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Journal of Visual Culture
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The Absent Image

Ekphrasis and the `Infinite Relation' of Translation

Gary Shapiro

Department of Philosophy, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, USA,gshapiro{at}richmond.edu

Ekphrasis, the verbal description of a visual work, is a crucial site for understanding what Foucault calls the `infinite relation' between seeing and saying. This article sketches a selective history of the genre, from Homer through Derrida and Lyotard, oriented to the question of this gap, and focused on the structural necessity of the absence of the image. This reading shows that Derrida and some other recent French thinkers have been mischaracterized as linguistic reductionists.

Key Words: absence • dialogue • ekphrasis • image • language • translation • voice

Journal of Visual Culture, Vol. 6, No. 1, 13-24 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1470412907075065
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