Ekphrasis in Song of the Water Saints

Kaiyah Ellison

In Nelly Rosario’s Song of the Water Saints, ekphrasis—the verbal or written depiction of visual art—unveils the complex friction between how things appear and their true nature. Song of the Water Saints follows three generations of Dominican women—beginning with the rebellious Graciela—as they navigate poverty, migration, love, and survival from early 1900s Santo Domingo to late 20th-century New York City. Blending history, folklore, and spirituality, the novel explores how colonialism, desire, and resilience shape their lives across time. In two significant scenes, Rosario uses ekphrasis to emphasize the gap between external appearances, reality, and structured imagery, illustrating how the character’s outward identities bring forth major truths about societal expectations and personal conformity. These moments demonstrate the stark contrast between structured images and the deeper realities of societal desire, identity, and conformity.

The sexualized postcard of Gabriela and Silvio is a powerful example of how Rosario uses ekphrasis to expose the gap between constructed image and conformity. The postcard in itself illustrates how identity and agency can be manipulated through visual representation. Its description, “They are naked. The boy cradles the girl. Their flesh is copper…Shadows ink the muscles of the boy’s arms, thighs, and calves.  His penis lies flaccid…The girl lies against the boy…An orchid blooms on her cheek” (Rosario 5) illustrates a sense of vulnerability, desire, and even power. However, while the art in the text puts both Gabriela and Silvio as exotic and sensual figures, the image’s text puts into question the deeper layers of societal expectation and exploitation. At first, the postcard projects eroticism and allure with posed bodies set in front of an artificial but exotic background, yet such a careful portrayal once again raises the question of who controls the narrative and who will benefit from it. Surrounding both teens with symbolic props, the author suggests that it isn’t a depiction of her true self but rather a construction for viewers’ exotic fantasies beyond her knowledge. Gabriela and Silvio get reduced to an object for the power of the male gaze and colonial voyeurism produced for the West by Peter J. West. The background of the photo process adds more insight into the constructed nature of this representation, “In the dampness, they shivered while West kneaded their bodies as if molding stubborn clay. They struggled to mimic his pouts and sleepy eyes. Instead of wrestling under heavy trees by Rio Ozama, or chewing cane in the fields near bateyes, or scratching each other’s bellies in abandoned mills, or pressing up against the foot of a bridge, they were twisted about on a hard couch that stunk of old rags” (Rosario 6). This depiction shows the physical discomfort and forced positioning, stripping the subjects of agency while emphasizing the artificial nature of the visual product. The postcard becomes a projection of desires that cater to the Western gaze, contrasting strongly with the raw, lived reality of Gabriela and Silvio. Furthermore, although the image may paint both of them as willing participants, the postcard description claims, “…There is ocean in her eyes” (Rosario 5), which suggests that the loss of agency is reflected emotionally through the “ocean in her eyes.” The author issues a challenge to the reader’s perception of what is illustrated and what is real, bringing light to a disconnect between the representation and the verbal-visual representation. Rosario allows the reader to bring life to the picture and provide the basis for knowability. In using ekphrasis, she “lays claim to the absolute thereness of an aesthetic object,…” (Cunningham 61). Through this scene, she questions the authenticity of visual portrayals and reminds the reader that the truth behind an image is often complex, with hidden narratives about desire, conformity, and resistance. As Cunningham writes, “Which is to say that ekphrasis grants a demonstration of literature’s persistent resurrectionist desires—the craving to have the past return livingly, to live again, to speak again” (Cunningham 63). Through this lens, Rosario’s ekphrasis serves not only as a tool to explore the constructed nature of the postcard image but also as a means of resurrecting the voices of Gabriela and Silvio, revealing their lived experiences beneath the surface of visual representation.

