CLASSICAL LITERARY CRITICISM
Classical Literary Criticism started from the ancient Greek society. The Greek art of imaginative creation, there are a couple of concepts that are very different from our present day ideas.Classical Literary Criticism simply define as the classical
ideas and imaginary by some classical thinkers, there is some of very important
writers like Aristotle, Plato.
According to the Longman's Dictionary defines 'classical' as
being in accordance with ancient Greek or Roman models in literature or art or
with later systems and standards based on them, particularly with reference to
balance, regularity and simpleness of art, The eight to the fourth centuries
B.C. a period yet to be paralleled in the history of human civilization, for
its brilliance in literature, philosophy and the visual arts, is normally known
as the 'classical age'.
What is Classics?
In the Classical Literary Criticism the 'Classics' are works
of fiction, like Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, that are relevant to
all ages, through all times. 'Classics' are books that have stood the test of
time for their relevance, their universal appeal, simplicity, regularity of
form and a sense of beauty and balance. Long before the term literary criticism
came into practice, literary theory existed as far back as fourth century B.C.
Classical influence was strongest in France and England in
the 17th and 18th centuries, and in German writers like
Goethe, and Schiller, towards the end of the 18th century. In the 20th
century, the influence was considerable in French drama, in the plays of Sartre
among others.
Introduction of Plato and Aristotle
For to understand more Classical Literary Criticism, firstly
have to understand the Plato and Aristotle, In ancient Greece times, the
schools of Philosophy were theoretical training grounds for the young men of
city states.' Moreover for them, their interests were not specialized, but they
applied their knowledge of philosophy to every kind of subject matter.
At that time the term Rhetoric was more widely recognized
than literary theory as some would (like Richard Harland). Moreover it was the
rhetoricians who studied rhythm, diction and figurative language, all with a
view to create educated young men well trained in the powers of oration. At
this juncture, we need not go into a detailed study of the sociopolitical life
in those times, suffice it to say that young Greek men were trained under two
main schools that of philosophy and rhetoric, the rhetoricians studied
'poiesis' or which is now be termed literary theory or criticism
History Literary Criticism
Plato's Ideas
In the Classical Literary Criticism According to Plato(429-397 B.C.), 'poiesis' or literary theory and criticism was an imitation or,
'mimesis'. Plato called 'poiesis' an mock or 'mimesis' because he supposed
drama to be a reproduction of something that is not really in present, and is
therefore a 'dramatization of the reproduction'. He means is that in a play or
an epic, what happens is this - the poet recreates an experience, the audience
watch that re-created experience, they are in fact encouraged to live through
that experience. As if they are physically within the time and space of that
experience. Not only has this, Plato, also gone on distinguish between
'mimesis' and 'digenesis'.
Mimesis
‘Mimesis' is the kind of speech of a character which straight
replicating,' and 'digenesis' is 'a narrating of doings things and sayings when
'the poet speaks about his own personality and never try to turn our focus in
another direction by imagining that someone else is speaking’.
Why Plato disapprove of Mimesis?
Plato was a firm believer of the true form. He believed in
only the reddest reality. He objected to dramatized dialogue on the grounds
that such dramatisation encouraged people to live lives other than their own.
Something, parents tell children even today regarding the invasion of cable
T.V. Plato was merely warning people against the danger of aping roles blindly,
he feared that the influence of mimesis limitation could be so great that it
could take over the minds and lives of young impressionable people completely
and become of primary importance. Plato was not comfortable with the idea of
grief caused by scenes of suffering in the plays. He assumed that a temporary
catharsis could infect the audience so strongly that they could become
emotionally uncontrollable.
