MIMESIS
Introduction
Mimesis is one of the oldest terms
in literary and artistic theory. In this theory describes about the
relationship between artistic images and reality. The word ‘mimesis’ means
‘imitation’. The word used to describe all type of imitation. Here said that
art is a copy of reality. In ‘Republic’ Plato says that “Art merely imitates
something real”. Originally the word mean for physical act or mimicking. In the
world people imitate one another and also the arts imitates the world. Now days
the children are imitate everything which they see on television or live
actions.
According
to Stephen Halliwell western thoughts divided into two.
1. Art copies the material reality. It
gives image about the world as it is.
2. Art as a self contained heterocosm.
It copies by knowing and understanding.
This theory mainly used by Plato and Aristotle in their
works. In views of Plato, mimesis dangerous and corrupting imitation of
reality. According to Aristotle mimesis is a fundamental aspect of human nature
with its internal rules.
There
are seven chapters i mimesis Book. The first two chapters describes about the
origins of the mimetic theory in the writings of the Plato and Aristotle. Their
views are different from one to another. They distinguish mimesis from reality.
Aristotle says that mimesis has its own rules. Plato says that it is dangerous.
In
chapter three we can see that the role of rhetorical imitation. Here they
imitate the exemplars and role models in Ancient Roman and renaissance thought.
In the views of Alexander Pope, there is no different when we imitate Homer and
nature.
Chapter
four mention about the theatre and theoretical. In this chapter says about the
origin of the theatre. St. Augustine, Latin Church father wrote about the
theatre and performance. Then the chapter discusses about the actors, acting
and social and political life.
In
chapter five we can see that the debates about the nature of literary and
pictorial realism and the relationship between art and the world. At the end of
the chapter mentioned about the varieties of the Anti- realism. There also
mentioned about the Oscar Wilde and Roland Barthes.
In
the last two chapters described about the 20th century mimesis. It
mainly focuses on the relationship between mimesis and human nature. Chapter
six focus on the imitation to the origins and development of identity. The
chapter begins with the work of Gabriel Trade. The final focuses on the role of
mimesis in 20th century theories of culture. This chapter begins
with the mimetic writings of Rousseau and Karl Marx. Mimesis plays an important
role in film theory and Marxist concept of ideology. From mimesis theory we can
understand the relationship between art and nature.
Plato’s Republic
Plato was a
great ancient Greek Philosopher. He was a disciple of Socrates. He was famous
for his work ‘Republic’. Plato coined the word Mimesis for the first time. He
discussed about the mimesis in his dialogue ‘Republic’ written in 380 BCE. He
says that art is a representation of something else. From the Plato’s mimesis
the history of literary and artistic theory begins. In this book he also speaks
about his teacher Socrates.
Mimesis
derived from ‘mimos’. This means imitation. Mimesis also means the metaphysical
correspondence between real and ideal world. Jean Pierre Vernant make an
argument on Plato’s use of the word mimesis. It makes great changes in the
views of Greek ideas about art. Plato transforms mimesis into a far-reaching
technical concept. Vernant says that it is a first general theory of imitation.
Plato classifies the image of behaviours and phenomena. In ‘Poetics’ Aristotle
says that ‘imitation by means of language alone’. It is difficult to give a
perfect meaning to mimesis.
Poetry and censorship: books two and
three.
In book two
and three and in book ten Plato says about the Mimesis. From political
organizations, education, the ideal of justice and the nature of philosophical
knowledge the discussion of mimesis emerges. Each theory explained in mimetic
theory. In the beginning of the dialogue his teacher Socrates says about construction
of the city. A city should be governed by its wisest people. Socrates says how
a city should be. An individual perform one task for the good of the others. He
expects more from the people. He says to do more for the sake of the city. But
without a pleasure they do not do anything. Socrates wanted to establish a
‘healthy city’ but now he thinks to establish a ‘feverish city’. The unhealthy
city will need more luxuries and basic functions. Plato separates mimesis from
the reality. It is a pleasure and emotion than truth and reason.
