/ Exegetical Analysis of The Cathedral Ecphrasis In The Elephant Man (1980): Ovidian Metapoesis In David Lynch’s Cinema

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25145/j.latente.2025.23.12

Keywords:

Cinema, David Lynck, Interpretation, Metapoiesis, Narrative

Abstract

The Elephant Man is one of David Lynch's most famous films; the director took advantage of the main plot of the story to include an ekphrasis that communicates his own vision of cinema. This ekphrasis is developed in a series of scenes that, as a whole, describe the piece of art not only from its presentation as a finished work, but from its composition and design; specifically, it is the miniature recreation of a cathedral carried out by the main character, John Merrick. This article aims to be a brief exegetical commentary on this peculiar subplot of the film. In order to interpret this piece, an analysis of the scenes where its composition is displayed on screen has been used from the Ovidian metapoetic perspective. It is concluded that Lynch's intention was to express the meaning that the process of narrating has for him.

Author Biography

  • Juan Manuel Arriaga Benítez, Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

    PhD in Classics by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); Founding partner since 2014 of the Ibero-American Rhetoric Organization (OIR). Professor at the Technological School of Superior Studies at Valle de Bravo (TESVB) from 2011 to 2015 and at the College of Scientific and Technological Studies of the State of Mexico (CECYTEM) from 2016 to 2021. Currently assigned as a Full-Time Researcher at the Center for Classical Studies of the Philological Research Institute of the UNAM with its project titled “Translation and introductory analysis of Valerius Flaccus´ Argonautica (books I-IV): rhetoric, intertextuality and subtext.” He has published research on narratology, including “The ars poetria in cinema: repercussions of Geoffrey of Vinsauf's amplification theory in audiovisual narrative” (2020) and “Narrative patterns. Structural formulas and their emotional responses in film and television” (2022).

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Published

2025-07-31

Issue

No. 23 (2025): Antiquity as a source of inspiration. Ancient history through cinema, comics, photography and visual culture.

Section

Miscellaneous

License

The originals published in Latente are property of their respective authors, who grant to the magazine the right of first publication of the texts and their lodging in other web portals in order to guarantee their preservation and a greater diffusion. Article contents are subject to a CC BY-NC-SA license.

How to Cite

Arriaga Benítez, Juan Manuel. 2025. “//Exegetical/Analysis/of/The/Cathedral/Ecphrasis/In/The/Elephant/Man/(1980):/Ovidian/Metapoesis/In/David/Lynch’s/Cinema”. Latente - Revista de Historia Y Estética del Cine, Fotografí­a Y Cultura Visual, no. 23 (July): 281-99. https://doi.org/10.25145/j.latente.2025.23.12.