EKPHRASIS:
The definition of ekphrasis doesn’t ipso facto turn the Italian commentators who remade many Greek translations in the vernacular language as the final authority. Ekphrasis is a burgeoning word. In my opinion anything in this universe could be an example of the artistic
potential of Ekphrasis. It stays in a dormant mode until we act upon it, thus bringing it to life. It is also interchangeable like “energy
can be converted into matter and matter can be converted into energy.” Understanding the original pure thought is always going to be
second hand regardless of how good I or we understood it. It can be translated or transliterated. With time, even our understanding of
ekphrasis will undergo change.
REFERENCES:
Toward An Open Universe by Robert Duncan.
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirroe by John Ashbery
Burn the Diaries by Moyra Davey
The Feel Trio by Fred Moten
Citizen, An American Lyric, by Claudia RankineCocktails
With Breughel at the Museum Caf� by Sandra Stone
GlennLigon
First, please read this Robert Duncan poem. Consider the way words are grouped and composed on the page. The poem is titled A Poem
Beginning With A Line From Pindar. It can be found on the Poetry Foundation website at this link:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175587
I may be interested to experiment with the form of the prose poem. Here is a good definition with examples of prose poems:
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-prose-poem
I would like to reveal my thoughts about Ashbery�s self portrait. The moment I looked at the picture, I knew I peregrinated back in time.
It reminded me of the time of Newton, Milton and Shakespeare. But when I delved deep down a little further, I realized that the writer
incorporates certain references to post modern times and describes more about the time the portrait was made.
The poem was very difficult at first. The poem was too long. At times with its intricacies of vocabulary I found it hard to masticate on
its meaning. There were other times when the poem seemed dull to my reading of it. Yet still I was captivated by its penchant for
mesmerizing the reader. The combination of its words was a perfect synthesis of thought and conjecture. It�s an avalanche of words lumming
down upon my consciousness. I was then inundated by a surfeit of meaning. I chose this paragraph below as particularly interesting.
As Parmigianino did it, the right hand Bigger than the head, thrust at the viewer And swerving easily away, as though to protect What it
advertises. A few leaded panes, old beams, Fur, pleated muslin, a coral ring run together In a movement supporting the face, which swims
Toward and away like the hand Except that it is in repose. It is what is Sequestered.
When we read the poetry of Ashberry we see the writer encounters an object such as a �Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror� to stir the
beginnings of a story. The poet�s selection of a convex image includes the perception that he is regarding what a reader of the future may
conjecture about his own life. The painter presents an image of himself in the painting while the phantasmagoria swirls of sensation,
thoughts, desire, etc. captivate the reader. This poem reminds me of ekphrasis because Parmigianino�s painting is transformed into a text
after four hundred and fifty plus years from a convex mirror onto a flat tactile page, through which he gives words to an inanimate
object, thus bringing it to life. Below we discover a description of action derived from an object which the writer uncovers.
The time of day or the density of the light
Adhering to the face keeps it
Lively and intact in a recurring wave
of arrival.
Both the painter�s face and hand, which �retreat
Roving back to the body,�
and his soul, drift toward and away,
�in a recurring wave of arrival.�
This oscillating movement,
to defrost Parmigianino�s frozen globe.
The axiomatic truth about humans is that every individual has such limited knowledge of life and about the universe. Our lives are all
predisposed by our own genetic and basic environmental couth which is all concatenated together. Ashbery in this poem confirms these basic
facts.
Each person Has one big theory to explain the universe But it doesn�t tell the whole story And in the end it is what is outside him That
matters, to him and especially to us Who have been given no help whatever In decoding our won man-size quotient and must rely On second-
hand knowledge
It was the subject of serious interpretation, particularly through the 16th Century when the classical literature was in the hands of the
Italian commentators who remade many Greek translations in the vernacular language. The history of these different translations of the
word, �Ekphrasis� gives us a broad spectrum of ideas.