The
discussion of the artistic mimesis comes in book two. Socrates wants to create
a good state. He believes that those who able to protect the city from external
threat they themselves threatened the city. For this he plans to educate the
guardians. He plans to use stories to educate the guardians. He believes that
guardians can be shaped ethically by hearing the stories. He says that mothers
and nurses also shape the soul of their children in the same way. He warns that
stories must be use in careful way. He believes that a trained guardian will
show keen interest of justice. By telling stories to young people it is easy to
imitate good or bad actions which come in the stories. They are able to
distinguish good and bad actions. Socrates wants a control over the tales and
the way they are present. He says to guardians don’t hear untrue stories about
the Gods.
In book
three, he continues the prohibited things for the guardians. He prohibits the
stories of underworld, laughing uncontrollably, desires for food or money etc.
He prevents the guardians by repeating the activities. So he gives more
important to stories in the education. He believes that mimesis is unnatural
and false. He broadens the account of mimesis by training of children and
adults.
Socrates
divides narration into three: Simple, Mimetic and Mixed. In simple narration,
he says that without taking a role of the character they narrate the story. It
calls a historical narrative. In the mimetic, they imitate voice, gesture. In
mixed narration, they combine both. At time narrates and mimics the voice of
character. It is prevailed in ancient Greek poetry. He says that guardians
should not be mimetic narrators. There are four reasons for prohibition of imitations.
1) Mimetic narrator is a liar.
2) Violates the principle of
specialization.
3) Imitator cannot avoid contamination
by the object of imitation.
4) The character of the imitated
inevitably reflects upon the imitator.
In book two
and three we have seen that how mimesis affects on children and adults.
Aristotle tries to educate the guardians. He redefines these effects in
philosophical way. By ignoring the mimetic poets reason governed by republic
and best life. He makes inquiry into the opposition between mimesis and reason
in three ways: the reality of mimesis, the relationship to knowledge and
effects of mimesis on the emotion.
Plato begins
to talk about reality of mimesis in book ten. Socrates introduced ‘allegory of
the cave’ in book seven. The prisoners in the cave watch only the shadow which
appears in the wall. They think this is the reality. They did not have the
knowledge about the world up to death. They do not have any knowledge about the
reality. He imagines what will happen when a prisoner release from the cave.
Philosopher did not believe in reality of common people. Martin Heidegger says
the allegory of cave a revolution to the western concept of truth. Socrates says
that they imitate only the shadows of the objects. Socrates gives two
analogies. The first one he compares mimesis to mirror. He ask to imagine a craftsman
who will create everything heaven and earth. It is not possible. But passively
reflects the ability of that craftsman which already exits. Mirror reflects
when an object comes in front of it. In the same way artistic images reflects
the world. The second analogy is based on theory of forms. He asks to imagine
three couches: a) in nature, b) material made by craftsman, c) an imitation
painted by an artist. The real things make in any couch is the god. God’s couch
is real one. The craftsman imitate the real
One. So he
says that it is twice removed from the reality. In the case painter he also in
the side of material couch. He imitate the objects does not think what it
essentially is. So Socrates concludes by saying that ‘imitation is far from the
truth’.
Socrates
then says about the threat that mimesis poses to knowledge. The imitated
knowledge is illusion. He gives example of Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’. Here
he says about wars but we could not get any real knowledge of war. Then
Socrates argues that those who use the objects only he/she knows the beauty or
quality of the objects. He gives an example of a flute. He describes three figures
that user makes music, maker makes flute and imitator makes painting. Imitators
does not have knowledge, they reflect the works of others. He says that
imitation corrupting our psyche. He gives an example of a stick that placed
into pool water. The stick is straight but we can see bent in the water. We
think that the water bent the pool. The calculation of the senses leads to the
truth. Imitation confuses the senses.
Now Socrates
move towards the effect of art on our emotions. Now the tragedy is main target.
