Humor e intertextualidad en la obra de juventud de Augusto Monterroso.

This article analyses the early works of Augusto Monterroso, published in the years 1941 and 1942, in the newspaper El Imparcial and the magazine Acento. We intend to demonstrate that three of the main features of his late work are already present in these short stories; namely: the blending of literary genres, humour (specifically the use of irony) and the use of literary tradition to structure the narrative. We understand the concepts of literary tradition and literary canon from the perspective of the sociology of culture rather than an aesthetic standpoint. Hence, the explanation we give of these three features, present in Monterroso's early works, agrees with Gonz\lez Zenteno's thesis. Zenteno suggests that the renewal of the literary canon originates from a peripheral position (in this case, from Central America) partly because ease and daring are natural to this position. The fact that Monterroso was aware of his challenge at an early age (nineteen years) and met it without the solemnity and seriousness others may have applied to it, shows him to have been unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]