摘要：The micro-story, cataloged by many as a subgenre of the short story and by others as a fourth narrative genre, currently occupies a privileged place in the studies of theory and literary analysis. And although its origin, denomination and foundational characteristics seem delimited, it remains in the focus of studies, research, academic journals and, of course, works of authors and anthologies. The explanation for this explosion and expansion of the micro-story is its discursive, formal, thematic and pragmatic characteristics, which favor its protean character. Before addressing the micro-story and defining the constant and systematic attributes that typify it, we will expose its possible characterizations in the territory of brevity. First, we will deal with the discursive features: hyper-openness, narrativity, conciseness and expressive intensity, generic hybridity and fragmentariness; then, the formal ones: relevance of the title, simple structure, typified characters, absence of descriptive paragraphs, the value of the ellipsis and the surprise endings; in terms of the theme: intertextuality and metaliterature coexist with humor and parody; finally, the pragmatic features, which seek the complicity of the active reader able to find out the true meaning of a meticulously prepared text.