His basic argument against mimesis was the fact that
both drama and epic imitate the world of perceptual arrivals. For him, the only
reality was that of abstractions. The poet in his eyes, imitated an appearance
of the abstraction was hence a derivative of the derivative. Hence thrice
removed from reality. 'They are images, not realities'. While the rhetoricians
never questioned society on philosophy, Plato was the first serious thinker to
question society along theoretical lines, all this is clearly to be seen when
one reads his Republic. Continuing from Plato's thought processes and his
theory, the Neo-Platonists of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. interpreted
Plato's reality of abstractions to be the Thoughts of God. These theorists
seemed to imply that the artists as a whole could perhaps bypass the world of
sensory appearances and achieve direct access to the true. Though they did not
really contribute to 'poiesis' as such, their interpretations paved the way for
the claims of the poets as missionaries and the poet's words as missionary words
truth. Plato's works include the Republic, Ion, Cratylus, and the Dialogues of
Plato among others.
Aristotle Ideas
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was Plato's assistant. But he is differed
from Plato, he was more interested in describing and classifying things as they
were.
Aristotle Idea of poetry
Aristotle thinks that poetry is 'something philosophical and
worthy of serious courtesy than history; for a while poetry is worried with
universal truths, historical facts. He also propounded that 'probable
impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities' and that 'a
convincing impossibility is preferable to a no convincing possibility.'
Aristotle's theories
Aristotle's theories are related to biological organisms.
Just as each species of plant, has its own distinctive principles of growth and
fulfilment, so does each genre, thereby suggesting that an epic does not need
to live up to the tragedy, or tragedy to comedy. Every genre evolves in itself
as do species of plants. What Aristotle does by classifying poetry in this
manner, is that he avoids the judging of all works by the same standards and
avoids attributing uniquely individual qualities to individual works, but he
himself ends up considering tragedy to be superior to epics and the like.
Aristotle’s tragedy
Aristotle’s tragedy stating clearly about how Classical
Literary Criticism was being studied by thinkers and that tragedy of Aristotle is
superior to the epic, he is largely guided by Sophocle's Oedipus Tyrannous,
and makes distinctions within the genre of tragedy. Aristotle believed that
both tragedy and the epic should have unity of action whereby the 'various
incidents must be so arranged that if any one of them is differently placed or
taken way the effect of wholeness will be seriously disrupted.
He also said that a
work of art should be such that it takes into account the capacities and
limitations of the spectators the audience. In other words what Aristotle
proposed for the tragedy was unity of action, place and time, which was to
become famous later as the three unities. Yet another contribution of
Aristotle's was the notion of 'Katharsis' (catharsis) or a
'distinctive emotional response' to be aroused in the audience. What is to be
aroused is a pity that arises out of fear, and that too fear with pity as
opposed to self-centered fear. He believed that such an evocation of
'pity-charged fear' would imply a sense of awe and of something terrible about
to befall the hero. Such contemplation was directly opposed to Plato who
rejected both the poet and poetry from his republic, as he felt their presence
and their capability in arousing such powerful emotions will reduce people of
the Greek city. So for Classical Literary Criticism Aristotle on the other hand
believed the recreation of pity and fear to be therapeutic to the audience, to
serve as purgation or cleansing and therefore healthy.
Literary Theory & Criticism
Aristotle’s various genres of poetry
Aristotle classifies the various genres of poetry, discusses
their nature, the goals to be followed, the appropriate effect of tragedy and
then goes on to talk about the , type of tragic hero who could produce this
effect. The description of the tragic hero is to be found discussed at length
in his Poetics. The appropriate type of hero is 'a man remarkable for neither
virtue nor vice, for neither justice nor depravity, but a man whose fall is due
to some error or weakness, some hamartia. These classification of poetry gives
the real idea for understanding the Classical Literary Criticism.
In the Classical Literary Criticism According to Aristotle's
theory, the status of the character must fit in with the actions that are
attributed to him, so as to produce the desired emotion effect. Aristotle's
discourse is all about the establishing of set goals, and once that has been
achieved, he imparts instructions on how to achieve them. The two, Master and
Pupil differ largely in their perceptions and understanding of the notion of
mimesis. Classical Literary Criticism is objective, an "attempt for expressing
countless ideas in a finite form, whereas romanticism is an attempt to express
a kind of universal poetry in the creation of which the poet made his own
Laws."
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