ekphrasial paranomania
my tiny book (1" x 1") about saint francis, given to me years ago by my oh-so-smart librarian friend, is inscribed, "to lanette, the patron saint of pastels, paranomasia and poetry..." and i must confess, i had to look up the word "paranomasia". my guess was along the lines of super, ultra or something paranormal? come to find out, it means "word play, the art of playing with words". sign me up to be a paranomasiac!
the other far-reaching word i learned this week comes from "sunlight on the river: poems about paintings and paintings about poems", the idea of which intrigued me. the author introduces the concept by using the word "ekphrasis". my only guess...something from the greek? latin, it turns out. ek meaning "out of" and phrasis for "speech". broadly speaking, it means one art form based on another.
for example, a transformed object--a poem, a painting--is further transformed by being imagined and realized in a different medium. i had never thought about that. what a cool art and literature nexus!
p.s. the answer to who wrote the first book published by an african american is d) william wells brown. he wrote "clotel" or "the president's daughter" in 1853, published in england. the title character, one of two fictional daughters of president thomas jefferson, escapes to her freedom.
the other far-reaching word i learned this week comes from "sunlight on the river: poems about paintings and paintings about poems", the idea of which intrigued me. the author introduces the concept by using the word "ekphrasis". my only guess...something from the greek? latin, it turns out. ek meaning "out of" and phrasis for "speech". broadly speaking, it means one art form based on another.
for example, a transformed object--a poem, a painting--is further transformed by being imagined and realized in a different medium. i had never thought about that. what a cool art and literature nexus!
p.s. the answer to who wrote the first book published by an african american is d) william wells brown. he wrote "clotel" or "the president's daughter" in 1853, published in england. the title character, one of two fictional daughters of president thomas jefferson, escapes to her freedom.
Comments
Post a Comment