Aristotles concept of catharsis
Mimesis, Catharsis, and Pleasure:
An Investigation into Aristotle’s Tragic Pleasure
Bradley Elicker
Temple University
Abstract: Aristotle writes the Poetics as an investigation into representational art and, more specifically, as an investigation into the art form of tragedy. While Aristotle goes into great detail regarding the technical aspects of creating and appreciating a work of tragedy, he is somewhat lacking in his descriptions of how tragedy is enjoyed by an audience. Aristotle speaks of this tragic pleasure in two ways; as the pleasure of mimesis, and as the pleasure of catharsis. If we come to understand the Aristotelian concept of pleasure as an activity as opposed to a process, and the distinction between essential and accidental pleasures, we can better understand the source of Aristotle’s tragic pleasure and how it relates to mimesis and catharsis. I will argue that Aristotle, based on his ethical writings, would not have believed that catharsis is pleasurable. If catharsis is not the pleasure of tragedy, there must be some other pleasure associated with tragic works. This pleasure is the pleasure of experiencing mimetic representations and is the essential pleasure of tragedy. If we come to understand tragic pleasure in this way, we can allow for a definition of catharsis that does not hold the sole responsibility of creating the pleasure of tragic works. In this way we are able to give catharsis its proper designation as an accidental pleasure while still admitting to an essential pleasure of tragedy: the pleasure of mimesis.
Aristotle writes the Poetics as an investigation into representational art and, more specifically, as an investigation into the art form of tragedy. While Aristotle goes into great detail regarding the technical aspects of creating and appreciating a work of tragedy, he is somewhat lacking in his descriptions of how tragedy is enjoyed by an audience. He writes that experiencing a tragedy is
An Investigation into Aristotle’s Tragic Pleasure
Bradley Elicker
Temple University
Abstract: Aristotle writes the Poetics as an investigation into representational art and, more specifically, as an investigation into the art form of tragedy. While Aristotle goes into great detail regarding the technical aspects of creating and appreciating a work of tragedy, he is somewhat lacking in his descriptions of how tragedy is enjoyed by an audience. Aristotle speaks of this tragic pleasure in two ways; as the pleasure of mimesis, and as the pleasure of catharsis. If we come to understand the Aristotelian concept of pleasure as an activity as opposed to a process, and the distinction between essential and accidental pleasures, we can better understand the source of Aristotle’s tragic pleasure and how it relates to mimesis and catharsis. I will argue that Aristotle, based on his ethical writings, would not have believed that catharsis is pleasurable. If catharsis is not the pleasure of tragedy, there must be some other pleasure associated with tragic works. This pleasure is the pleasure of experiencing mimetic representations and is the essential pleasure of tragedy. If we come to understand tragic pleasure in this way, we can allow for a definition of catharsis that does not hold the sole responsibility of creating the pleasure of tragic works. In this way we are able to give catharsis its proper designation as an accidental pleasure while still admitting to an essential pleasure of tragedy: the pleasure of mimesis.
Aristotle writes the Poetics as an investigation into representational art and, more specifically, as an investigation into the art form of tragedy. While Aristotle goes into great detail regarding the technical aspects of creating and appreciating a work of tragedy, he is somewhat lacking in his descriptions of how tragedy is enjoyed by an audience. He writes that experiencing a tragedy is