visuality

The article considers the functions of the ‘short-sightedness’ metaphor in the metropolitan literature of the 1920–1930s. The author shows how political and cultural context of the epoch influences the comprehension of this metaphor and of the images of the ‘optical prosthetic devices’ (glasses / eye-glasses / lorgnette / monocle) related to it.

The article analyzes the motive of madness in V. Nabokov’s prose. The role of this motive in the writer’s visual experiments is investigated. The portrayal of mental disorders is considered as an ‘estrangement’device, destroying the automaticity of perception.

The article considers a matter of current issue: studying ekphrasis within one piece of literature. The problem of a controversial approach to the definition of ekphrasis underpins the article. The prospective interdisciplinary solution of this problem is connected with the interpretation of the image of the artist Picasso by the playwright O. Bogaev. The intermedial component, the key image of Minotaur, and individual references to paintings are taken into account.