Copyright by Laura Mareike Sager 2006 - The University of Texas at ...

In Vargas Llosa’s Gauguin novel and Feuchtwanger’s Goya novel, the
same pictures I have discussed above under the depictive category are also used in
the novels in interpretive ekphrases. For example, the above-cited description of
La hermana de caridad in Vargas Llosa’s El Paraíso en la otra esquina is
followed by an abstract interpretive commentary by the narrator and by a
personalized reflection from the perspective of Gauguin:
Un cuadro que mostraba la total incompatibilidad de dos culturas, de sus
costumbres y religiones, la superioridad estética y moral del pueblo débil y
avasallado y la inferioridad decadente y represora del pueblo fuerte y
avasallador. Si en vez de Vaeoho [his last Tahitian wife] te hubieras
amancebado con un mahu lo mas probable era que lo tuvieras todavía aquí
contigo, cuidándote […]. No fuiste un salvaje cabal, Koke [Gauguin’s
nickname]. (El Paraíso 472) 68
Here, the narrator abstracts from the previous description and proceeds to
an interpretation of the painting and its significance for Gauguin. Not only does
the painting demonstrate the painter’s general belief in the superiority of the
uncivilized people, but it also leads him to a reflection about his own life and
sexuality, to the realization that in spite of his emulation of the Tahitian life style
he has remained conventional in his sexuality. The reflection on the painting thus
leads to reflections sparked by, but going beyond its subject.
In Lion Feuchtwagner’s Goya novel, as in Vargas Llosa’s Gauguin novel,
interpretive ekphrases often follow depictive ones. After detailed descriptions by
the narrator of the five works Goya composed in response to witnessing an
68 “It was a painting that showed the total incompatibility of two cultures, their customs and
religions; the aesthetic and moral superiority of the weaker, subjugated people and the decadent,
repressive inferiority of the stronger, dominant people. If instead of Vaeoho [his last Tahitian
wife] you had set up house with a mahu, he would probably still be here caring for you, […]. You
weren’t a full-fledged savage, Koké [Gauguin’s nickname].” (The Way 363)
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