Otro poeta en Nueva York. Gilberto Owen en Los ingrávidos (2011) de Valeria Luiselli Translated title: Another Poet in New York. Gilberto Owen in Los ingrávidos (2011) by Valeria Luiselli

Abstract

Resumen: En la primera novela de Valeria Luiselli, titulada Los ingrávidos (2011), el protagonismo de Gilberto Owen ilustra el deseo de la autora de dar una renovada visibilidad a ese escritor mexicano y, al mismo tiempo, de crearse una auto-imagen que legitime su propia actividad de escritora. Desarticulación del contenido, intertextualidad sostenida y recurrencia de la reflexión metaficcional, estos rasgos que presenta la práctica novelística de Luiselli coinciden con la de Owen y sugieren que reivindica un parentesco literario que la sitúa en una familia de escritores mexicanos de vanguardia. La filiación se hace aún más explícita porque Luiselli convierte a Owen en personaje literario de la novela (no sin exagerar algunos de los rasgos del poeta asociados frecuentemente a la figura del artista, como el alcoholismo o el fracaso relacional) y lo introduce como su propio doble.

Translated abstract

Abstract: In the first novel written by Valeria Luiselli, Los ingrávidos (2011, translation into English: Faces in the crowd), the prominence of Gilberto Owen as a character indicates that Luiselli wishes to give a renewed visibility to this Mexican artist and, at the same time, to create a self-image that legitimates her activity as a writer. Disarticulated content, continuous intertextuality and recurring metaliterary reflection, various of the commonalities which link up Luiselli’s poetic practice with that of Owen suggest that she vindicates a literary relationship that situates her in a family of Mexican avant-garde writers. This affiliation is even more explicit in the novel, because Luiselli turns Owen into a literary character (not without exaggerating some of the poet’s traits that are often associated with the figure of the artist, such as alcoholism or relational failure) and introduces him as her own double.