EKPHRASIS

Texts of Additional Interest: (not required, but suggested for your own further studies into ekphrasis)

Dimestore Alchemy, Joseph Cornell
Inflorescence by Sara Hannah
 By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham. It deals with art, and some of the literary allusions will be familiar after some of our studies.
Also, the very pricey but intriguing: The Gazer's Spirit by John Hollander
Week One:

T: Introduction. What is ekphrasis in its broader use? What will it be in our class?

Summary: Ekphrasis as a vocabulary term must grapple with the notion of expression in speech of that which is silent (the work of art or effect of the work of art upon the viewer).  In our class, we are going to see speech or the spoken response as one that might be rendered in a variety of figurative methods or genres from paint to keyboards and strings, as well as the keyboard that yields poems, stories and plays in response.  

H: Discussion of Musee de Beaux Art by W.H. Auden,  Gretel in Darkness by Louise Gluck

Week Two:

Much of what we will be focusing on is how much we need to be able to "see" the piece rendered in language. 
Torso of Apollo
Archaic Torso of Apollo
Shield of Achilles
The Shield of Achilles
More about the original piece of art
Stealing the Scream
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
Musee de Beaux Arts
Essay: Ekphrasis or Not?

Week Two:

T: Discussion of treatments of Icarus including the Ovid