Owen, Luiselli and the crossroads in narrative art

Abstract

This article compares the narrative art of Gilberto Owen and Valeria Luiselli as practised in Novela como nube and Los ingrávidos. Its ultimate aim is to highlight Luiselli’s perceptive reading of Novela como nube as reflected in the novel written by her on the occasion of Owen’s centenary. It takes into account the different contexts in which the two novels were written and attempts to identify certain aspects of Owen’s narrative art that could indicate his possible influence in the genesis and development of Los ingrávidos. It also attempts to offer a new approach to Novela como nube, a work which suggests that Owen saw theater as a way to integrate the new dominant artistic languages (poetry and cinema) into the realm of narrative.