2010: 209). This kind of operation exploits the contiguity between the characters and the narrators —in a similar fashion as free indirect speech (2010: 767-768)— in order to make them clash more intensively and produce the incongruity needed to bring about humor In this respect, narrative humor connects to the fantastic by means of a similar process of transgression conditioned by incongruity and vacillation, and by the fact that this transgression of commonly accepted rules is grounded in experiments with enunciation that lead to ambiguity and unsettle the reader. Lo humorístico exige (...) una actitud dialógica dentro de y con el texto, con lo cual obliga al lector a reconocer los referentes reformulados para así desembocar en un proceso de lectura más activo» (Alarcón, 2013: 85)
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