4th post from MY SHARE Aristotles Theory of Imitation Prepared by Ashraf Ali Rectified by Sir S M A Rauf Aristotles Theory of Imitation The term imitation was first used by Plato. By imitation he meant mimicry. The poet, according to him, does not create anything new but writes about the surface realities of this world which is itself a copy of the ideal vision conceived by its Creator. Thus the poet does not contribute anything original or new through his work. To Plato, idea is truth. The idea of the universe was first conceived by God and then it was executed in the present shape. The present world is itself a copy of that original idea. The poet writes about this world and therefore he is twice far removed from the truth. This being so, he did not assign any place to the poets in his ideal Republic. Aristotle used this word imitation in a quite different sense. He gave a new interpretation to the word imitation. Art, according to him, does not merely imitate the surface realities but deals with the very essence of things. It is a creative process. The poets perception of the realities of life is different from the common run. He dives deeper into what he sees in this universe and gives a new interpretation to it according to his own vision. It is thus an imitation of the ideal reality. By idealizing the outward appearances, the poet eliminates the accidental and transient. In other words, he deals with the permanent and universal. Thus he gave a new dimension to the concept of imitation. Aristotle says that the poet portrays man better than average. This would not be possible in merely copying the external appearances. It is possible only if he conceives his characters with those traits that are immutable. For example, Hamlets anguish, his anger at the spying of Ophelia, his suspicion about his mothers involvement in the murder of his father: they are universal phenomena to be found in every person who is placed in the same situation. It is also important to remember that the artist is not merely a chronicler of events. Through his art he always aims at conveying some important message of life in the form of permanent and eternal truth. Poetry is like music, says Aristotle. As a musician does not produce noise like pigs and chickens but gives a pattern to the various tunes and thereby makes the listener feel the emotions, so the poet represents the inner feelings and ideas of man. Poetry, according to Aristotle, is more philosophic and of graver import than history. In other words, poetry is different from history: while the former is concerned with the universal, the latter, with the particular. Added to this, in history the facts are organized in a chronological order whereas in poetry the nexus of cause and effect is strictly observed to make it convincing and credible. There is another important fact to be noted. Poetic imitation involves critical faculty as well. The ordering and arrangement of material is governed by the law of probability. In other words, an artist should have both creative imagination and critical faculty. Hardy, for example, violates the principle of credibility by using indiscriminate chances and at times even describing or choosing events which do not seem to be convincing. All arts are imitative but they differ in three respects: medium, object and manner. So far as poetic art is concerned, it uses language as its medium. As for objects, Aristotle mentions actions which are of two kinds, good and bad. On this basis he classifies drama into two: tragedy and comedy. Tragedy deals with noble character whereas comedy depicts worse characters. As for the manner of imitation, tragedy uses dramatic method, that is, the interaction of the characters proceeds through dialogues. To sum up, by giving a new meaning to the term imitation, Aristotle has elevated poetic imitation to the status of respectability. Plato disregarded the value and importance of poetic art by describing it as mimicry. The credit goes to Aristotle for having given a new interpretation to the term imitation and thereby raised its importance. Thank you, Ashraf Ali Reference shall be appreciated when printed or shared. P.S. If any error, it should be attributed solely to me.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 19:26:34 +0000
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