Ahnaf Anjish | May 19, 2020
Aristotle is one of the famous & important philosophers from the Classical or the Socratic Period. He was the student of another famous philosopher named Plato & in 355 B.C., he founded his own school named “Lyceum”, just outside the walls of Athens. He was the pioneer of various terms of knowledge & education. He was also interested in “Poetry” and wrote a book on this topic with the name - “Poetics”. In this blog, we’re going to have a vivid discussion on what he wrote back in that time. As a preview, we can say that the book mostly covered Tragedy and some parts of Comedy & Epics. Hence, we are also going to keep our discussion focused on Tragedy. I hope you guys will find the discussion(s) helpful.
At first, let’s take a close look at how Aristotle defined “Poetics” in his book. He simply said,
As Aristotle mentioned in his book, poetry was originated & inspired from two different causes,
So, what “Imitation” is ?
Imitation, according to the “MacMillan English Dictionary -American”, is the act of copying someone's actions, words, or behaviour. Think about it this way :
After we understand the idea of “Imitation”, the question is : What is “Experience” ?
Again, according to the “MacMillan English Dictionary -American”, Experience is knowledge and skill gained through time spent doing a job or activity. As a human being, we all have a natural sense about experience. Let me try to represent a bit more specific insight :
But the question you are maybe thinking that, how “Experience” plays a role at poetries ? You are maybe thinking that a poet might be inspired by an incident or something - which is what we naturally think. But Aristotle has showed another approach to poetry which is based on “Experience”. Let me quote,
After the making of “Poetry” it got classified into 2 different kinds based on the character of a poet,
Before going to a vivid discussion, I think we should know from the POV of Aristotle about the basis(s) on which all the types of Poetry differed in their means, in the objects, in the manner of their imitations :
As there are certain differences among different types of poetry, it is evident that different types of poetry actually exist. Among these types, the Tragedy & the Comedy are the most popular to discuss about, & the book thoroughly emphasizes on Tragedy - and we’ll discuss them through in the next discussions. Till then, stay home - stay safe. And please feel free to comment. You can also email me. Happy Reading!
At first, let’s take a close look at how Aristotle defined “Poetics” in his book. He simply said,
The first thing you may notice from the definition that the definition also gives us a proper hint on how “Poetics” was created & improved throughout the time and what inspired the ancient poets like Sophocles & Homer into this. But the first question may rise that what the general origin of poetry is.“Imitation, then, being natural to us—as also the sense of harmony and rhythm, the metres being obviously species of rhythm—it was through thier original aptitude, and by a series of improvements for the most part gradual on their first efforts, that they created poetry out of their improvisations.”
Chapter-4
As Aristotle mentioned in his book, poetry was originated & inspired from two different causes,
- Imitation
- Experience
So, what “Imitation” is ?
Imitation, according to the “MacMillan English Dictionary -American”, is the act of copying someone's actions, words, or behaviour. Think about it this way :
You have an infant kid & you want to raise it until it’s adulthood. So, at the beginning, you’ll treat it in your own way & probably it’ll inherit some of your own habits & will try to do them accordingly.
In the given example, the kid trying to copy your works - is actually trying to “Imitate” you. We, the human being, are naturally imitators. We first start learning through imitation, & carry this habit throughout our life. Even our behaviour is often influenced by others’ behaviour, & we insert those behaviours in ours by imitations. After we understand the idea of “Imitation”, the question is : What is “Experience” ?
Again, according to the “MacMillan English Dictionary -American”, Experience is knowledge and skill gained through time spent doing a job or activity. As a human being, we all have a natural sense about experience. Let me try to represent a bit more specific insight :
When you first got your job, you might felt confused at completing all the files or holding the cash. But with time, you got so much familiar & gained so much skills that you could do them even blindfoldedly.
As you can see, throughout doing a particular job for a long period of time, you gain a certain type of skill for that job - which is “Experience”. For an example [1] , So, it is noticeable that experience is not something like a mere word after some practice, as it plays an important role in brain’s activity, & thus - our behaviour.After doing fMRI Scans of an experienced Taxi Driver of London, you’ll notice that the posterior(back) hippocampus of the brain has increased its activity while the anterior(front) hippocampus’ activity has been reduced.
But the question you are maybe thinking that, how “Experience” plays a role at poetries ? You are maybe thinking that a poet might be inspired by an incident or something - which is what we naturally think. But Aristotle has showed another approach to poetry which is based on “Experience”. Let me quote,
As you can see, Aristotle pointed out a simple psychological fact :“Though the objects themselves maybe painful to see, we delight to view the most realistic representations of them in art, the forms for example of the lowest animals and of dead bodies.”
Chapter-4
We hate to experience any negative events, but we always enjoy them in an artistical way.
And that is, what we may say, the base of Tragedy. After the making of “Poetry” it got classified into 2 different kinds based on the character of a poet,
- Tragedy
- comedy
Before going to a vivid discussion, I think we should know from the POV of Aristotle about the basis(s) on which all the types of Poetry differed in their means, in the objects, in the manner of their imitations :
- Combination : A combination of rhythm & harmony or the usage of voice either in prose or verse always differs from another genre of poetry, and so - the imitations.
- Imitator : An “Imitator” always represents something called “Action”. The act exhibits men (and women) - who are either good or bad or just-like-us, and this difference is also possible not only in the imitators but also the personells who does the background-arts.
- Object Representation : Let’s look at an projection first : Take 2 equally sharped blades and 2 equally sized pieces of paper. Give one of those each things to a happy-person, & the leftovers to a person who is severely depressed (declared by a certified Psychologist, of course). You might notice that the happy-one might try to be creative with all the things you have given to him; while the one in depression might harm his ownself & put all the blood-drops on that very piece of paper which you have given to that personIf you study the projection well, you might notice the difference that every person has, which is often regarded as their own “Creativity”. Give the same thought here, every person’s own creativity & uniqueness will lead them to create something different, even for the same script. Aristotle had pointed out 3 ways of telling the story on this regard,
As we understand, there are actually 3 ways of storytelling on a bold line. Hence, the difference is quite probable.- Speak at one moment in narrative and at another in an assumed character, as Homer does.
- One may remain the same throughout, without any such change.
- The imitators may represent the whole story dramatically, as though they were actually doing the things described.
As there are certain differences among different types of poetry, it is evident that different types of poetry actually exist. Among these types, the Tragedy & the Comedy are the most popular to discuss about, & the book thoroughly emphasizes on Tragedy - and we’ll discuss them through in the next discussions. Till then, stay home - stay safe. And please feel free to comment. You can also email me. Happy Reading!
