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10
Introduction
adialogicexchangewithotherarts,lookingforwaysofenhancingwhatwe
traditionallyrefertoasumeaning.”Suchartisticsynthesis,insomecasesbor-
deringonsyncretism,seekstoexplorethepossibilitiesopenedbyasimultane-
ityofwordsandimages,whichpoetsandnovelistshavecometorecogniseas
auniquemeansofexpression.Amongtheformer,theBelgian-bornpoetand
painterHenriMichauxdrawsattentionasahighlyoriginalartistwhosework
maybeseenasquintessentiallyucrafingbetweencodes”andexploringthe
complexinterrelationsinthearts)alnities(WacławRapak).Avarietyof
thelattermayalsobeseeninjuxtapositionsofliteratureandart:inAmerican
modernism,thepoetryofWilliamCarlosWilliamsandHartCraneonthe
onehand,andtheartofCharlesDemuthontheotherrevealasimilarfasci-
nationwiththeurban,signallingaturntowardsmakingpicturesintoimages
whichvisualizehumanexistence(ŠárkaBubíková).
Anotherdirectionintheexplorationsofintersectionsbetweenvisualarts
andliteratureisindicatedbywritersandpoetswhodeliberatelychooseto
addressaworkofartasanintegralpartofliterarydiscourse.W.H.Auden)sre-
flectionsonBruegel)smasterpiece(or,asisnowcommonlythought,anearly
copythereof)areamongthebest-knowninstancesofekphrasiswithinthelit-
erarycanonandhaveofenbeenlookeduponasanillustrationofthemanner
inwhichwordsandimagesmaybemergedintoaninseparablewhole(Anna
Walczuk).InA.S.Byatt)sTeMatisseStories,Matisse)spaintingsdetermine
thecharacters)self-perceptionandcorrespondto,orcontrastwith,develop-
mentsintheirlives,foregroundingtherecurrentthemeoftransience(Boże-
naKucała).VitaSackville-Westconstructshersemi-autobiographicalpor-
trayaloftheEdwardiansalmostentirelyoutofimagessuggestiveofthemany
painterswhosenamesreverberatethroughhernovel(MagdalenaBleinert).
HolbeintheYounger)sportraitofTomasCromwellisanimportantelement
inHilaryMantel)sWolfHall,andthepositioningofthispaintingintheFrick
CollectioninNewYork,whereithangsbesideaportraitofSirTomasMore
bythesameartist,providesanadditionaldimensiontothehistoricalnarra-
tiveofthenovel(WojciechSzymański).Insomecases,however,aworkof
artmaynotevenbeexplicitlyreferredtoinaliterarytext:ColmTóibín)sTe
TestamentofMarywaswrittenpartlyinresponsetoTitian)sandTintoretto)s
representationsofthemotherofJesus,orratherthetensionbetweendivinity
andhumanitywhichemergesfromtheirjuxtaposition(RobertKusek).
Adiferentfocusmaybeseenintheworksofwriterswhoseinterestlies
inmindprocessestriggeredaferacoherent(andfalse)visionofselfand
theworldhascollapsed,ofenfollowingtheexperienceofatrauma.In
W.G.Sebald)smuch-awardedAusterlitzmysteriousimagesscatteredthrough-
outthetextarepartoftheeponymousprotagonist)squestforlostidentityand
culturalheritage(KarolinaKolenda).PatBarker)sLifeClassandToby)sRoom,