DEEPTHI T K
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MIMESIS
Mimesis
is one of the oldest term in literary theory. It is the term which describes
the relationship between an artistic image and reality. It indicates that art
is the copy of the real. But this definition does not take into account the
scope and significance of this idea. Mimesis is most often employed to describe
art works as well as actions, such as imitating another person. It can be said
to imitate a several array of originals: truth, beauty, nature, actions,
situations, mannerisms, ideas. The word has been used to describe the imitative
relationship between art and life and an art work and its audience and the
material world and a rational order of ideas.
The most commonly accepted
English equivalent of this Greek term is imitation. The word mimesis is derived from its root word mimos which has two meanings; a person
who imitates and a genre of performance based on the imitation of stereotypical
traits. Not a single interpretation and translation is sufficient enough to
encompass its complexity and the tradition of commentary it has inspired.
Mimesis is the most sincere form of flattery as well as the trade of
plagiarists and pirates. All art is not mimetic but the very concept of art,
for western culture is unimaginable without the theory of mimesis.
But mimesis has always been more
than a theory of art and images. It elicits many meanings, attitudes, metaphors
to demonstrate its overriding significance to western thoughts. It has been an
obsessive concern for artists and philosophers for thousands of years. The
ancient Greek philosopher Plato introduced the term into literary theory over
two thousand years ago in his dialogue the Republic
in which he says art merely imitates
something real. It is an illusion and thus needs to be distinguished from truth
and nature. He and his disciple Aristotle carried the idea that art imitates
the world much as people imitates each other. The ancient Greek idea of mimesis
is that it is something deep within human nature and it continues to shape our
everyday beliefs and practical relationship to art and literature.
Mimesis is a key term for literary and artistic theory. It
has taken distinct forms in different cultural contexts. Different cultures
have different ways of describing reality, and different historical periods are
dominated by different conventions. Conventionalist account of mimesis are
common in debates about the nature of artistic realism.
PLATO’S VIEW ON MIMESIS
Plato, one of the great
influential ancient Greek philosopher provided the most influential account of
mimesis to the world of literary theory for the first time.The most important
discussion of mimesis comes in his work the Republic,
a wide-ranging work of political, ethical and literary theory. In the
dialogue, he redefines art as essentially mimetic as a representation of
something else. Plato’s theory of mimesis is very complicated but the history
of literary and artistic theory begins with Plato’s account of mimesis. His
concept of mimesis can be seen in both of his works Ion and Republic.
According to him every art is mimetic and art is an imitation of life.
Plato ties mimesis into much broader questions of human nature and
political life. In Plato’s philosophical system the world is divided into two
domains: the world of sense perceptions and the world of ideals. The former world
is ever changing but the latter is eternal. The physical world experienced
through our senses does not harbor reality. In Republic it is through the
socrates’ mouth that Plato locate reality in what is called Ideals or Forms.
Before the introduction of theory of mimesis, Greek people
treated all the images and statues as real objects. Plato treats not only
poetry and art as imitation but also all the social phenomena and behaviors
like mimimg, emulation, picture, mirrors, echoes, shadows, dreams and the like.
Thus he does not consider art or poetry as a creative work or craft.
Plato values mimesis with pleasure and emotion rather than truth and
reality. He considers poets as people who lead the human beings away from
reality. He says that since it is twice removed from reality, art is unable to
show the truth to the people. For him it is philosophy which is able to show
them the way to truth. So every art that exists is an imperfect copy of the
real world according to him. He uses the metaphor of three beds to convey his
idea of mimesis. The first bed exists as an idea conceived by God, the second
bed made by the carpenter in imitation of God’s idea and the third bed made by
the artists in imitation of carpenter’sidea. Ideas are ultimate reality.
But in book iv of republic, Plato holds a positive view on art as it
contributes as it contributes to the spiritual growth of people. Imitation
which perform such a function has a principle place in his view. Truth is the
end in such imitation, not pleasure. In Ion he attacks poetry on grounds that
it fails to get into the root of things and is concerned only with imitation.
He believed that such imitative arts has a corrupting influence on man.
