Writing for Art The Aesthetics of Ekphrasis

Writing for Art: The Aesthetics of Ekphrasis reflects an increasing interest among writers and scholars over recent years in the relation of literary texts to the visual or plastic arts. The technical term ekphrasis has appeared as the title of major conferences, large theoretical works and specialised studies. This study is the first concise introduction to the history and theory of ekphrasis written to appeal both to the non-specialist and specialist reader. It also offers a useful general survey of the larger philosophical and theoretical questions arising from the encounter of literary works and artworks, focusing upon the key aesthetic concepts suggested by inter-artistic relations: of 'beauty and truth'; temporality; the 'real'; aesthetic pleasure; the representation of suffering; the notion of illusion; the relationship of photography and elegy, and of word and image.

Stephen Cheeks is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol