ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Plato and Aristotle spoke of mimesis as the re-presentation of nature. According to Plato, all artistic creation is a form of imitation: that which really exists (in the “world of ideas”) is a type created by God; the concrete things man perceives in his existence are shadowy representations of this ideal type.

Detailed explanation-2: -Plato’s fundamental contribution to the so-called imitation theory is apparent from the ideas about mimesis that he set out, in characteristic dialogue form, in Book 10 of The Republic.

Detailed explanation-3: -Plato and Aristotle argue that artist (Demiurge) and poet imitate nature, thus, a work of art is a relection of nature. However, they have different views on the functions of imitation in art and literature. Plato believes in the existence of the ideal world, where exists a real form of every object found in nature.

Detailed explanation-4: -Plato rejected poetry as it is mimetic in nature on the moral and philosophical grounds. On the contrary, Aristotle advocated poetry as it is mimetic in nature. According to him, poetry is an imitation of an action and his tool of enquiry is neither philosophical nor moral.

Detailed explanation-5: -In Poetics, Aristotle defines poetry as an imitation of human actions. By “imitation” he means something like “representation": the poem imitates by taking an instance of human action and representing it in a new “medium” or material that of words.