Modern ekphrasis

More about the book

Modern Ekphrasis delves into the connections between modern poetry and painting, tracing the evolution of ekphrasis from Horace’s mimetic tradition to Lessing’s spatial/temporal dichotomy and its post-modern deconstruction by Derrida. The book presents detailed analyses of modern poems by Howard Nemerov, W. C. Williams, Sylvia Plath, and John Ashbery, primarily inspired by the works of Paul Klee, Charles Demuth, Giorgio de Chirico, and Frank Stella. An innovative approach is taken by applying Anton Ehrenzweig’s concept of "unconscious scanning" to visualize Klee’s Mountain Flora, enhancing its verisimilitude through a unique depth perception that merges figure and background. The self-reflexivity of the poems, which reflect on their creative processes, is examined alongside the interplay of ekphrasis and cognition, drawing on the insights of Freud, Panofsky, Gombrich, and others, as well as recent neuroscientific findings. The book illustrates how Homer’s shield, Swift’s tree, Williams’ pot of flowers, and Ashbery’s canvas create a cohesive experience within ekphrastic poetry. It highlights the evolution of literature and the humanities from classicism to post-modernism, addressing the self-alienation fostered by modern communication technologies and proposing new socio-artistic connections and identities.