The
word 'mimesis' means to imitate. As a critical and philosophical term mimesis may
carry several meanings such as representation, imitation, and mimicry, the act
of resembling, the act of expression and the presentation of the self. Mimesis
as criteria of literary criticism refers to interpreting a text in relation to
a particular literary or cultural model. The tradition of mimetic criticism
begins with Plato.
In
ancient Greece the idea of mimesis referred to a reflection of the ideal world
in the physical. Plato wrote about the concept of mimesis in his famous work The
Republic where he said that the physical world is merely a reflection or
imitation of an ‘ideal’ world. Plato divides the world into – the world of
ideals and the world of sense-perception. Reality exists in the form of ideals
and is perceived through the senses in the world of appearances. Plato
exemplifies this concept with the help of three beds- one the ideal of a ‘bed’;
second, the bed made by a carpenter and third the bed painted by the artist.
The artist imitates the carpenter who in turn imitates the ideal world. Thus
the painting is an imitation of an imitation. The work of an artist is twice
removed from reality. Plato likens poets to painters and thus calls them
liars. Plato calls poetry the art of
divine madness. The artists and orators, according to Plato, persuade their
audience by rhetoric and not by speaking the truth.
Plato’s
idea is further discussed by his disciple Aristotle in his work Poetics
which is a defence of poetry against Plato’s accusations. Aristotle mentions in
Poetics that epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, pipe-playing and lyre-playing
are all different modes of imitation. However they differ from each other in
three ways- first, the means of imitation, second the object to be imitated and
third, the manner of imitation. A poet imitates actions which are performed by
either a good person or a bad person i.e. a poet imitates virtues and vices,
the primary distinction of the diversity of human temperaments. The persons
that a poet imitates must be either of a higher level than the common people,
or of a lower level or of the same level. If the means and object for imitation
are the same the manner of imitation may differ in three ways. First, one may
switch between narration and assuming character. Secondly, one may remain the
same without any change or thirdly, the whole story may be represented
dramatically as if the imitator is actually performing those actions.
Aristotle regards humans as imitative beings.
Humans are the most imitative creatures in the world which is an advantage they
enjoy over other beings. The process of learning in human life begins with
imitation. Moreover imitation is not only a part of human nature but they also
find delight in works of imitation. Aristotle says that although some objects
are painful to see in real life a realistic representation of those objects in
the form of art provides pleasure. The natural tendency of imitation in humans
along with the sense of melody and rhythm results in the creation of poetry.
The
mimesis theory is reflected in Aristotle’s famous definition of tragedy where
he states that tragedy is the ‘imitation of an action’ that is serious, has a
magnitude and is complete in it. It is written in a pleasurable language and
the action progresses in a dramatic form involving incidents which arouse the
emotions of pity and fear in the audience and ultimately leads to a catharsis
of those emotions. Aristotle differentiates a comedy from a tragedy by saying that
comedy is the imitation of people worse than the average while a tragedy is the
imitation of persons above the ordinary. According to Aristotle a poet’s
function is to describe what may have happened or should have happened, unlike
a historian whose function is to describe what has already happened. In this
manner poetry is a form of creation and thus the poet is a creator and not a
liar as said by Plato.
Philip
Sidney in his essay An Apology for Poetry reiterates the classical
definition and says that poetry is the art of imitation, like a representation
or a counterfeit. It is a speaking picture whose aim is to teach and delight.
Sidney classifies poetry into three types. First is religious poetry that
imitates the incredible excellence of God. Secondly poetry that deals with
philosophical matters either moral or astronomical. The third type of poetry
according to Sidney is that which imitates for the sole purpose of teaching and
delighting by telling not what has been or shall be but which may be or should
be. Thus he echoes Aristotle’s view on a poet’s function carrying forward the
mimetic tradition in classical western literary criticism. Sidney also adds
that a poet is one who is capable of feigning images of virtue and vices in a
didactic yet entertaining manner.
The
mimetic tradition continues in Samuel Johnson’s Preface to Shakespeare,
the famous critique of the works of William Shakespeare. Johnson measures Shakespeare’s
genius in his ability to imitate nature. Johnson regards Shakespeare as the
poet of nature who holds up a faithful mirror of life and its manners to his
readers. The plays of Shakespeare portray the true nature of human beings and
the actions of his characters can scarcely be called fictional. Shakespeare’s characters are never
extraordinary; they speak and act under the influence of common human passions.
Johnson says that Shakespeare does not have any heroes. His characters are
merely men who act and speak in the same manner as the reader himself would act
or speak if he faced a similar situation. His characters are ordinary and
universal. The audience can identify themselves with the characters. According
to Johnson, “imitations produce pleasure or pain, not because they are mistaken
for realities, but because they bring realities to mind”. Shakespeare’s
tragedies are impactful because they imitate situations which may not be real
but which are capable of bringing realities to the mind. According to Johnson
the greatest praise of Shakespeare is that his drama is a mirror of life.
In
conclusion it can be said that the concept of mimesis in western literary
criticism evolved through the works of various critics. The tradition began
with Plato who regarded the physical world as an imitation of the ‘ideal’ and
thus regarded all imitations of the physical world as false. Aristotle defended
this stance by justifying that the poet speculates events which is a creative
process in itself and hence proved that they are not liars. The tradition
continued down the ages up to the eighteenth century as seen in the works of
critics such as Sidney and Johnson. Mimesis is considered as an important
concept in the world of literary criticism even today.
