ekphrasis

American  

[ek-fruh-sis] / ˈɛk frə sɪs /

Or ecphrasis

noun

ekphrases, plural ecphrases plural

1. a literary device consisting of a vivid, detailed description of a visual work of art.

   John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a classic example of ekphrasis.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ecphrastic
  adjective
• ekphrastic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ecphrases
  plural
• ekphrases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ekphrasis

First recorded in 1630–40; from Greek: “description,” from ekphrá(zein) “to describe” (from ek- ec- ( def. ) + phrázein “to speak”) + -sis -sis ( def. ); see phrase ( def. )

Explanation

Ekphrasis is a technique of writing about a work of visual art in great detail, as when a writer includes a vivid description of a painting in her novel. Ekphrasis is a literary device, a description of art which is so expressive that your reader can imagine it in detail. John Keats' famous "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is one well-known ekphrasis, a detailed reflection on a specific work of art. Ekphrasis can also be spoken or take other artistic forms — for example, your painting of a sculpture is also an ekphrasis, as is the song you wrote describing Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ekphrasis ecphrases

The performance was a kind of call and response, or ekphrasis, with lyrics and chords inspired by Lethem's prose.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2018

The first printings of ekphrasis titles by Marcel Proust and Paul Gauguin sold out, as did a heftier collection of Donald Judd’s criticism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2018

The name for this hoary genre is ekphrasis, though in Lewis’s hands its conventions are scrambled.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 19, 2015

The deep blue, green and red are worthy of their own ekphrasis.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 19, 2015

Ioannou grammatikou Gazes ekphrasis tou kosmikou pinakos tou en       kheimerio loutro.   ig.

From Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology by Mackail, J. W. (John William)

There are many "ecphrases" or set descriptions of this kind, and they show a good deal of stock convention.

From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by Saintsbury, George