El desnudo impecable y otras narraciones: claves para una nueva lectura de la obra poética de Pedro Salinas

Abstract

The second collection of Pedro Salinas's narrative pieces, El desnudo impecable y otras narraciones, was published in 1951 and brought his production to an end. Even though the vast majority of critics have underrated this volume, these five short stories offer an evocative reading of the essential motives behind the Spanish author's poetic work. These stories stem from the very same concerns that fuel his poetry and reflect on matters as essential as the knowledge of reality, loving relationships, or the city. However, instead of reproducing these elements as they appear in poetry, they go further, modifying, renewing, subverting motives as important as the 'seguro azar', the process by which knowledge of hidden reality is obtained, or the lover's role in shedding light on the truth or in aiding salvation. Thus what this article proposes is a search, via the short stories of El desnudo impecable y otras narraciones, for ways to carry out a revised reading of the poetry of Pedro Salinas.