Ekphrasis: The Original Fan Fiction

So I'm going to pull a quote from the "Ekphrasis: Poetry Confronting Art" article that Bruno gave us.

"Auden's poem is an example of how ekphrasis has changed in modern times. ekphrastic poems are now understood to focus only on works of art—usually paintings, photographs, or statues. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5918#sthash.vKQCWAGD.dpuf""

I don't know about the rest of you, but to me that sounds a lot like fan fiction.  People are using existing pieces to make their own art.  Which is pretty much the definition of fan fiction, right?  Ekphrasis seems pretty legit, so maybe fan fiction isn't as low brow as everyone thinks it is.

Group Work

I thought gathering in our small groups was really helpful.  It's one thing to read someone's comments, but it's completely different to talk face to face.  Personally, I found that trying to write 250 - 400 words was a lot for each poem.  I'd get to about 150 and realize I didn't have that much more to say.  And I think that happened with my other group members as well.  Their written comments were helpful, but it was much nicer to talk to them informally, where we could use as many (or as few) words as we wanted.  With no constraints, it was easier to get to the root of what everyone thought.

Blast from the Past

While we're talking about poetic devices and such to make our poems better, I thought a few videos might be in order to remind us of how awesome words can be.

Success!!! ...oh wait nevermind

I'm quite familiar with the Laura Mulvey essay we talked about in class (we spent an entire unit on it in another class last semester).  It's all about the male gaze and cinema taking on aspects of the Oedipus complex etc etc in its most simplified version.  In response to this article, we watched Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (which is AMAZING if any of you haven't seen it).  There are so many films and TV shows that objectify women through image, so why Rear Window?  Because RW STARTS to flip Mulvey's norms on its head.

GO WATCH THIS NOW

About a minute in, the camera pans down the length of Jimmy Stewart's body.  HALLELUJAH IT'S A MIRACLE!!!!  We are seeing a male body being objectified (sorta) just like a woman's would usually be!  Oh wait...as soon as we finish panning over Stewart, we pan up from Grace Kelly's feet.  Like usual.  SO CLOSE.

Camp Poetry. Population: Chelsea Minnis

After reading Chelsea Minnis' poem and the attached article about Gurlesque, it's obvious that the poem fits into the category.  It's not only the words, though, it's how they are put onto the page.  Separated by dozens of periods, the reader is forced to fill in the silence.  But with what?  There are so many options.  The first time I read it, I glossed over the pauses.  They were too silent and awkward.  The second time, though, as I understood the words more, the periods gained a voice.  Or, rather, lots of overly sexual moans and groans.  These ooohs and ahhhs and don't stoppppsss were so ridiculous, even in my mind, I could only think of this lovely lady, who is a whole blog post of her own.