Esperpento denotes a literary style in Spanish literature

Spanish literature

Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...

 first established by Spanish author Ramón María Valle-Inclán. A consistently distorted description of reality serves to criticize society. Leading themes are death and the grotesque. Everyday life is intertwined with nightmare, human beings reduced to things (reification

Reification

Reification generally refers to bringing into being or turning concrete.Specifically, reification may refer to:*Reification , making a data model for a previously abstract concept...

), the style is marked by bitter irony. A representative of the esperpento genre in Latin America is Mexican author Jorge Ibargüengoitia

Jorge Ibargüengoitia

Jorge Ibargüengoitia Antillón , was a Mexican novelist and playwright who achieved great popular success with his satires, three of which have appeared in English: Las Muertas , Dos Crimenes , and Los Relámpagos de Agosto Jorge Ibargüengoitia Antillón (Guanajuato, Mexico, January 22, 1928 -...

.