If you liked this video, let us know by dropping us a comment on your favorite example of ekphrasis! Doing so will help us to build a rich digital learning environment around this important topic in literature.
Awesome video, thank you! This reminds me of Marianne Moore. Many of her poems are examples of ekphrasis. Poems like "No Swan So Fine" and "To a Chameleon" immediately come to mind!
Thanks so much for the comment, Shaikhah! Would you care to explain the ekphrastic content of these two poems at greater length? What artifacts do they gesture towards and how is Moore interpreting as well as representing those objects?
@@SWLF Sure! I will try my best. Generally, Marianne Moore was very fond of art objects, paintings, and pictures from ordinary magazine advertisements and museum brochures. She used to collect them. So many of these objects and paintings appear in her poems; these include, for example, a picture of an Egyptian rodent, an emerald green brocade, and small souvenir boxes. It is worth mentioning that Moore herself was a painter at some point in her life. In "No Swan So Fine", Moore deftly and beautifully describes the swan that appears in Louis XV candelabrum. But she also compares its lavish look to a live swan which, she represents, as more agile and "ambidextrous". This way Moore criticizes the primacy people in her time gave to art objects and how they forgot considering the live swan that "looks askance" at the static swan. In a way, I think, Moore also tricks the reader into believing that she values this art object more than the living animal. In "To a Chameleon" she also projects the same criticism. However, ekphrasis appears a bit differently and uniquely here. This time, at the end of the poem she represents King Solomon's Emerald Table as it appears in Gibbons The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Here she again contrasts a living creature, a chameleon, to the lavish table on which a myriad of colorful food items are placed; the table and the feast it holds, however, "could not snap the spectrum up for food as you [chameleon] have done".
What a lovely post, Shaikhah! Thanks so much for the thoughtfulness of this reply. You've done a wonderful job explaining how ekphrasis informs these poems. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!
Ekphrasis “ description “ in Greek . Ekphrastic poem is vivid description of scene, or more commonly work of art . One of oldest examples is homer long description of Achills shield in epic lliad . There are two major types or ekphrasis actual and fictional ( notional ) . Earliest and best known example of ekphrasis is long description hepaistos and given to Achilles by his mother thetis . Thank you for your wonderful educational literary channel.
Ben, nice coverage of ideas around the construction of the texts and how they provide access to themes and values. Was working on these two today with a student and you’ve provided some nice ideas which I missed. Much appreciated.
Oops. No. It was meant to go somewhere else but I did find your vid useful. Thanks. Is there a rhetorical trope for posting the wrong response to a RUclips clip?
Thank you for this explanation. I have two questions: 1- Can we consider ekphrasis as a literary device or figure of speech? under what section or category we put it? 2- what is the difference between ekphrasis and allusion? I hope someone answers.
Interesting questions, Bahaa! We would call ekphrasis a literary device more than a figure of speech, which is more associated with things like metaphors and similes (see our "What are Vehicles and Tenors?" and "What is Figurative Language?" videos for more. As far as the difference between allusion and ekphrasis goes, you can also check out our "What is an Allusion?" video, but the short answer is that allusions are typically indirect and very brief, while ekphrastic poems and moments in stories attempt in a much more prolonged and extended and explicit way to invoke another artwork. Hope that helps! Thanks for the comment and good luck with your reading!
BUT HOW DO YOU FREAKIN' SAY IT?! She says "ekFRAYsis" (:26) AND "ekFRAHsis!!" (:34) and google says one thing while other videos say "EKfruhsis" auuughhhh
Ha! We had a specific conversation with Professor Olson about this! In the video, she used both common pronunciations to indicate that both were acceptable in literary discussions. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!
If you liked this video, let us know by dropping us a comment on your favorite example of ekphrasis! Doing so will help us to build a rich digital learning environment around this important topic in literature.
OSU has given impetus to our existing knowledge. The explanation is absolutely peerless. It's the sort of lecture I've ever aspired for.
From India
Thanks so much, Zakir!
Awesome video, thank you! This reminds me of Marianne Moore. Many of her poems are examples of ekphrasis. Poems like "No Swan So Fine" and "To a Chameleon" immediately come to mind!
