Poetrys self-portrait - the visual arts as mirror and muse in rene char and

The intricate relationship between poetry and the visual arts has invited centuries of speculation about a deep connection of all art to mysterious sources of inspiration. In contrast, this study considers their association to be the ideological effect of a colonizing gaze which is essentially self-referential. By analyzing the poetry of Rene Char and John Ashbery, both deeply involved with art and artists, this study persuasively argues that the arts traditionally act for poetry as a kind of muse: a source of inspiration and a mirror for poetic self-definition.