EKPHRASTIC AND INTERTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS

Abstract

Ekphrasis, originally described by Plato in the Republic Book X, is the expression of a concept that is represented in one medium into another medium. The objective of verbal ekphrasis is to make the reader see. Ekphrasis allows the viewer to put side by side the filmic representation or enactment of the art work with the actual work itself, thus creating a synthesis of the two reflections in the viewers mind. Championed by the likes of James Hefferman, John Hollander, and W.J.T.Mitchell, in particular, ekphrasis has constituted the dominant model for theorizing the paragonal relationship between what can be seen and what can be said. Ekphrasis has been considered generally to be a rhetorical device in which one medium of art tries to relate to another medium by defining and describing its essence and form, and thus relates more directly to the audience, through its illuminative liveliness. It enhances the original art and so takes on a life of its own through its brilliant description.