Discuss after Aristotle, the theory of imitation.
Aristotle did not invent the
term “imitation”. Plato was the first to use the word in relation with poetry,
but Aristotle breathed into it a new definite meaning. So poetic imitation is
no longer considered mimicry, but is regarded as an act of imaginative creation
by which the poet, drawing his material from the phenomenal world, makes
something new out of it.
In Aristotle's view, principle of imitation unites poetry with other fine arts and is the common basis of all the fine arts. It thus differentiates the fine arts from the other category of arts. While Plato equated poetry with painting, Aristotle equates it with music. It is no longer a servile depiction of the appearance of things, but it becomes a representation of the passions and emotions of men which are also imitated by music. Thus Aristotle by his theory enlarged the scope of imitation. The poet imitates not the surface of things but the reality embedded within. In the very first chapter of the Poetic, Aristotle says:
In Aristotle's view, principle of imitation unites poetry with other fine arts and is the common basis of all the fine arts. It thus differentiates the fine arts from the other category of arts. While Plato equated poetry with painting, Aristotle equates it with music. It is no longer a servile depiction of the appearance of things, but it becomes a representation of the passions and emotions of men which are also imitated by music. Thus Aristotle by his theory enlarged the scope of imitation. The poet imitates not the surface of things but the reality embedded within. In the very first chapter of the Poetic, Aristotle says:
Epic poetry and
Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic poetry, as also the music of the flute and
the lyre in most of their forms, are in their general conception modes of
imitation. They differ however, from one another in three respects – their medium,
the objects and the manner or mode of imitation, being in each case distinct.
The medium of
the poet and the painter are different. One imitates through form and colour,
and the other through language, rhythm and harmony. The musician imitates
through rhythm and harmony. Thus, poetry is more akin to music. Further, the
manner of a poet may be purely narrative, as in the Epic, or depiction through
action, as in drama. Even dramatic poetry is differentiated into tragedy and
comedy accordingly as it imitates man as better or worse.
Aristotle says that the objects of poetic imitation are “men in action”. The poet represents men as worse than they are. He can represent men better than in real life based on material supplied by history and legend rather than by any living figure. The poet selects and orders his material and recreates reality. He brings order out of Chaos. The irrational or accidental is removed and attention is focused on the lasting and the significant. Thus he gives a truth of an ideal kind. His mind is not tied to reality:
Aristotle says that the objects of poetic imitation are “men in action”. The poet represents men as worse than they are. He can represent men better than in real life based on material supplied by history and legend rather than by any living figure. The poet selects and orders his material and recreates reality. He brings order out of Chaos. The irrational or accidental is removed and attention is focused on the lasting and the significant. Thus he gives a truth of an ideal kind. His mind is not tied to reality:
It is not the
function of the poet to relate what has happened but what may happen –
according to the laws of probability or necessity.