From the historical point of view, the word ekphrasis was taught to Greek students. Yet with time, the word ekphrasis has undergone many
definitions. Its definition even among different dictionaries�whether Oxford, Chambers; Merriam Webster, Cambridge; Encyclopedia
Britannica�has evolved.
The use of ekphrasis is to take the reader to an imaginary place, and thus, a picture is painted with words. Ekphrasis is to give words to
an inanimate object, bringing it to life. I think it can be applied to anything we imagine and then transform that imagination into a
written or any other form, Anthropomorphic. Pinocchio, the famous wooden doll was anthropomorphized when he was given the ability to talk,
walk, think, and feel like real boy.
In Ashbery�s case, Parmigianino�s painting is transformed into a text after four hundred and fifty years from a convex mirror onto a flat
page, through which he gives words to an inanimate object, thus bringing it to life. Below we discover a description of action derived
from an object which the writer uncovers.
The time of day or the density of the light
Adhering to the face keeps it
Lively and intact in a recurring wave
of arrival.
Both the painter�s face and hand, which �retreat
Roving back to the body,�
and his soul, drift toward and away,
�in a recurring wave of arrival.�
This oscillating movement,
to defrost Parmigianino�s frozen globe.
a coral ring run together In a movement supporting the face, which swims Toward and away like the hand Except that it is in repose.
He describes in the passage above how the face of the subject �swims toward and away� from the observer, the reader of the poem.
When we read Odes by John Keats, including �Ode on a Grecian Urn,� Keats describes movement in his words, �What mad pursuit? What struggle
to escape?� And we also sense movement or motion in Stone�s description of �blunderers . . . perched uneasy.� Through her poem, �Cocktails
with Brueghel at the Museum Caf�,� Stone before this reference above describes herself �with my gnarled root, knobbed to my palm.�
THE FEEL TRIO BY FRED MOTEN
�social death is a house party for smart people, for holy fools in wilmington and the eastern cape, �cause monks refuse to rest at study in
silence in the desert snow and then say come again
come on, get it!� (p. 39, �come on, get it!�)
In this signature piece of this section of The Feel Trio, Moten chastises those who would have a house party �for smart people� as
participating in their own �social death.� Such people generate a negative response from society that separates them from the common human
beings who compose our democracy. These �monks� claim to represent the common man as his advocates and badly insist that everyman join them
in improving the world. Yet they are actually removed from their poorer relations just as sal, the pizzeria owner who served the public
but felt proprietary of his own business. This exclusivity of the pizzeria being �my pizzeria� was in contrast to �his own rule in love�
and his commercial message of saying �again and again and then say come again.� This section is Moten�s most telling and powerful
indictment of liberal society.
�I�m a musician with metaphysical abilities.� (p. 6, �Block Chapel�) It is somewhat clear to me that Fred Moten writes lines like the scat
of a musician�s repertoire. His introduction of the word, �metaphysical� suggests that he wants to transport the reader into heavenly
realms with his references to black poets and entertainers that populate American culture.
�We can seize the time with functions, motherfucker, and I can wonder who I am, wake up beautiful, and know everything.� (p. 21, �Block
Chapel) When Moten evokes the terms of physics, such as time and functions [read, wave functions] he becomes a wonder, someone beautiful
and has total knowledge. He uses an obscure reference to lewis turing, combining the names Anya Lewis, who wrote an article in livescience
with the name Alan Turing who proposed a test for artificial intelligence. He then personalizes the term as �my artificial intelligence.�
It makes me think of this passage as an Ode to science. Interestingly, he alludes to the response of white culture to black human beings
in the mechanical phrase, �like a machine who loves me but won�t come see about me.� Whites in this context are both caring and careless
about their human fellows who just happen to be black.