He says that languages does not imitate as images. He bridges a gap between
words and images. Imitation is based on sight and hearing. He says that mimesis
has no reality to tragic drama. All poetry imitates the performances of the
human being. The division of action and emotion in tragedy is similar to senses
and reason. In tragedy it is easy to imitate violent emotions. Tragedy shows
outside appearance of the human character. Viewers get sympathetic imitations,
teach us enjoy the expression of emotion. It is dangerous to Socrates because
he wants to remove mimetic poets from the republic. So he decided to banish all
poetry from republic.
It is a
debate between among the scholars that why mimesis come in the middle of the
dialogue. Plato wants to reflect the relationship between mimesis and politics.
He argues that in poetry imitate the human actions and emotions and in painting
imitate the real. In the education children imitate the characters in the
stories which mould their souls. He argues that the rulers of the republic
imitate their guardians. The tragic emotions are privately imitated by the
audience. Throughout the dialogue he opposes the mimesis. The imitators are
rejected from political participation. He compares political life to the
allegory of cave, where people believe that what they show is real. They did
not know truth behind them. Mimesis is not a matter of pictures and stories but
problem to human life. Eric Havelock argued that poetry held a monopoly over
social and political life. In end of the mimesis Socrates challenges the status
of poetry. Writing transforms knowledge into visible. Now poetry becomes
inappropriate to the Greek society.
Aristotle’s Poetics
‘Poetics’ is a fundamental text for mimesis.
Correctly did not when it is originated. It is a incomplete lecture notes on
tragic drama and other subjects written between 360 and 320 BCE. Aristotle
established a school called ‘Lyceum’ in Athens. In this book explained about
ancient drama which later treated as guide book by playwrights. The Greek
tragedy is main subject and also discusses about the mimesis. Aristotle’s
mimesis is a critical response to Plato’s Republic. He reinforces the platonic
mimesis over western art theory. According to Aristotle mimesis is a real
thing. With internal laws and aims he defines it.
Poetry
treats ‘in itself’. Poem is a natural object. It imitates the nature not only
physical forms. His metaphors of poetry mirror, shadows and optical illusions
say about the unreality of art and literature. By the inspiration of Homer he
offers the natural history of drama. Tragedies written by serious poets other
become comedies. The musician, painter, dancer, musician are all mimetic but
imitate with different tools. He says that imitation makes the poet. He finds
different objects of mimesis to differentiate artistic styles. Tragedy presents
people as good and comedy as worse. He makes distinction between essential and
accidental errors in art. Mimesis judges by its aims and methods not by
comparing to other objects.
Plato says
that when a child imitate something it is dangerous to the mimesis. Aristotle
regards it is naturalness of mimesis. Learning gives pleasure fir the people. Mimesis
gives insights of action and character.
Tragedy, Plot and Reason
Plato argues
that tragedy is dangerous to our emotions. For Aristotle it is soundly
rational. He says that it deals with emotions, desires and supernatural
elements. The emotions can be predictable. It is a imitation of serious action.
He introduces six parts of the tragedy: plot, character, diction, thought,
spectacle and song. He claims that mimesis have its own internal capacity, a
unity and reason. He also gives an account of magnitude. Plot is the soul of
tragedy. For him plot is governed by reason. There may be good plots and worst
plots. Human thoughts lead to the realism of mimetic work not the external
world. The plots are related to our actual life. He opposes the use of irrational
events by poets. Mimesis need not to be true to the fact but true to the human
cognition. He classified plot into two: simple and complex. Simple plots are
detailed complex plots are reversal and recognition. He argues that poets are
philosophers. They describe what to happen and historians describe what has
happened. Poetry is more philosophical than history.
The concept
of emotion of Aristotle and the poet are entirely rational. The emotion
threatens the city and soul. When poets do not produce tragic emotions they
fail as a poet. The true tragic pleasure we get from the plot. Fear and pity
are the two essential emotions. Plato says that audience imitate the emotion of
characters and Aristotle says pity and fear we experience in daily life.
Tragedy makes good people.