Ana’s wedding photo is another vivid example of ekphrasis; it is a representation of how outside pressures shape personal identity and the lengths people will go to align themselves with societal views. Ana’s wedding photo becomes more than a moment of their wedding; it changes to a symbol of conformity and the conflict that arises by meeting expectations set by society. Her remark regarding needing to touch up parts of the photo, “to lighten up Humberto a bit, then they did the teeth” (Rosario 37), suggests the pressure to put forward an idealized version of the truth that conforms to the Western standards. In just this change, we, as the readers, see the persuasive influence of colonial aesthetics even with something as intimate as a wedding photo. The alteration of Humberto’s skin tone and the whitening of their teeth emphasizes the deep-rooted desire to fit in with an image that is socially accepted, once again emphasizing the misalignment between genuine self and socially dictated appearances. The subtle movement of Ana running her fingers over the whiter parts of the photo and her brows drawing in contemplation illustrates her knowingness of the inauthentic parts placed upon a memory that should be cherished. The act alone symbolizes an understanding of how much she was compelled to change her identity to fit within the dominantly accepted narrative. This scene reflects Froma Zeitlin’s assertion that “Finally, whether signaled explicitly as such or not, embedded ekphrases call forth interpretation in broader terms of the relationship between word and image, as between content and context, and they inevitably raise issues of representation, with all the ambiguities, tensions, and contradictions that the notion entails” (21). The visual representation of this photo becomes an artifact of celebration and adherence, muddled with hidden acceptance and recognition of conformity. Rosario’s use of ekphrasis in this scene critiques the struggle to maintain true selfhood and adhere to that constructed image. Ana’s wedding photo turns into a reflection of not only her individual experience but also the larger commentary on the compromises people must make to live within a world that values conformity over authenticity. This brings readers to question how identity and truth can be masked by the alignment with societal validation. Cunningham also notes, “The ethical note is clear: the voice of the ekphrastic is, often, like the Philomel set, morally weighted, admonitory, instructive; the ekphrastic encounter is commonly for the good of the fictional character, is morally heuristic” (65). In this view, Rosario’s ekphrasis offers a moral exploration, urging the reader to consider the ethical implications of Ana’s choices and the broader societal forces that shape her sense of self.

Rosario’s use of ekphrasis in both scenes shows how visual culture preserves ideals that modify and constrain identity, showcasing the struggle between maintaining true selfhood and adhering to society’s constructed images. By focusing on these visual descriptions, she highlights the tension between personal truth and the facades imposed by societal expectations. The sexualized postcard, with its fake and exoticized portrayal of Gabriela and Silvio, serves as a metaphor for the way individuals who are considered the “other” to Western people are objectified and exploited. The depiction of their bodies as molded clay emphasizes how they are manipulated to fit a view that caters to external desires, wiping away their autonomy and authentic experiences. Additionally, Ana’s wedding photo is a demonstration of the pervasive influence of Western standards, which say what is deemed beautiful or respectable. The act of altering the photograph illustrates a deeper yearning for acceptance within a system that equates one’s value with conformity. This change symbolizes how personal achievements are reshaped to meet the gaze of an audience conditioned to see whiteness and Western aesthetics as ideal and proper. It reveals the hidden sacrifices people make to have their livelihoods validated, highlighting the emotional and psychological impact of these impositions and alterations. What may seem like simple images become complex symbols of cultural assimilation and the erasure of individuality. The tension between how characters are seen and who they truly are creates an everlasting conflict that sheds light on the fragility of identity when subjected to Western forces. Froma Zeitlin’s assertion, we see that Rosario’s use not only draws attention to the aesthetics of representation but also to the broader societal forces at play that shape, and often distort those representations.

In conclusion, Nelly Rosario’s Song of the Water Saints strategically uses ekphrasis as a narrative tool to expose the tensions between appearance and reality, societal expectations, and individual identity. Through the use of visual representations such as the sexualized postcard of Gabriela and Silvio and Ana’s wedding photo, Rosario illustrates the deep divide between the constructed images that society forces and the authentic experiences and identities of her characters. In these moments, ekphrasis is not only providing a detailed verbal account of visual objects but also invites the reader to reflect on the forces that shape those images; forces of colonialism, Western ideals, and conformity. The postcard serves as a haunting reminder of how the bodies of Gabriela and Silvio are extorted, exoticized, and controlled by a Western gaze that erases their agency and distorts their truth. Through the manipulation of their image, Rosario critiques the way society often reduces complex people to mere objects of desire, stripped of their true selves for the consumption of others. Similarly, Ana’s wedding photo which should represent a moment of personal joy, is instead fused with the weight of Western expectations that rob it of its authenticity. Choosing to alter the photo and Ana’s contemplation of its inauthenticity emphasizes the internal conflict that arises from trying to reconcile one’s true identity with the identity demanded by society. This tension between personal authenticity and societal expectations is central in Song of the Water Saints, and through this literary device, Rosario forces us to confront the ways in which visual representations are not just passive reflections of reality but active constructions that shape and control the lives of those who are represented.