Ekphrasis, cognition, and iconicity
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Maria-Eirini Panagiotidou
Abstract
The paper examines the relationship between iconicity and ekphrasis from the viewpoint of cognitive poetics and literary stylistics. Cognitive poetics draws on cognitive linguistics, literary linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience to explore the relationship between the creation and interpretation of literary texts and the workings of the human mind. The following analysis focuses on W. D. Snodgrass’s ekphrastic poem “Van Gogh: ‘The Starry Night’” and explores how readers are invited to mentally reconstruct van Gogh’s painting. A close reading of the text demonstrates how the poem mirrors the explosive imagery of the night sky and contrasts it with the serene atmosphere of the village. Moreover, the analysis considers how Snodgrass attempts to reconcile the visual and the verbal media so as to present them as working in unison and enable readers to experience the painting.
Abstract
The paper examines the relationship between iconicity and ekphrasis from the viewpoint of cognitive poetics and literary stylistics. Cognitive poetics draws on cognitive linguistics, literary linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience to explore the relationship between the creation and interpretation of literary texts and the workings of the human mind. The following analysis focuses on W. D. Snodgrass’s ekphrastic poem “Van Gogh: ‘The Starry Night’” and explores how readers are invited to mentally reconstruct van Gogh’s painting. A close reading of the text demonstrates how the poem mirrors the explosive imagery of the night sky and contrasts it with the serene atmosphere of the village. Moreover, the analysis considers how Snodgrass attempts to reconcile the visual and the verbal media so as to present them as working in unison and enable readers to experience the painting.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction xi
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Part I. Phonic dimensions
- The effect of iconicity flash blindness 3
- Iconic treadmill hypothesis 15
- Tracking linguistic primitives 39
- Continuity and change 63
- Iconicity in English literary neologisms 85
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Part II. Cognitive dimensions
- Toward a theory of poetic iconicity 99
- The ocean of surging emotion 119
- Ekphrasis, cognition, and iconicity 135
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Part III. Multimodal dimensions
- Deleuze and the Baroque diagram 153
- Bridging the gap between image and metaphor through cross-modal iconicity 167
- Iconicity, ‘intersemiotic translation’ and the sonnet in the visual poetry of Avelino De Araújo 191
- Reading across the gutter 209
- The role of iconicity in package design 229
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Part IV. Performative dimensions
- Iconicity in Buddhist language and literature 249
- Iconization of sociolinguistic variables 263
- Performative iconicity 287
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Part V. New dimensions of iconicity
- Why notational iconicity is a form of operational iconicity 303
- Iconicity, ambiguity, interpretability 321
- The iconicity of literary analysis 331
- Author index 345
- Subject index 347
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Phonic dimensions
- The effect of iconicity flash blindness 3
- Iconic treadmill hypothesis 15
- Tracking linguistic primitives 39
- Continuity and change 63
- Iconicity in English literary neologisms 85
-
Part II. Cognitive dimensions
- Toward a theory of poetic iconicity 99
- The ocean of surging emotion 119
- Ekphrasis, cognition, and iconicity 135
-
Part III. Multimodal dimensions
- Deleuze and the Baroque diagram 153
- Bridging the gap between image and metaphor through cross-modal iconicity 167
- Iconicity, ‘intersemiotic translation’ and the sonnet in the visual poetry of Avelino De Araújo 191
- Reading across the gutter 209
- The role of iconicity in package design 229
-
Part IV. Performative dimensions
- Iconicity in Buddhist language and literature 249
- Iconization of sociolinguistic variables 263
- Performative iconicity 287
-
Part V. New dimensions of iconicity
- Why notational iconicity is a form of operational iconicity 303
- Iconicity, ambiguity, interpretability 321
- The iconicity of literary analysis 331
- Author index 345
- Subject index 347