Three versions of Mimesis
Mimesis
as a cultural practice
Here we will discuss about the three
important element of thematic complex of mimesis: imitation of role models,
imagery of theatre and acting and problem of realism. In imitation of role
model describes about the relationship between past and present and original
and copy. Theatre defines mimesis as presentation and effects. Realism defines
as its more or less accurate reproduction of nature. By imitating skilful
people it leads to the literary success. Alexander pope in his ‘Essay on
Criticism’ mentions about that. He says that artists should not imitate human
emotions or world directly but should look at the artworks which produced for
the guidance. He believes that a good art emerges from the imitation of role
models. Romans were imitated the art of Greek. Classical literature becomes
classical by imitation. Epic, tragedy, comedy and pastoral are the object of
imitation. Horace, Ovid, are imitated others in the writings. Epic is example
for generic imitation.
‘Imitatio’
takes place different forms in renaissance and roman literature, translations,
works etc. Thomas Greene argues that imitation is a field of ambivalence.
Commonly students imitate their teachers and friends. Dante and Milton imitate Virginian
epic.
Rome
conquered Greek art and culture. Roman literature originated from Greek
sources. Without imitation it is difficult to understand roman literature.
Imitatio is very important in roman education and in artistic innovation. For
an ideal of roman virtue they followed Greek models and forms. Horace wrote ode
on the ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar. It describes about the Iulus Antonius,
son of Mark Antony. Horace does not imitate the Pindar but he captures essence
from his works to create new one. Dionysius also argues to practice Imitatio
than copying. He says that imitation reproduce a new thing. Quintilian says
that imitator should know the good and bad aspects of Imitatio. Roman authors make difference between
imitation and emulation. The great philosopher Seneca says that ‘one should
draw inspiration from different sources, not just one’. Writers should select
good things from other sources and arrange in a proper way and create new one.
Longinus’s ‘On the sublime’ is one of the important aspects in ancient literary
criticism.
Ancient and moderns
Horace, Seneca
and Longinus create something new through mimesis. The ancients are considering
as giants and moderns dwarfs. For renaissance writers imitation is central
aspects for the theories and education. Bring the past things into present.
Ancient cultures played an important role in imitation. The practice of Imitatio
is highly critical between the ancient and modern world. According to Thomas
Greene Renaissance imitation helped to understand the past in western culture. After
the fall of Roman Empire great works are lost to European culture. This period
is called ‘dark ages’ in the history. Stephen Orgel argues that ‘imitation was
a process of creation and re-creation, for the renaissance. According to
Petrarch imitation is a method, not an end in itself. In the early 16th
century mimesis entered in European literature. They give importance to the
work of Plato and Aristotle. Sir Philip Sidney’s most important work ‘Apology
for Poetry keeps mimesis and imitation side by side in the poetry. Sidney says
about the mimetic relationship to nature and imitation of audience.
The debate
of the classical imitation occupied during the 17th and 18th
century across the Europe. Modern says that they gone beyond their counterparts
in scientific and philosophical method. According to Immanuel Kant ‘genius must
be considered the very opposite of a spirit of imitation’. Genius allows nature
speak directly and not follow rules. Works of genius inspire others to create
their own work. True genius finds his own rules to create new thing. In the
school of Royal Academy, they imitated the ancient status and works of
renaissance masters. According to Reynolds ‘genius is the child of imitation’.
For Blake genius are born not taught. In the end of the 18th century
Imitatio declined and the ideal of genius are raised. Today also imitation
occupies important role in high and popular culture.
