Abstract
Literature and storytelling are central to the Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego’s work. Among her oeuvre are paintings and pastels that reimagine scenes from Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Jean Genet’s The Maids, Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Rather than offering straightforward depictions, Rego’s scenes present viewers with innovative interpretations that open space for divergent readings. These visual retellings demonstrate an open-ended structure that challenges viewers to actively engage in the process of narrative construction—Rego is rewriting these literary works through the medium of paint while simultaneously renewing interest in literature through visual art. It is significant that Rego chooses canonical works whose main characters are deeply ingrained in cultural consciousness. In this way, her retellings enter into dialogue with the long tradition of criticism and interpretation that surrounds these texts. As W. J. T. Mitchell argues in Picture Theory (1994), acts of narration, description, and exposition are not bound to a single medium but can move between language and image. Rego’s practice exemplifies this fluidity, as she transforms literary speech acts into visual form. In my study, accompanied by a slideshow of Rego’s works, I show how she employs such communicative acts to reimagine key episodes from the history of literature, thereby redrawing the boundaries between visual and literary disciplines.
Presenters
Joseph KlemensAssistant Professor, English, Santa Fe Community College, New Mexico, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Beyond Borders: The Role of the Humanities in Reimagining Communities
KEYWORDS
Visual Storytelling, Literature and Painting, Humanities Beyond Borders, Intermediality
