Embodied Voices: Ekphrasis of Incarnation in Pérez Galdós’ Doña Perfecta and Ana Galdós’ El abra del Yumurí

In this essay I offer a comparative analysis of two works, one from nineteenth century Spain, Benito Pérez Galdós’ Doña Perfecta; and the second from twentieth-century Cuba, Ana Galdós’ El abra del Yumurí. This piece moves from the stark realism tinged with gothic elements of the first to the more nuanced realism of the second, as it is suffused with the magic of America. We will seek to understand the Latin (Cuban) voice that seeks inspiration both in America and in Spain. With Benito Pérez Galdós and Ana Galdós we come to view ekphrasis of incarnation as a process that actualizes art and words, making them monuments of flesh as they intrude into each other, our dreams and our worlds. From Pérez Galdós, the Cuban writer takes the love and knowledge of art, the uses of contrastive oppositions, the tragedy that emerges from lack of reconciliation, and the gothic nature of ignorance. Ana Galdós, also with a deep knowledge of art, creates a new world where the gothic is seen in nature’s beauty; where woman rather than man seeks to bring light; and where the tragic may be attenuated by the marvel of an ekphrasis of incarnation. [Article copies available for a fee from The Transformative Studies Institute. E-mail address: journal@transformativestudies.org Website: http://www.transformativestudies.org ©2026 by The Transformative Studies Institute. All rights reserved.]