Kłopoty z ekfrazą

Abstract

This text is an attempt at a theoretical interpretation of the phenomenon of ekphrasis as a genre on the basis of Polish poetry of the 20th century. Pondering on what ekphrasis is today, the author presents ways of transgressing and going away from the form of ekphrasis proper, inherited from Philostratos the Elder. To achieve this goal, the author frames some basic questions which are to define the determinants of the genre, the function of the metatextual reference and the objects of this reference. Is ekphrasis expressed by means of a description (faithful/transforming), or a discursive interpretation? Is it a poem - a whole or a fragment of a poem? What is a work of art for the ekphrasis in the context of transformations of the 20th century artistic practice.