Lyrikk, medier

om noen ekfraser i Ghayath Almadhouns og Marie Silkeberg diktning

Abstract

Poetry, Media and the Pain of Others. On Some Ekphrases in Ghayath Almadhoun’s and Marie Silkeberg’s poems

The article discusses ekphrases and the mediations of the pain of others in the poetry of Ghayath Almadhoun and Marie Silkeberg. One aspect that is explored is the relationship between poetry and visual media like film and photography in the study of ekphrasis. Another main aspect discussed is the role of the ekphrasis in mediated depiction of pain, suffering, oppression, and conflicts that take place at a distance from the experienced (and privileged) subject. These two aspects are brought together in a reading of three ekphrases, two ekphrases in Almadhoun’s and Silkeberg’s poetry book Till Damaskus (2014), and one ekphrasis in Silkeberg’s poetry book Atlantis (2017). The reading shows how Almadhoun and Silkeberg use visual media as a marker of the subjects’ absence, as a medium for the memory of oppression, suffering, and the pain of others, and as a source for the poems and the poets’ exile language.