Theater and
theoretically
Spectacle and spectator
Saint
Augustine tells a story of Alypius, who opposed the spectacles. Augustine
follows Plato’s critique of tragedy. Theatre bears the taint of immorality. Throughout
the western history actor and actress are consider as the moral equivalent
prostitutes. The imagery and associations of the theatre is another element of
the theory of mimesis. The recent theorists follow Augustine for the definition
of theoretical mimesis with the interaction of spectator and spectacle. Mimesis
is a representation of someone not only something. Theatre is unimaginable
without audience. Theoretical mimesis arises from the doings of the actor and
audience. Theoretical mimesis engendered
by social conventions. Now a day in character speaks and audience keep silence
throughout the play. The things that contribute the theatrical mimesis: stage,
backdrop, props, actors, audience, texts. But none of these contribute the
theatrical mimesis. The word theatre and theory derived from the same Greek
word ‘thea’, means look or view. There is no proper reason why theatrical
mimesis restricted to formal theatre. The metaphor theatrum mundi gives
different philosophical and theological attitudes. Theatre offered a human
freedom for renaissance thinkers. Theatre and performer made by another. We
found the vision of theatrum mundi in Machiavelli’s treatise ‘The Prince’. Shakespeare’s
‘Hamlet’ is repetition and references to the traditional language and imagery
of mimesis. In this play Theatrical mimesis based on only three results: death,
political disorder and more mimesis. Like Polonius hamlet thinks theatre can
reveal truth. It reveals truth of human nature. If this world is stage, then
there is no end to the performance.
For
Shakespeare all knowing and worldly actions are theatrical. Under the God we
are all actors who judge our performance. Hamlet argues about the nature of
acting, emotion and social interaction. Actor changes his external features
according to the internal emotions. The actors create essential mimetic
illusions. Original emotion is known to that person only. The mimed emotions of
a skilled actor difficult distinguish from genuine emotion. According to
Rousseau the actor, ‘becomes adept in habits which can be innocent only in the
theatre’. Actors are good imitator of motions. So the real feelings interfere
with mimetic process. Actors become famous for their miming emotions. To make
his act good he show the unwitting emotions to his performance. The
relationship between acting and society describes by 18th century
writers.
Russian
director Nicolas Evreinoff argues the fundamental theatrically of life in his
book ‘The Theatre in Life’. Theatricality is a natural one and part of
continuum. Goffman argues perceptual dynamics of theoretical mimesis. Selfhood
is a relationship between actor and audience. Theatre is a distinct institution
where we cannot draw line of social and aesthetic drama.
Realism
Roman writer
Pliny the Elder describes competition between Zeuxis and Parrhasius. Plato also
lived during this period. Pliny assumes that art is to mirror nature. What
makes a literature or art look in a realistic way. Artists and writers have few
significant differences. The writers try to tell truth of the people in 19th
century. The western realism is exception rather than rules. Some type cultures
strictly prohibit some kind of arts. The art and philosophy that mimetic
reality again becomes aim of painters and sculptors until the renaissance.
It is
difficult to define realism. Reality is invisible and it contains art of
western culture. Realism is a general concept and specific movement in 19th
century art and literature. According to Rene Wellek ‘art cannot help dealing
with reality’. Dante explains about the spiritual reality of life after the
death’. Mimesis is an interpretation of mimesis. Its often believe that realism
lies in work of illusion. The artistic realism gave important to contemporary
and the quotidian in 19th century. They ignore supernatural events.
Technological changes effected on artistic values.
The realism
can be depending on the judgements of author and viewer or reader. We can get
different answers to the realism. According to Aristotle, realism of a work is
intellectual than material. Realism much like to the atrical mimesis. It is an interaction
of work and viewer. A work become real when it keeps its conventional sense of
authenticity. Literature takes unique form in reflection and conventionalist account
of realism. Here Eliot redefines Plato’s mirror which is a metaphor for truth
of art. Eliot rejects the Plato’s views about art. Auerbach also argues that
mimesis also defines realism in terms of reflection and convection. Lukacs says
that it is product of specific historic moment.
Mimesis and Identity
Mimesis is
always a theory of art implicit theory of human nature. rt is a exemplary
tendency towards imitation. Plato attacks the mimesis and links it to human
emotion. Aristotle defends it. Identification is the central theme of Sigmund
Freud’s work. All the theorists we discussed they regard mimesis as primary
aspect of human life. Human life compare to the imitation of animal and
insects. Freud’s thought about mimesis influenced on theorists in later 19th
century. He uses the traditional vocabulary of mimesis by imitating his own
ideas. Imitation is everywhere throughout the human life. Selfhood and identity
comes from imitation not by birth. Identification is largely unconscious it differentiates
admiration. The childhood identifications focus on parents. When a group adopt
a new form for identification it loss something, which Freud calls
introjections. He uses the concept of identification in his work with
hysterical patients. In hysterical imitation the patient observes another
patient and imitates him. But he believes that it is because of their
unconscious identification. Unconscious identification increases in parents
when we grow older. The bond of identification and desire fix the child’s
sexual identity and decisive social and moral effects in the life. Lacan argues
that the mirror image of physical unity ‘symbolizes the mental performance of
I’. He opposed the modern philosophical notion of the ego.
