The word "mimicry" probably originated from the ritual activities of religious sacrifices and ceremonies in ancient Greece. In the fifth century BC, this term was applied to philosophy and art. Plato and Aristotle both thought that art was imitation, but their "representative theory" was quite different.
Plato's "representative theory" is mainly concentrated in the tenth volume of the Republic. He believes that there is a world of ideas above the real world. The world of ideas is created by God and is the real world. The real world is the "shadow" of the conceptual world. Art is an imitation of the real world and a "shadow of shadow". Therefore, it is considered that the art of imitation is not true, and it will also "cultivate and develop the inferior part of human nature and destroy the rational part"
Aristotle, a student of Plato, inherited Plato's "representative theory", but more criticized Plato. Aristotle's Representative Theory is embodied in Poetics. He believes that art is the imitation of real objects, but different kinds of art are produced because of different objects, media and ways of imitation. He also believes that imitation is human nature, and the art of imitation can not only bring people pleasure, but also help people "seek knowledge".
Second, analysis: the differences between Plato and Aristotle's "representative theory"
This part will discuss the differences between Plato and Aristotle's "representative theory" from the aspects of the object of imitation, the source of artistic talent, the function of art and the attitude towards art.
1. Imitation object
Plato believes that artists imitate tangible objects in the real world, which are not essence or truth, but replicas of the world of ideas. Plato called concepts in the world of ideas formulas. Every object has a formula, which is unique. In his view, rationality "precedes and transcends the real world, which is the origin of the world, and then there are individual concrete things." In the tenth volume of the Republic, Plato took "bed" as an example to explain the relationship between art, material objects and the conceptual world. In his view, there are three kinds of beds: "made by God", "inherent in nature" and "made by artists." Similarly, there are three kinds of producers: the god who creates rational beds, the carpenter who makes the shape of beds, and the painter who imitates the shape of beds. God made the formula of bed according to his own will, which is the real entity of bed. According to this principle, carpenters use certain materials to make beds with certain shapes. Then the painter drew different beds according to the shape of the bed made by the carpenter. These three kinds of beds only have the principle of bed-the law of bed is eternal, and all beds are made according to it, including those made by carpenters and those painted by painters. The carpenter's bed is the reflection of this principle in real life, while the painter's work is the reflection of the carpenter's bed, which is a reflex reaction, imitation, and two layers apart from reality. Painters are just imitators. Although they are good at drawing characters, they know nothing about their imitation knowledge. So do poets. Although they can describe things realistically, they are not clear about the events they describe. For example, Homer is very good at writing wars, but he has never personally "directed or suggested" any wars. Art imitates only "shadow", so art is "shadow of shadow". What's more, what art imitates is ugly, which is an "inferior part of human nature" and should be banned.
Aristotle's art mainly refers to poetry and music. He also believes that art is imitation. "Epics and tragedies, comedies and Dionysian hymns, most of the flute music and harp music are imitations." But he doesn't think that art is false like Plato, and it is "separated by two layers" from the real world. Aristotle believes that art is real, and art imitates not the appearance of the real world, but the essence and law of inevitability and universality in the real world. Regarding the authenticity of poetry, Aristotle stated in the ninth chapter of the poem "The Book of Learning": "The poet's complaint is not to describe what has happened, but to describe what may happen, that is, what may happen according to the law of possibility or inevitability ... This poem describes universality ... The so-called' universality' refers to what someone will say and do according to the law of possibility or inevitability ..." _ Visible, poetry imitates. Poetry should reveal the essence and law of phenomena and show inevitability in individual things. Regarding the object of imitation, Aristotle thinks that poetry imitates "people in action, and such people are bound to have good and bad-only such people have character ... The characters they imitate are either better or worse than the average person", which is different from Plato's view that poetry imitates "the inferior part of human nature".
2. The source of artistic talent
Art imitates the development process of nature, and God is the driving force of all natural movements, including artistic creation. Plato believes that the imitative poet knows nothing about what he imitates, and he has no artistic talent himself, but only relies on God to give inspiration and "inspiration". In Ian, he used the example of a magnet to illustrate this truth. A poet is like this magnet. She inspires people first. "All talented poets, whether epic or lyric, did not achieve their beautiful poems by skill, but because they were inspired and attached by divine power." Therefore, the ultimate creator of poetry is not a poet, but God, and the poet is just a "spokesman of God". Of course, these poems created by God are noble poems that should be respected, such as Dionysian poems, hymns, chorus poems, epics and so on. And it is not the so-called "shadow" to cater to irrational things. With God's attachment, even stupid and mediocre poets can "sing wonderful poems". Here, Plato attributed all the credit to God and belittled human power.
On the contrary, Aristotle attached great importance to human wisdom and energy. He believes that imitation is human nature, and one of the differences between humans and animals is that people are good at imitation. In the fourth chapter of Poetics, he mentioned that "the origin of poetry seems to have two reasons, both of which are out of human nature. People have the instinct of imitation since childhood ... Imitation comes from our nature, and timbre and rhythm also come from our nature ... At first, those people with the strongest natural qualifications made it develop step by step, and later, they borrowed temporary jobs to write poems [2](P53-54). From this perspective, the ability to create poetry comes from people themselves, and this ability is innate. Imitation is not all inferior, as Plato said, but there are noble and low points. "More serious people imitate noble behavior, that is, noble people's behavior, and more frivolous people imitate inferior people's behavior" [ibid.]. Although some works imitate inferior actions, such as comedy, they can also bring pleasure to people without causing pain or harm.