DIDASCALYSM

The didascalysm is an artistic movement that aims to make artistic artifacts using words extensively.  The text becomes almost predominant over the "body work." The text emphasizes the conceptual, symbolic, aesthetic or motivational value of the work, and is an integral and inseparable part of it.

Relevant notes: 

• The work often consists of a diptych: a figurative or sculptural work (even a performance) paired with a text.

• A novel with illustrations is not in itself a work belonging to didascalysm, since the text of the novel has a life of its own independent of the illustrations. In didascalysm, the body of the work cannot be separated (and thus understood) from the text, and vice versa.   

• The term didascalysm often has a negative connotation, suggesting pedantry, a scholastic or moralistic attitude. The movement shrugs off this criticism and takes the liberty of using as many words as necessary to "explain" the work. In fact, the text that accompanies the work is not simply an explanation, but a narrative that lives from the work itself.

• Didascalysm should not be confused with "poesia didascalica", although the literary genre may have some points in common with it.

• Didascalysm represents a rejection of the artistic attitude typical of the modern era for which the work should not be explained. It rejects the elitist and culturally classist attitude whereby those without the necessary cultural background have no right to enjoy the work. 

• According to didascalysm, the work should not be explained, but written: the text should be imagined as ivy that wraps itself around a wall until it becomes inseparable architecture.