�There�s no language for the too sweet object of everybody�s third thought any muhfuckin way. Along those lines, do I remind you of your
mother? I want to but just to scare you,� (p. 23, �Block Chapel�) I am reminded in this passage of the game, �yo mamma!� where the two
people in a conversation compares the other�s mother to the most scathing insults about her character. Isn�t one�s mother �the too sweet
object of everybody�s third thought�? When placed in the violent context mentioned before of �rock fights� and �random blades� aren�t
insults projected at a person�s mother a verbal form of violence?
�come on and feel the liturgical east end of the city, an alarm takes you there through the hidden dollhouse arch in the half-circle flavor
of roma, that romanesque smell, thumping in the house of music on the run like a wrecking ball.� (p. 32, �Block Chapel�) Here Moten evokes
the image of high church dogma when describing a section of an urban landscape before making plain that white society tries to promote a
package of greed and �try to close it up inside and ship it all over the world.� He uses the beauty of �the house of music� and promptly
shatters it �like a wrecking ball. It is a reference to whole cultures being annihilated by our importing a holy package of our definition
of democracy�from both our American cities to countries abroad.
�at home, before the fact a little section eight, the upstairs row efficiency with a swimming pool, a little section sight and look who�s
coming, it�s a world�s corrosion� (p. 36, �come on, get it!�) Here, Moten provides us with an image of mixed income housing, which was meant
to integrate peoples of different socio-economic backgrounds together in a controlled community. Instead of bringing unity to a diverse
community, Moten claims the result is �a world�s corrosion.
�I pay attention so I won�t appear, bottle-necked, wachovia-tracked, with a notice on my door �bout putting notices on my doors� (p. 38,
�come on, get it!�) I am reminded of a friend of mine residing in a seniors building who has to be on the constant alert to any notice
placed on his door by his building�s management that requires his being available for any changes to his living space. The reference to
�putting notices on my doors� refers to his desire to promote his business or his choice of political candidate by posting any such
announcement on his doors. This effort to police the activities of the building�s tenants culminated in a notice being placed on the
residence�s lobby entrance door during this city�s mayoral election that any electioneering on the property was prohibited. Yet also posted
on the community bulletin board were flyers promoting the local polling places open for early voting and information regarding how to
receive absentee ballots for the election.
THE FEEL TRIO BY FRED MOTEN:
When reading the words of The Feel Trio by Fred Moten each poem or his use of language was quite abstruse to me. Yet first impressions are
often meaningful. I opened this book and the first page was pure white, followed by a black page. Then the title page alternated the
second black page with the words, The Feel Trio on a stark white background. And then I understood that Moten had given me the key to his
work�duality. This theme was further accented by the choice of a black page followed by a white page at the end of this book.
Each of his poems was riven with deep fragmentation; multiple words are not simply concatenated together. There is duality as seen by
Moten�s choice of a phrase like �place is our new destitute imperative. place her trill inside. see if you can find a place.� This phase is
quite intricately woven into his words otherwise written on several pages. When written as one line at the beginning of a page or as a
separate paragraph on the following page, this particular phrase works as a frame for his other word pictures. These word pictures form
pages 16 and 17, sandwiched between the words �place is our new destitute imperative. place her trill inside. see if you can find a place.�
Moten then plays with us, using the words: �lace is our new destitute imperative. lace her trill inside. see if you can find some lace.� on
page 19. Then on page 20, we see the repetition of �place . . . place� written as one line once again. He weaves his pattern of words with
the skill of a tailor.
There is the duality of his use of the word, �place� to begin this singular line and to end it. There is the duality of his use of the
phrase as one line at the beginning of page 16 and at the end of page 20. The reader is thus compelled to decipher those word pictures
written within the frame created from this unique phrase.
With its intricacies of vocabulary I found it hard to cogitate on some of the book�s meaning. As readers, Moten challenges us to �Come on,
get it!� To me, his message is rather esoteric. I don�t know how his words have a pedagogical value to the reader, but his weaving of words
gives us a sense of direction to our understanding of a work of art and any written work. It takes the reader to an imaginary place
withsways and fragmentation of words and thus, a picture is painted with words. However mystifying, still I was captivated by Fred Moten�s
book. The combination of its words was a synthesis of thought and conjecture.
