The Aesthetics of Mimesis: Ancient Texts and Modern Problems

by Stephen Halliwell

Mimesis is one of the oldest, most fundamental concepts in Western aesthetics. This book offers a new, searching treatment of its long history at the center of theories of representational above all, in the highly influential writings of Plato and Aristotle, but also in later Greco-Roman philosophy and criticism, and subsequently in many areas of aesthetic controversy from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Combining classical scholarship, philosophical analysis, and the history of ideas--and ranging across discussion of poetry, painting, and music--Stephen Halliwell shows with a wealth of detail how mimesis, at all stages of its evolution, has been a more complex, variable concept than its conventional translation of "imitation" can now convey.


Far from providing a static model of artistic representation, mimesis has generated many different models of art, encompassing a spectrum of positions from realism to idealism. Under the influence of Platonist and Aristotelian paradigms, mimesis has been a crux of debate between proponents of what Halliwell calls "world-reflecting" and "world-simulating" theories of representation in both the visual and musico-poetic arts. This debate is about not only the fraught relationship between art and reality but also the psychology and ethics of how we experience and are affected by mimetic art.


Moving expertly between ancient and modern traditions, Halliwell contends that the history of mimesis hinges on problems that continue to be of urgent concern for contemporary aesthetics.

Genres: Philosophy, Art, Theory, Nonfiction

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Hollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stephen Halliwell's Aesthetics of Mimesis strives to address a broad and complicated topic with limited success. He attempts to use a connection between understanding of the role mimesis (representation) in art to attitudes on what constitutes well-crafted or "good" art (aesthetics) in order to trace a history of Western literary thought from Plato to the modern age. The book as a whole suffers from an unclear organizational structure and frequent repetitions of the thesis that can be attributed to the extreme breadth of the topic, and Halliwell's efforts to let individual chapters stand independent of the whole work. While Halliwell's grasp of the classic mimetic theorists Plato and Aristotle is beyond question, his handling of post-classical works and philosopher-critics can lack the same depth. Even despite these complications, careful reading does reveal the complex inter-evolution of mimesis, aesthetics and the roll of "truth" through Western literary history.

This book is recommended for students of Platonic and Aristotelian literary theory, but has limitted utility for students interested in post-classical theories of mimesis/representation or aesthetics.

[Katrinka · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really well-researched book that provides clear analysis of a very complex and often loaded topic-- and he doesn't let anyone off the hook for trying to take shortcuts. Of course, Halliwell's dealt fantastically with his subject matter for years, so I'd expect nothing less.