The human soul, he says, must be governed by its best part-reason; just
like a morally fair city is governed by its wisest citizens (philosophers). So
anything which would be causing restriction for using the best part of human
soul must be abandoned according to him. We can trace the inheritance of Plato’s theory of mimesis as a literary
technique in the writings of later writers such as Robert Browning with his
dramatic monologue and T.S. Eliot with his theory of objective correlative.
ARISTOTLE’S CONCEPTION OF MIMESIS
Aristotle, the disciple of Plato holds an entirely different view on
mimesis. He rejects platonic view of art as an imperfect reflection of the
ideal archetypal order. Imitation is creative and dynamic according to
Aristotle much against the view of Plato. For him, the creations of an artist
are the imitation of the human character, human action, and human emotion where
as Plato’s imitation implies copying and hence insignificant.
Aristotle’s Poetics is a foundational text for the understanding of
mimesis. Throughout the Poetics Aristotle mainly talks about poetry which is
the kind of mimesis that uses medium of language, rhythm and melody. He
distinguishes different kinds of poetry as being on the whole representations and of these he names the
composition of epic, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic compositions and the music
for stringed instruments.
“epic and
tragic composition ,and
indeed comedy,
dithyrambic composition and
most sort of
music
for wind
and stringed instruments
are all as
considered
as a
whole representations”
According to Aristotle it is the mimetic nature that
distinguishes poetry from other discourses. One who writes in verse cannot be
termed as a poet , rather the one who imitates can better be called poet.
Aristotle says that mimetic discourse is only representational , not
affirmative as the writings of
Empedocles. Empedocles writings are natural philosophy , and intend to
offer propositions and affirm specific
aspects to reality. Aristotle’s chief subject is Greek tragedy, but his account
of this form engages far- reaching
questions about the nature of mimesis
that powerfully revise Plato’s theories.
Anyway Aristotle’s approach to mimesis is understated. Aristotle
indicates two causes of poetry which by extension are the causes of mimesis in general. The first cause is the
man’s universal instinct to engage in mimetic activity, the second cause is
man’s tendency to take pleasure in the product of mimesis. Both of these are
rooted in man’s rational nature. Aristotle believes that imitation is natural
to human beings from childhood and there is a natural pleasure in imitation. It
is this natural pleasure that enables the child to learn his earliest lessons
in life. Likewise in a grown-up person there is another instinct for harmony
and rhythm which help him to write.
Mimesis , for Aristotle , is a real thing ,
worthy of critical analysis, but its definition still relies like nearly all of
the theories , on the framework set up by Plato. At the same time Aristotle
offers the most persuasive response to Plato’s critique of mimesis. In many
ways the history of western literary criticism is a repetition in different
terms of the fundamental claims about
mimesis in Plato and Aristotle. Unlike
Plato, for whom mimesis is a mirror of something else and therefore potentially
deceptive, Aristotle defines mimesis as a craft with its own internal laws and
aims.
In Poetics chapter vi,
Aristotle talks about imitation in tragedy, which he considers to be the most
evolved form of poetry. To him tragedy attempts to imitate the complex world of
human actions , and yet tragedy is itself
still part of a larger , more complicated world of human existence. Tragedy is a manifestation of the human desire to
imitate. In the passage in Poetics he
defines tragedy as the:
Tragedy is
the representation of
a serious, complete
action which has
magnitude, in embellished
speech, with each of
its elements separately
in the various parts
of the play; represented
by people acting
and not
by narration;
accomplishing by means
of pity and
terror the catharsis
of such
emotions.
The
first important thing in a tragedy is
that it is an imitation of an action .
Action implies an event or process of events according to Aristotle. These
actions are the actions of the human beings. Only such actions are imitated in
poetry. According to Aristotle’s reception of the mimetic theory , imitation is
needed to complete this incomplete physical world in which we people live. But
imitation , as he sees it , is rather a complex creation a skill that needs to
go hand- in-hand with talent and imaginative power.
Lodovico
Castelvetro and John Dryden supports Aristotle’s opinion and they also
considered poetry as the imitation and poet as the imitator. Both Plato and
Aristotle distinguishes mimesis from reality , but they take different
approaches to its nature and effects. Plato regarded mimesis as a dangerous and
potentially corrupting imitation of reality. But Aristotle treats it as a
foundational aspect of human nature.
Plato associates mimesis with violence, extreme emotions and the irrational
where as Aristotle regards it as rational and fully valid practice.
