“Ekphrasis”: A Study of Transmedia Narrative in the Works of A.S. Byatt

Abstract

With the development of transmedia research, many writers begin to pay attention to the comparison and transformation between literature and other artistic media, and practice it in literary creation. Contemporary English novelist A.S. Byatt is one of the practitioners of transmedia literary creation. Through the use of “ekphrasis”, she skillfully and naturally integrates the art work into the literary creation, making the text have a visual effect. This paper takes A.S. Byatt’s three short stories Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Art Work and Rose-Colored Teacup as examples to explore the ekphrarstic re-creation of paintings, sculptures and pottery in her works, and then analyzes the deep connotation brought by the ekphrasis between different artistic media to literary texts.