Couplings : agon and composition in Paul Muldoon’s ekphrastic poetry

Abstract

In the course of more than thirty years of prolific writing, Paul Muldoon has earned a reputation for surprising his readers again and again. To a significant extent, this continued ability to "make it new" is closely linked to Muldoon's characteristically relational writing. Often described (in tones of eulogy or of deprecation) as the epitome of a postmodernist practice, his work has tested the limits of intertextuality - and his penchant for quotation, pastiche and parody has rather often sought referents in other media, notably in the visual arts. Taking a specific instance of ekphrasis in Muldoon’s poetry for its point of departure and its focus, this article proceeds to address broader themes in his work, as well as to consider his practice against the framework defined by a major alternative for reading the relationship between word and image: as rivalry and struggle, or as peaceful and mutual enablement.