Citizen, An American Lyric, by Claudia RankineCocktails
�The man at the cash register wants to know if you think your card will work.�
We have in this following incident an example of ekphrasis. She takes an inanimate object such as the credit card and from its use
reflects on how it tells us a different story depending on who uses one, her friend or herself. In the hands of the friend, it poses no
question of its integrity. In the hands of a black person in a racist society, the story is one of questionable legitimacy. �What is wrong
with you? The question gets stuck in your dreams.� You, as the reader, cannot live with the humiliation.
The meaning of the book, Citizen, as �An American Lyric,� comes from its style of writing. Its words are surely meant to be sung by someone
who knows its melody. Her book is written mostly in brief sentences that strike a chord of racism and prejudice. The reader can quickly
grasp its deep significance. Her words easily dance across the page, uniting us with its message of ever striving for human equality. A
single paragraph or short lines on the page concisely conveys matters of grave import.
Citizen, An American Lyric, by Claudia RankineCocktails
�What did you say?� �What did he say?� �What did she say?�
Claudia Rankine in her book, Citizen, paints for us portraits of everyday life in which people say the most outrageous things about black
people without any conscious effort-comments they would never say about people who are white. She asks her readers to face the hurtful
nature of remarks made by people who often behave normally toward others of the same skin color.
�A picture is worth a thousand words.�
Rankine expresses herself through her use of writing and visual effects to transform us as human beings. These visual effects incite the
reader from her clever use of a single image to convey so much feeling and information to generate a paradigm shift in our own behavior.
The power of these images conveys so much meaning with little or no explanation. She combines a masterful study of the prejudiced mind
with rich panoply of supporting images to provoke our powerful rejection of the various examples of injustice which she places before us.
Initially, she treads lightly when she examines the feelings of those who are the object of thoughtless behavior, making people like
herself appear as sensitive as anyone might feel, regardless of social status. As the reader is more engaged in the life of blacks in this
country, Rankine gives us examples of specific people being badly compared by white society.
�I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.�
She gives us a very detailed picture of Glenn Ligon�s words above in her story about Serena Williams and her trials in excelling at tennis
despite both the subtle and blatant discrimination inherent in the judgment calls of tennis umpires. She continues this tale with the Dane
Caroline Wozniacki�s physical parody on the tennis court of Serena�s feminine attributes. If she were not mimicking a black woman, would
society accept such poor taste in such behavior?
In contrast, Rankine gives us very brief portrayals of different crimes against “blacks” such as those who were ignored or otherwise
herded together during Hurricane Katrina; those blacks who were killed as was Trayvon Martin, James Craig Anderson, Jena Six, and Mark
Duggan; as well as the racial profiling of the anonymous black professional who had to walk a great distance from a police station after
being stopped in his car and frisked by the police because �there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description.� We are
given only the essential descriptions of these various incidents to give us the mental room to draw our own necessary conclusions.
When Rankine returns to the stage of tennis, she compares the vitriol focused on Algerians like Maurice Blanchot, Frantz Fanon, and
Zinedine Zidane with the prejudice subjected to American black literary giants s like Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Frederick Douglass.
For emphasis, she includes the white English playwright Shakespeare as a contrast of our reactions to an equal man of letters. She sums up
the battle for fair recognition of human talent in the following words:
This endless struggle to achieve and reveal and confirm a human identity, human authority, contains, for all its horror, something very
beautiful.
Throughout her book we are confronted by the very unpleasant nature of unconscious prejudice when the people whom Rankine encounters in
everyday life that say the most outrageous things are those she considers to be her friends among white America. We are then asked to
place ourselves in her shoes by her use of the second person in her narrative. Her issues then become our issues. We see ourselves in her
natural reactions to both the horror and beauty of human life. We thus cannot remove ourselves from her responses to others�
thoughtlessness.
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