Mimesis: Culture - Art - Society

Description

Mimesis, the notion that art imitates reality, has long been recognized as one of the central ideas of Western aesthetics and has been most frequently associated with Aristotle. Less well documented is the great importance of mimetic theories of literature, theater, and the visual arts during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. In this book, the most comprehensive overview of the theory of mimesis since Auerbach's monumental study, Gunter Gebauer and Christoph Wulf provide a thorough introduction to the complex and shifting meanings of the term. Beginning with the Platonic doctrine of imitation, they chart the concept's appropriation and significance in the aesthetic theories of Aristotle, Molière, Shakespeare, Racine, Diderot, Lessing, and Rousseau. They examine the status of mimesis in the nineteenth-century novel and its reworking by such modern thinkers as Benjamin, Adorno, and Derrida. Widening the traditional understanding of mimesis to encompass the body and cultural practices of everyday life, their work suggests the continuing value of mimetic theory and will prove essential reading for scholars and students of literature, theater, and the visual arts. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Point of Departure On Auerbach’s History of Mimesis Worldmaking and Social Pressure Literary and Social Mimesis Part I, Mimesis as Imitation, the Production of Appearances, and Fiction 2 On the Originsof the Concept 3 Imitation, Illusion, Image (Plato) Similarity, Imitation, Education Appearance and Illusion Images as Appearances with the Character of Similarity 4 The Break in the History of Mimesis. The Use of Writing Oral Poetry Between Oral and Literate Culture 5 Poetic Mimesis (Aristotle) Part II Mimesis as Imitatio, the Expression of Power, and Literate Subjectivity 6 Mimesis as Imitatio 7 Poetics and Powerin the Renaissance 8 Intertextuality, Fragmentation, Desire. Erasmus, Montaigne, Shakespeare Erasmus Montaigne Shakespeare Part III Mimesis as Enactment of the State 9 The Conflict Over History. The Querelle desAnciens et des Modernes On the History of the Conflict Racine and Molière Structural Results 10 Mimesis as the Self-Representationof Political Power The Portrait of the King On the Dramatic Practice of French Classicism The Representation of Daily Life in Comedy 11 Against Mimesis as Self-Representation The Critique of Self-Representationin Madame de Lafayette Negative Anthropology Two Attempts to Transcend Mimesis Descartes Dutch Painting of theSeventeenth Century Part IV From Imitation to the Constitution of the Creative Subject 12 Problems in the Imitation of Nature in the Eighteenth Century 13 Mimesis in the Theater of the Enlightenment 14 Diderot’s Paradox of Acting 15 The Transformation of Mimesis in Lessing Lessing’s Argument Mimesis of Time Reading and Time 16 Self-Mimesis (Rousseau) Self-Formation Pedagogy and Seduction Part V Mimesis as the Principle of Worldmaking in the Novel and Society 17 The Mimetic Constitution of Social Reality Images of a Society Balzac’s Illusions perdues 18 “Mimetic Desire” in the Work of Girard 19 Violence in Antiromantic Literature The Authorial / and Others The Relationships of / and Other in the Novel Language, Violence, and the Internal Perspective 20 The Mimesis of Violence (Girard) Part VI Mimesis as Entrée to the World, Language, and Writing 21 Nonsensuous Similarity On the Linguistic Anthropology of Benjamin 22 Vital Experience (Adorno) 23 The Between-Character of Mimesis (Derrida) Results Historical Positions of Mimesis The Dimensions of Mimesis Notes Chapter 1. Point of Departure Chapter 2. On the Origins of the Concept Chapter 3. Imitation, Illusion, Image (Plato) Chapter 4. The Break in the History of Mimesis Chapter 5. Poetic Mimesis (Aristotle) Chapter 6. Mimesis as Imitatio Chapter 7. Poetics and Power in the Renaissance Chapter 8. Intertextuality, Fragmentation, Desire Chapter 9. The Conflict Over History Chapter 10. Mimesis as the Self Representation of Political Power Chapter 11. Against Mimesisas Self-Representation Chapter 12. Problems In the Imitation ofNature in the Eighteenth Century Chapter 13. Mimesis in the Theaterof the Enlightenment Chapter 14. Diderot's Paradox of Acting Chapter 15. The Transformationof Mimesis in Lessing Chapter 16. Self-Mimesis (Rousseau) Chapter 17. The Mimetic Constitution of Social Reality Chapter 18. “Mimetic Desire" in the Work of Girard Chapter 19. Violence in Antiromantic Literature Chapter 20. The Mimesis of Violence (Girard) Chapter 21. Nonsensuous Similarity Chapter 22. Vital Experience (Adorno) Chapter 23. The Between-Characterof Mimesis (Derrida) Results Bibliography