Abstract: Amy Tan’s latest novel, The Valley of Amazement, takes great pains to delineate a painting entitled “the valley of amazement” while depicting the vicissitudes in the lives of three generations of women. As various characters offer their diverse descriptions of this painting, it is easy to see Tan’s skillful use of verbal “ekphrasis,” a Greek rhetorical device defined by Heffernan as “the verbal representation of graphic representation”. The way in which the characters’ comments on the painting are seamlessly integrated into all the key details of the novel’s plot speaks volumes about the narrational function of Ekphrasis. The characters’ description of the landscape in the painting appears to be a combination of visual and verbal arts for the need to create the characters’ images, capture the inner workings of their minds, and move the plot forward. Moreover, the characters’ verbal representations of the painting demonstrate the artistic and aesthetic value of Ekphrasis. Specifically speaking, these representations may be perceived as Amy Tan’s own considerations of the interplay between words and images and the relation between the original and the copy of the painting as well. They also reflect her views on the art of novel writing and novel criticism. By using Ekphrasis as a unique perspective, this study aims to delve into Amy Tan’s novel for a thorough revelation of its literary and artistic signification.

Key words: Amy Tan, The Valley of Amazement, Ekphrasis, narrative strategy, the intertextuality of verbal and visual arts