The Representation of Orthodox Icons in the Poetry of Ingemar Leckius

The aim of this study is to demonstrate how the cultural functions of a sacred motif have changed over the years by means of intermedial transformation. The object of study is an ekphrastic poem, "Theotokos", by the Swedish poet Ingemar Leckius. A couple of medieval Orthodox icon paintings - The Vladimir Madonna and The Virgin of the Sign - have served as sources of inspiration for the poet. A mythical or historical event was interpreted by the apostolic fathers, then reinterpreted by the anonymous icon painters, and eventually transformed into a modernist poem. The aesthetic perspective applied by the modem poet to the icon as to other works of art is far removed from the perspective of the icon painter in the Middle Ages and the apostolic fathers of the early Church. For them, the function was merely religious. Poetry today is created, distributed, read, and evaluated within a secular system where emphasis is put on the aesthetic rather than on the religious functions. In spite of these differences in emphasis, "Theotokos" conveys a deep religious emotion which still seems to be its basic cultural function. (Less)