Mimetic Theory: Introduction

The mimetic theories judge a literary work of art in terms of imitation. This is the earliest way of judging
any work of art in relation to reality whether the representation is accurate (verisimilitude) or not. For
this purpose, all these theories treat a work of art as photographic reproduction i.e. arts truth to life,
poetic truth and so forth. This model undoubtedly started from Plato and runs through a great many
theorists of the Renaissance up to some modern theorists as well.Some critics/ philosophers consider
the external objects as a world of mere appearances. Plato is the founder of this consideration. He
locates reality in ideas or forms rather than in the world of appearances. Therefore, his group of
thinkers is the idealist one. Some others, Aristotle primarily, believe that a form manifests itself through
the concrete and the concrete takes meaning with ordered principles. The poet imitates a form of nature
and reshapes it and thus he is both an imitator and a creator. Mimetic thinkers can be grouped as
idealists (Platonic) and mimetic (Aristotelian).

Horaces Epistles (c. 20-15 b.c.e.) are written in the same meter, and with much the same style, as his
Satires.In form, they are poetic letters intended for a recipient who is named in the first few lines; in
actuality, theyare general commentaries about human weaknesses or other issues of concern to the
author himself.

The Art of Poetry is a reiteration of many of the same arguments found in Epistles 2.1, written at the
requestof Augustus. In that work, Horace discussed his views about the proper role of literature and the
place ofRoman poetry within the ancient literary tradition. In The Art of Poetry itself, Horace expands
upon these and couples them with specific suggestions for the authors of his day.

Horace begins by praising consistency as the highest virtue of poetry. A work that attempts to be now
onething, now another, is eventually, according to Horace, being nothing at all. For this reason, authors
mustmaintain the same tone throughout a work, not attempt to improve an inferior effort with a purple
patch(purpureus . . . pannus, lines 15-16) of fine words every now and then. Moreover, authors should
not attemptsubjects that are beyond their powers. If they do, the result will make them look ridiculous.

Each incident and word in a poem should be chosen with care. Precise selection of what is needed,
rather than a torrent of words, creates the most polished result. The meter, too, should be chosen with
care: Dactylic hexameter, the meter of Homer (and, coincidentally, of The Art of Poetry), is appropriate
for epic; elegiac couplets are appropriate for sad subjects and songs of thanksgiving; iambic verse lends
itself to satire; lyric m eters are suitable for victory odes and drinking songs. These meters had all
become traditional by Horacesday, and the poet warns his readers that audiences expect them: A
serious thought may unintentionally be made to seem comic if presented in an improper poetic form.

In dramatic poetry, language assigned to a character must both suit the traditional depiction of that
character and be consistent within the work itself. In epic poetry, it is best not to prolong the story by
starting at the very beginning but to thrust the reader right into the middle of things (in medias res,
line 148). Brevity, as well as an ability to convey both wisdom and pleasure, are essential to the skilled
poet.

The reader should not, however, find fault with a poet who occasionally fails to fulfill these high
standards since, in the phrase of Horace, even great Homer sometimes nods (line 359). Still, the public
will not long endure a second-rate poet, and it is the authors goal to see that such passages are rare.
This lapse tends to occur, Horace suggests, when poets distribute their work without sufficient editing.
Thus, instead of publishing a work immediately, the poet should set it aside for a timeat line 388,
Horace recommends, with satirical exaggeration, that it be set aside for nine yearsto see if it still
seems as inspired later. The advice that Horace provides in The Art of Poetry is thus a combination of
common sense, practical observations drawn from a lifetime of writing, and views inherited from earlier
literary critics such as Aristotle, Neoptolemus of Parion, and Philodemus. Probably the last work that
Horace wrote, The Art of Poetry has played an important role in defining both the classical style and the
canons of good writing developed in later periods