Ekphrasis as a Mechanism for Creating a Dialoguebetween the Author and the Reader in an Intermedial Text

The article is devoted to the role of ekphrasis in building a dialogue between the reader and the author of a literary text. The intermedial approach to the analysis of the original text of the novel «Headlong» written by a modern British writer Michael Frayn allows us to determine the mechanism of the dialogue, which is based on such elements as addressing the reader and joint immersion in the world of fine art through ekphrasis. Narrating the story the author forces the reader to look at the world around through the eyes of an artist. Allusions to famous works of fine art, ekphrases of the paintings created by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a Flemish artist, become an integral part of the narrative. The author’s ekphrases focus on the composition of the picture, the plot center of which is a valley, river or sea against the backdrop of mountains. They also show simple villagers who go about their daily affairs and do not pay attention to what is happening. The narrator tells his story as if he were painting a picture, paying special attention to colour names. The events and the characters’ feelings are described with the help of language means characteristic of ekphrasis. The use of the intermedial approach to text analysis is relevant and allows us to conclude that ekphrasis in this novel is a text-forming and meaning-forming element. It appears to be the basic mechanism for creating a dialogue between the reader and the author. The results of the study can be used in research activities in the field of intermedial text analysis and for teaching activities to develop reading literacy of English students whose language level is Advanced or Proficiency.