Vallan ja petoksen kuvat

Elokuvan ekfrasis Manuel Puigin romaanissa Hämähäkkinaisen suudelma

• Hannasofia Hardwick Helsingin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74863

Abstract

Images of Power and Deceit. Cinematic Ekphrasis in Manuel Puig’s Novel Kiss of the Spider Woman

This article explores the several depictions of factual and fictive films in Manuel Puig’s novel Kiss of the Spider Woman (1989, orig. 1976 El beso de la mujer araña). The key concept is ekphrasis, a verbal representation of a visual representation, that has been frequently associated with acts of power, deceit and self-deception. The usage of ekphrasis in the study of Puig’s novel outlines the similarities between the essential thematics of the novel and the features related to the concept of ekphrasis itself. The article also discusses to what extent the contest between the sexes, a feature repeatedly attached to the concept of ekphrasis, is discernible in the verbalisations of the films and the problematics of homosexuality scrutinized in the novel. The analysis of the narrative, however, calls into question the static and conservative assumption of ekphrasis as implying oppositional relation between the sexes. The role of the cinematic ekphrases in the novel is pivotal in diminishing the relevance of the recent gendered definitions of ekphrasis.