아리스토텔레스의 『詩學』에 대한 비판적 고찰

Abstract

A Critical Essay on Aristotle's Poetics Cho, Eungsoon [Abstract] Poetics of Aristotle is one of the most influential classics in the history of the Western literature. Poetics has an essential point on the art as well as on the tragedy of the contemporary days. Poetics seems to include both theoretical and critical views on literature. But nowadays even more highly evaluated aspects, however, are mainly affiliated with critical ones in it. Those aspects are the mimesis, catharsis and plot theories. Poetics was written as a counterargument to Plato's derogation of poetry. Aristotle argues that the poetry gives people the intellectual sense of delight through the process of mimesis and sympathy, and the catharsis through process of fear caused by tragedy. There can be found a great similarity about such as intellectual pleasure, catharsis and the distinction of good and bad men, in Aristotle’s words about the utility of the poetry and in the words of the Analects of Confucius.. Mimesis has been conventionally regarded as imitation. But there recently appears a new trend of seeing it as representation. There is truly included a negative connotation of 'a fake' in the term of imitation. But the term of representation as a vivid presentation of reality still remains very problematique. In the term of catharsis, both the ethical meaning and the medical meaning coexist. However Aristotle himself was not concerned with the ethical function of poetry. Rather, the catharsis on Poetics has a proximity or similarity to the medical meaning. An appropriate length and order is needed for the poetry to be beautiful. Neither the big nor the small would count for. Three stages of the beginning, the middle and the end should be structured in an orderly manner. The role of the plot is absolute for the orderly structure. A plot is the most important factor among the six elements of poetry. An outstanding poetry can be created only when the plot is structured with skills such as a sudden change and an emergence of probability or inevitability. The plot should be highly complicated in order to create a great tragedy. To Aristotle the poetry is more valuable than the history. It is because that the poetry induces an universal truth from separate facts. A fine poet should avoid some faults. The faults include impossibility, irrationality, maleficence, contradictoriness, and technical mistakes . (yeungnam university / gescho@naver.com)