| Summary: | In the novel Landscape with women and a snake (free translation) by Lettie Viljoen, the
landscape paintings of Baroque artist Nicolas Poussin are used as backdrops and metaphors
for the main character, Lena Berg's life and character development.
In the novel these landscapes are described as ambivalent, and this ambivalence in the
paintings becomes a primary theme in the novel. The main objective of this study is to
investigate the use of Poussin's ambivalent paintings in this specific literary work. During the
research it was, however, also necessary to refer to the works of other Baroque artists like
Bernini, Gentileschi and "v'elasquez because their works also feature in Viljoen's novel.
The paintings of the baroque as used in a distinctly postmodern novel demand a new and
postmodern way of thinking and research. Thus, regarding the theoretical investigation method,
the research turns to both the theories of art historians Erwin Panofsky, Wilenski and Wolfflin;
and of literary critics, philosophers and theorists Jurij Lotrnan and Mieke Bal. Panofsky's
iconographical model for artwork analysis and Lotman's model of binary oppositions were used
as the main theoretical points of departure.
The importance of, and the reference to "landscape", in the novel as well as in Poussin's
painterly oeuvre, lie at the centre of the research. Landscape, as a space experienced by man
is intimately linked in this novel to the development and the experiences of the main character,
Lena. "Landscape", however, also has connotations with "space" and "place". These terms are
therefore fairly copiously dealt with in the research. The importance of the landscape, space
and place in the shaping of human identity, in this specific case the character Lena's identity, is
investigated in chapter three of the research.
The novel, as an example of a postmodern work, cleverly combines the fine arts and literature.
This leads to a collage-like book that relies heavily on the reader's knowledge of both the fine
arts and the literature. This research attempts to offer yet another way of looking at the "literary
collage" of Viljoen, by combining the theory and history of art and the theory of literature to
ultimately find another key to the mystery of creation. === Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010
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