Ekphrasis in Historia natural, by José Watanabe, and Un reloj derramado en el desierto, by Alejandro Susti

In this paper, we analyze the poetry collections Historia natural by José Watanabe and Un reloj derramado en el desierto by Alejandro Susti, based on the concept of ekphrasis, which involves an intertextual dialogue between painting and poetry. Our central hypothesis is that Watanabe and Susti use ekphrasis to demystify a repertoire of ideas and traditions institutionalized by the ruling classes. Both authors develop this demystification through certain figurative fields, such as metaphor, metonymy, and antithesis. For this study, we use Umberto Eco's (1985) concept of demystification and Stefano Arduini's (2000) category of figurative fields.