When poetry and the visual arts meet : a case study of Jorie Graham's use of Ekphrasis

Abstract EN

The relationship between poetry and the visual arts is an undeniable fact.

Both are vehicles of literary expression and communication.

Many works of the visual arts, some of which are not necessarily famous, have driven poets to inspire their ideas.

One of the recurring literary techniques in the poetry of Jorie Graham is ekphrasis.

The paper defines and tries to provide a brief historic account of the term ekphrasis.

It also analyzes some of Graham's selected ekphrastic poems that reflect her persisting philosophical view that the visual arts is of a vital role in bridging the gap of language inadequacy that a poet encounters.