INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE

Class 3
 Classical approaches

• Mimesis /mɪˈmiːsɪs, mʌɪ-/

• μίμησις
(mīmēsis), from
mīmeisthai, "to imitate"
The Death of Socrates - Jacques-Louis David (1787)
 PLATO
(CA. 427 - 347 BC)
 Plato
• The first important voice in literary
theory / criticism, greatly
influential

• Sets
the tone for literary debate in
the West.

• not a systematic theory of literature

• viewsscattered in different
dialogues (most notably Ion and
the Republic).
 Alfred North Whitehead

• All Western
philosophy just ...
footnotes to Plato
 Principles of Plato's philosophy

• Belief
in the existence of
timeless universals called
Forms or Ideas

• Our world mere reflection of

the ideal world

• reason more important than

emotions. Reason as the only
source of true knowledge.
 Distrust of the senses
• Thesenses are illusory and
deceptive: the world of
appearances

• Truthonly thorough rigorous

philosophic discussion and
thought based on mathematical
reasoning

• mathematics
ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
PLATO’S OBJECTIONS
 Plato and literature

• Plato: great
literary stylist and the
master of the dialogue

• Hisphilosophical principles lead

him towards some doubts about
the nature of poetry (literature)
 The first objection

• What image of the world

does poetry produce?

• Thenature of
representation

• Mimesis /mɪˈmiːsɪs, mʌɪ-/ -

representation or imitation
of the world through artistic
means
 Lack of authenticity

• Poetry is a copy of a copy,

thus inferior.

• Leads humans away from

truth rather than towards it.
 irrationality
What poetry does to us?

• poetry excites emotions

 Poetry as madness

• Artistic inspiration is not

based on some rational
insight

• Poetryis not art, but a kind of

divine madness (possession)

• Verycontagious - easily
passed to other people (like
magnet)
 the impact of poetry

• poetry(art) can actively

change human behaviour

• howwe respond to our

world (perspective)
 it should...

• serve moral and social

function,

• teach goodness and grace

• praisethe heroes of the

state and gods
 Banishing poets

• Republic: poets should be banished (thrown away) from

the ideal kingdom

• unless they focus exclusively on patriotic and religious

poetry.
 Case for censorship

• Plato's arguments used by censors

• influential view - numerous

refutations

• The first influential response to

Plato comes from his great disciple
Aristotle
ARISTOTLE
(384-322 BC)
 Raffaello Sanzio (1483 - 1520), !
The School of Athens (1510-11), fresco, Vatican Museum, Rome
 Aristotle: significance
• Equally influential thinker but in his
approach radically different from Plato.
• Naturalist, empiricist and taxonomist.
• Systematic classification and
explanation.
• He codified the divisions of knowledge
into disciplines and sub-disciplines.
• Enormous output (about 150 works
attributed to him).
 Poetics: first systematic theory

• Inaugurated the systematic and distinctive discipline of

literary criticism and theory.

• Today Hollywood scriptwriters still rely on Poetics.

 Poetics

• Disagreed with Plato, Poetics indirect response to Plato

(Plato never mentioned in Poetics).

• Alternative approach to understanding and writing about

literature.

• Aristotle dissects literature (poetry) in the same manner in

which he used to dissect frogs.
 Structure of the Poetics (c. 330 BC):

• General discussion of different types of literature,

• Later the famous distinction into epic poetry, lyrical

poetry and drama derived.

• Mechanisms of tragedy and comedy.

• The origins of art, theory of mimesis.

 Mimesis: literature vs. history

Positive notion - in
contrast to Plato.

Literature: imitates Contrasted with

≠
universal truths history (imitation of the
(essence, what may actual, what happened
always happen) only once).
Conveying the essence
 Mimesis
• Human being: "the most imitative of
living creatures",

• Pleasure derived from learning through

imitation.

• Pleasure from recognising and

contemplating copies (adults).

• Instinctive desire for harmony and

order.
 Effective literature
• Literature: imitation (representation of life) through
language.

• Plot the soul of literary imitation.

• Well-constructed plot satisfies our desire for harmony.

• Chaotic reality organised into plots; condensed events

instead of entire life,

• One eventful day revealing much about the protagonist.

 plot vs. story

• story: A - B - C - D - E

• plot: C - E - A - D - B
 episodic - Aristotelean

• A - B - C - D- E - F
 Episodic vs. Aristotelian plot.

• The perfect plot: beginning - middle - end,

• See pyramid structure.

Freytag's pyramid

¦de
nuːm ~¦
 Good plots

• Simple plot is made complex by reversal (peripeteia) and

recognition (anagnorisis).

• peripeteia - sudden change (eg. from good to bad)

• anagnorisis - from ignorance to knowledge

• Best plots avoid deus ex machina solutions.

 Tragedy

• Presentation of noble
actions.

• Superiority of characters:
they seem better (nobler
than us, ordinary people -
we feel inferior).

• Inferiority of the audience.

 Comedy

• Feeling
of superiority
towards the character(s).
 suffering of the noble

• Noble people, should be good but endowed with hubris

(pride).

• Hubris leads them to hamartia (error, tragic flaw)...

• that brings nemesis (retribution) and...

• ends with the catastrophe (destruction, death).

 tragic flaw

• The concept of the tragic flaw

• a single vice that leads the hero to destruction,

• prominent in Shakespeare
Character hamartia nemesis
hubris

catastrophe
 Catharsis

• What happens to the audience as they watch the

destruction of an admirable and powerful character?

• fear and pity.

• pity - sorry for the suffering

• fear - we may be destroyed in a similar fashion

 catharsis

• Accumulation of the emotions results in catharsis.

• Different interpretations of the term (Aristotle vague about

it).