Thanks so much for the comment, Shaikhah! Would you care to explain the ekphrastic content of these two poems at greater length? What artifacts do they gesture towards and how is Moore interpreting as well as representing those objects?
@@SWLF
Sure! I will try my best.
Generally, Marianne Moore was very fond of art objects, paintings, and pictures from ordinary magazine advertisements and museum brochures. She used to collect them. So many of these objects and paintings appear in her poems; these include, for example, a picture of an Egyptian rodent, an emerald green brocade, and small souvenir boxes. It is worth mentioning that Moore herself was a painter at some point in her life.
In "No Swan So Fine", Moore deftly and beautifully describes the swan that appears in Louis XV candelabrum. But she also compares its lavish look to a live swan which, she represents, as more agile and "ambidextrous". This way Moore criticizes the primacy people in her time gave to art objects and how they forgot considering the live swan that "looks askance" at the static swan. In a way, I think, Moore also tricks the reader into believing that she values this art object more than the living animal.
In "To a Chameleon" she also projects the same criticism. However, ekphrasis appears a bit differently and uniquely here. This time, at the end of the poem she represents King Solomon's Emerald Table as it appears in Gibbons The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Here she again contrasts a living creature, a chameleon, to the lavish table on which a myriad of colorful food items are placed; the table and the feast it holds, however, "could not snap the spectrum up for food as you [chameleon] have done".
What a lovely post, Shaikhah! Thanks so much for the thoughtfulness of this reply. You've done a wonderful job explaining how ekphrasis informs these poems. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!
I came here because of Fares Bounassif article at Quint magazine from Dubai
Interesting! Does the article reference this video? Or the concept of ekphrasis?
Ekphrasis “ description “ in Greek . Ekphrastic poem is vivid description of scene, or more commonly work of art . One of oldest examples is homer long description of Achills shield in epic lliad . There are two major types or ekphrasis actual and fictional ( notional ) . Earliest and best known example of ekphrasis is long description hepaistos and given to Achilles by his mother thetis . Thank you for your wonderful educational literary channel.
Nice work here, Khatoon!
Poems by W. H. Auden, Musee-des-beaux-arts and The Shield of Achilles are examples of Ekphrasis
Excellent examples, Hema!
Ben, nice coverage of ideas around the construction of the texts and how they provide access to themes and values. Was working on these two today with a student and you’ve provided some nice ideas which I missed. Much appreciated.
Ummm, are you sure you posted in the right place, Tim?
Oops. No. It was meant to go somewhere else but I did find your vid useful. Thanks. Is there a rhetorical trope for posting the wrong response to a RUclips clip?
Ha! Let's invent one! How about "malapostism"?
That’s perfect. 😅
Thank you for this explanation. I have two questions:
1- Can we consider ekphrasis as a literary device or figure of speech? under what section or category we put it?
2- what is the difference between ekphrasis and allusion?
I hope someone answers.
Interesting questions, Bahaa! We would call ekphrasis a literary device more than a figure of speech, which is more associated with things like metaphors and similes (see our "What are Vehicles and Tenors?" and "What is Figurative Language?" videos for more. As far as the difference between allusion and ekphrasis goes, you can also check out our "What is an Allusion?" video, but the short answer is that allusions are typically indirect and very brief, while ekphrastic poems and moments in stories attempt in a much more prolonged and extended and explicit way to invoke another artwork.
Hope that helps! Thanks for the comment and good luck with your reading!
Thanks from Uruguay 🇺🇾
Thanks so much for supporting the series, Estevan!
Awesome... 😊✌️🌸❤️
Thanks so much, Marwan!
BUT HOW DO YOU FREAKIN' SAY IT?! She says "ekFRAYsis" (:26) AND "ekFRAHsis!!" (:34) and google says one thing while other videos say "EKfruhsis" auuughhhh
Ha! We had a specific conversation with Professor Olson about this! In the video, she used both common pronunciations to indicate that both were acceptable in literary discussions. Thanks for keeping the conversation going!
Thanks for the explanation. Now I'm a little smarter for it. 😅
Thanks so much, Matthew! We hope you enjoy the other videos in our series as well.