PLOTINUS
Plotinus was a great ancient
philosopher. There were three principles in his system of theory : the One ,
the Intellect and the Soul . His metaphysical writings have inspired centuries of
Pagan , Christian , Jewish, Islamic and Gnostic metaphysicians and
mystics. According to Plotinus art is not mere imitation , but he says , it is
a creative work. He does not agree to the view that art is twice removed from
reality. According to him an artist has no rational mind but has intuitive
force with the help of which he creates a work of art. Thus art is given higher
status in his system. The artists take the raw materials from the nature which
is complete and through his creativity he adds the missing parts ,if any , and
presents it by reshaping it , he says.
HORACE ON MIMESIS
Horace ‘s view on mimesis is different from
that of Plato’s and Aristotle’s. He is one of the greatest Roman poet-critic and he has
conducted many discussions about art. According to Horace the ultimate goal of
poetry is to instruct and afford pleasure. He believed that the ideal poet is one who combines these both
functions. His conception of imitation meant a recreation and not just copying.
He clearly sites the relationship between
following the ancient tradition and making their own invention in order
to steer Roman poetry to the eminence of that of its Greek counterpart.
either follow
tradition or else
what you invent
consistent.it is hard
to treat a commonly known
subject in an
original way.in publicily
known matters,you will be
able to achieve
originality if you
do translate word
for word nor jump into
a narrow imitative
grove,from whiich both
fear and the rules
followed in the
given work prevent
your escape.
In Arts Poetica , Horace reduce the concept of mimesis to a technical
process of either following the tradition or making one’s own invention based
on literary principles. He emphasizes art over genius and his ideas are broadly
concerned with craftsmanship of writing.
LONGINUS
VIEW ON MIMESIS
Unlike
Horace , Longinus treats imitation in a spiritual level rather than in a
technical level. His concept of imitation is surrounded or related with the
concept of the theory of sublimity. He finds it also as an spiritual
interaction with the ancient great minds which involves the subjectivity of the
writer himself. He divides this process into three stages: First the passive
reception of sublimity of the old , second, internalization of sublimity and
third is the active creation of sublimity of one’s own. Longinus argues in his
discussion of images that “ imagination
is applied to every idea of the mind in whatever form it presents itself ,
which gives birth to speech.” This is how great literary works are got produced.
The
perception of literary imitation of Longinus
is tightly associated with the theory of sublimity. His theory of sublimity
later inspired certain studies in various fields of humanities.
JOHN
DRYDEN
John Dryden is one of the
greatest English poet of seventeenth century. He was also a well-known
playwright. In his famous work An Essay
On Dramatic Poesy he elicits a strong agreement in connection with the view
of Aristotle. Agreeing to Aristotle he also says that poetry is an imitation of
life and it reflects the nature. Dryden’s ultimate belief in literature being a
mimetic art is most clearly expressed in his famous definition of the play : ‘
A just and lively image of human nature , representing its passions and humours
,and the changes of fortune to which it is subject ; for the delight and
instruction of mankind .” He did not approve of recreation in translation, that
is imitation.
EMILE
ZOLA
Emile Francois Zola was a prominent French
writer and an important contributor to the development of theatrical
naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France. He was a French novelist and
advocator of naturalist movement and proposes a very empirical method of
creating any kind of work of art. Thus the simple view regarding the creation
as imitation gets vanished. Also there occurs modification of raw material
which he borrowed from nature and life.
CONCLUSION
Mimesis is a world of illusion , and images in which existing words
are changed and re-interpreted. Prolific writers and philosophers like Plato ,
Aristotle , Horace , Shakespeare ,Longinus and Racine used the mimetic theory
in their work and lives. The mimetic theory is the universal foundation of
literature and of schools of literary criticism. Aesthetic theory emphasized
the relationship of mimesis to artistic expression and began to include
subjective and emotive images and representations.
The concern for the moral effects of art is often drawn from mimetic
theory. Mimesis defines our way of thinking about art , literature and
representation. The very concept, significance and scope of mimesis is varying
in accordance with the cultural and political contexts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nagarajan , M S. English Literary
Criticism and Theory. Hyderabad. Orient Blackswan Private Limited, 2006
Potolsky, Matthew. Mimesis.
Newyork.Routledge,2006
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