SOURCE: “Absurdist Techniques in the Short Stories of Juan José Arreola,” in Journal of Spanish Studies: Twentieth Century, Vol. 8, 1980, pp. 67-77.

In the following essay, Gilgen maintains that Arreola's Confabulario is one of the earliest masterpieces of absurdist literature and that the humor of Arreola's short stories exposes the absurdities of everyday life and gives the reader the means to laugh at the human predicament.

Literature of the absurd has enjoyed a special prominence in world letters during the past several years. Due in large part to the popularity and critical acclaim of the French Theater of the Absurd, absurdist expression has found its way into the novel and short story as well as into the theater. While there seem to be no concrete or well-defined limits to such literature, nevertheless there are certain characteristics which do make it distinguishable from other modern literary approaches.

In a recent...