What do you think?
Rate this book
Modern Ekphrasis
Modern Ekphrasis explores the analogical relations between modern poetry and painting in ekphrasis from Horace’s mimetic «ut pictura poesis» tradition to Lessing’s temporal/spatial antithesis, and the analogy’s post-modern deconstruction with Derrida. The genesis of ekphrasis is demonstrated by close analytical readings of modern poems by Howard Nemerov, W.C. Williams, Sylvia Plath, and John Ashbery, mostly written on modern paintings by Paul Klee, Charles Demuth, Giorgio de Chirico, and Frank Stella. In an innovative approach, the author applies Anton Ehrenzweig’s concept of «unconscious scanning» to a syncretic visualisation of Klee’s Mountain Flora. Viewed with an undifferentiated depth vision that can fix the figure and background in a single glance, Mountain Flora acquires deeper verisimilitude.
The self-reflexivity of the poems which comments on their creative processes and the interrelations of ekphrasis with cognition are analysed after the critical writings of Freud, Panowsky, Gombrich, Hagstrum, Arnheim, Steiner, Ehrenzweig, Derrida, and in the light of the latest neuroscientific discoveries. Homer’s shield, Swift’s tree, W.C. Williams’ pot of flowers, and Ashbery’s canvas create a suture within the ekphrastic poem in our imagination. This book demonstrates the evolution of literature and the humanities in our society from classicism to post-modernism which counteracted the self-alienation caused by our modern communication technology by inventing new socio-artistic circuits and new social identities.
The self-reflexivity of the poems which comments on their creative processes and the interrelations of ekphrasis with cognition are analysed after the critical writings of Freud, Panowsky, Gombrich, Hagstrum, Arnheim, Steiner, Ehrenzweig, Derrida, and in the light of the latest neuroscientific discoveries. Homer’s shield, Swift’s tree, W.C. Williams’ pot of flowers, and Ashbery’s canvas create a suture within the ekphrastic poem in our imagination. This book demonstrates the evolution of literature and the humanities in our society from classicism to post-modernism which counteracted the self-alienation caused by our modern communication technology by inventing new socio-artistic circuits and new social identities.
170 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 13, 2014
After reading this book, I know it adds to our knowledge of rhetorics and ekphrasis. It is clearly written.
It is comprehensive with historical background, and the latest developments in the art of ekphrasis with psychoanalysis and 21st century with Derridean deconstruction. I am a fan of her work, and her poetry is also a wonderful example of poetic art with metaphor and imagery throughout. A wonderful writer, and an honour to read more of her work.
It is comprehensive with historical background, and the latest developments in the art of ekphrasis with psychoanalysis and 21st century with Derridean deconstruction. I am a fan of her work, and her poetry is also a wonderful example of poetic art with metaphor and imagery throughout. A wonderful writer, and an honour to read more of her work.
February 19, 2014
This is a book for browsing – a gentle unfolding of poems and paintings that delight the mind and feed the artistic instinct in each of us.
The book obviously began as a scholarly essay, and evolved into a work of love. The first few pages provide the scholarly framework, and should be scanned and then set aside for later review. Those first few pages (intro and preface) discuss in detail the various theories of “ekphrasis” – the blending or interaction of poetry and painting.
The underlying premise of those initial pages can be summed up easily and quickly.
The philosopher-art critic G.E. Lessing believed that poetry and painting are fundamentally different: poetry deals primarily with actions, painting with icons. The author of “Modern Ekphrasis” argues that Lessing was too restrictive. The individual human, whether looking at a painting or a poem, enters into the act of “art.” This has enormous implications for both artist and viewer / reader. And the implications become even more interesting when someone writes a poem about a painting.
I have gone to the trouble of summing up this premise so that the reader can skip to the chapters on individual painters and poets. It is in those chapters where the author’s great love of both unfolds like a caress.
Get the book. I know you will enjoy it.
The book obviously began as a scholarly essay, and evolved into a work of love. The first few pages provide the scholarly framework, and should be scanned and then set aside for later review. Those first few pages (intro and preface) discuss in detail the various theories of “ekphrasis” – the blending or interaction of poetry and painting.
The underlying premise of those initial pages can be summed up easily and quickly.
The philosopher-art critic G.E. Lessing believed that poetry and painting are fundamentally different: poetry deals primarily with actions, painting with icons. The author of “Modern Ekphrasis” argues that Lessing was too restrictive. The individual human, whether looking at a painting or a poem, enters into the act of “art.” This has enormous implications for both artist and viewer / reader. And the implications become even more interesting when someone writes a poem about a painting.
I have gone to the trouble of summing up this premise so that the reader can skip to the chapters on individual painters and poets. It is in those chapters where the author’s great love of both unfolds like a caress.
Get the book. I know you will enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews