Abstract
In this chapter, I will focus on the first two qualities of ekphrasis, namely, representation and narrativization, as well as illustrate how insights from stylistics, narratology, and cognitive poetics may provide useful tools to discuss the emergence of ekphrastic effects. Literary scholars often consider ekphrastic representation and narrative at odds with each other, suggesting that ekphrasis places texts in a narrative pause and solely provides ornamental details without advancing the action. I argue that conceptualizing representation and narrativization as qualities allows us to explore them not as opposing forces but as different parameters of ekphrasis that may manifest to different degrees within a text. In the following section, the main elements that signal the presence of strong representational tendencies will be identified and discussed along with the ways that representational links between the verbal and visual medium may be established.
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Notes
- 1.
Images of the Virgin Mary and her son are among the most well-known depictions in Christian art, and Powell draws on the audience’s familiarity with the conventions of the genre to draw a connection with the theme of maternal love.
- 2.
A reproduction of the painting along with a brief analysis can be found here https://www.bruegel2018.at/en/the-hunters-in-the-snow/.
- 3.
The poem consists of 5 stanzas and 25 lines that are structured as one continuous sentence. The main verb of the independent clause is introduced in line 11 and is immediately followed by a dependent clause that in turn gives way to a colon and another set of clauses contained therein. The colon marks a turning point in the poem, moving the narrative away from description to prognostication of future events.
- 4.
Van Gogh’s painting may be seen here https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh-the-starry-night-1889/.
- 5.
This rests on the assumption that readers will engage with the text and fruitfully interpret the simile. Given its complexity, it is possible that some readers may not be able to establish the correspondences between the target and source domain which may in turn lead to disregard the simile and its effect.
- 6.
Note also the use of iconic enjambment with “ascending” being placed at the very end of the line.
- 7.
Hopper’s painting is exhibited at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid, Spain and may be seen online here: https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/hopper-edward/hotel-room.
- 8.
See Sinclair (1999) for a discussion of how “the way” can be used as a conjunction to introduce subordinate clauses as is the case in this line.
- 9.
In later editions of Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Bal revised her approach, stating that treating description as a disruption “is somewhat problematic” (Bal, 2017, p. 41).
- 10.
My use of the term should be distinguished from Fludernik’s use of “narrativization” to refer to “a reading strategy that naturalizes texts by recourse to narrative schemata” (1996, p. 34). Fludernik draws on Jonathan Culler’s “naturalization”, the process by which readers employ their knowledge, experiences, and expectations to make sense of the world of the literary text, especially “the strange or deviant” (Culler, 1975, p. 137).
- 11.
John Singer Sargent undertook the portrait of Paris socialite Madame Gautreau without commission in an attempt to enhance his reputation as a portraitist. However, the portrait was received poorly at the 1884 Paris Salon, as documented in the poem, contributing to Sargent’s move to England in 1886.
- 12.
- 13.
The painting is part of the collection of the Hermitage Museum and may be seen here: https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/01.+Paintings/28389/.
- 14.
Note the use of distal deixis in “that part of the fire” that creates psychological distance and impedes the conceptualization of the fire together with the vague reference of the noun “part”.
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Panagiotidou, ME. (2022). Representation and Narrativization in Ekphrasis. In: The Poetics of Ekphrasis . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11313-0_4
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