cfp.english.upenn.edu

This seminar seeks to identify how and why contemporary literature uses visual works of art (murals, montages, sculpture, paintings, photography, etc) as a means of interpretation. How does the translation of a visual piece into textual form affect both the verbal and the visual expressions? With a particular interest in inter-arts encounters that are cross-cultural in nature, we ask: How does the textualisation of art affect its reception? Does using art in crosscultural works add to or diminish its value as a cultural representation? Does textualization permit the representation of more than one culture? Does reinterpretation involve the loss of an essence, or a change? What is the role of the reader?