Lucan again
thinking about identification as a form of mimesis greatly influenced on
writings of Marxist Louis Althusser. Current theorists followed the mimetic
foundations of identity. Race and gender much affected on imitation. The
imitation of homosexual reminds the heterosexual original. Butler argues that
‘gender performances in fact produce the original subject who is said to act
them out. Theorists of race and imperialism gave different analysis of mimetic
foundations of identity. So the theory of mimesis carries questions far beyond
the art and theatre.
Mimesis and culture
Mimesis
theory helped to describe origin of the language to the social theorists.
Rousseau follows Plato and Aristotle saying that mimesis is integral part of
human nature. Once they mingle with the others they start to look at the
others. They imitates because to make impression on others. To Karl Marx
mimesis is a process of ideology. At the end of the 19th century
imperialism and globalization of trade increased. This bought closer to the
western intellectuals and pre- modern cultures. The social theorists also had
interest in magic. Magic governed by ‘sympathy’. Frazer divides magic into two:
the first one is law of similarity. In this process magician produce any effect
merely by imitating it. The second one is Law of contact. It means the things
that have once been in contact continue to act on each other at a distance. Here
magician’s uses body parts that they were once in contact. Magic does not any
distinguish between image and matter.
Benjamin in
his essay ‘The Mimetic Faculty’ he constructs speculative history of mimesis.
We cannot say that mimesis is disappeared from modernity. Children imitate everything;
they give up this when they are in adult age. He says language fundamentally a
mimetic. Nonsensuous similarities in language have absorbed form of mimesis.
Modernity is less mimetic than mimetic from antiquity. Benjamin and Caillois argues
that ‘mimesis, is historically and developmentally significant’. They find
mimetic faculty in modernity.
According to
Adorns “mimesis as the way an organism adapts itself to its environment”.
Mimesis does not give importance to division between subject and object.
Mimesis forges a bridge between self and other. It threatens the isolated ego.
According to Deleuze ‘modernity is the power of the simulacrum, free
circulation of images without truth’. Postmodern always joints reality and
simulation. Theory of mimesis is abiding faith in truth and reality.
Conclusion
In this book
we discussed about the images, ideas and philosophical problems that makes up
the western theory of mimesis. Mimesis fails to get a proper meaning. We came
across many poets and philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine,
Petrarch, Shakespeare, Eliot, Freud etc. They argue different opinions about
the mimesis theory in their works. Almost every theory described in this book.
Some thematic elements appear along with mimesis. Mimetic seeks a biological origin
and purpose in human intellectual and artistic creation. About many theories
and theorists have discussed in this book. It gives different ideas about the
mimesis theory. Poetics was not indented to be a comprehensive review of all
the problems of poetry. During the period of Horace the new conditions favoured
the poet. He was the best poet and best critic among the roman poets. In the
time of renaissance he consider equal to Aristotle. According to Longinus
literature attains to Sublimity, not by its power to instruct or to delight to
persuade. The sublime is innate and cannot be acquired by teaching.
Bibliography
Potolsky,
Mathew. Mimesis, New Delhi:
Routledge, 2006.
Aristotle (1951) Aristotle’s
Theory of Poetry and Fine Art, trans. S. H. Butcher, New
York: Dover.
Plato (1989) the
Collected Dialogues, Eds E. Hamilton and H. Cairns, Princeton NJ:
Princeton University Press.
Prasad, B. An Introduction to English
Criticism, New Delhi: Macmillan, 2013.
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