[jahsonic.com] - [Next >>]

Poetics

Related: aesthetics - literary theory - poetry - Aristotle

A treatise on or study of poetry or aesthetics.

Poetics () - Aristotle [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
image sourced here.

Aristotle's Poetics

Aristotle's Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. Aristotle does this by attempting to explain poetry through first principles (1447a13), and by classifying poetry into its different genres and component parts. The centerpiece of Aristotle's surviving work is his examination of tragedy. This occurs in Chapter 6 of "Poetics:"

"Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions." (1449b24-29, SH Butcher transl.)

He goes on to define the major characteristics of Greek dramatic structure.

This work combined with the Rhetoric make up Aristotle's works on aesthetics. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics [Aug 2006]

Ambivalence in Aristotle's Poetics

Two translations from chapter four, on why we like things which are painful to see, for example: horror:

See also: ambivalence - art horror - representation

The Poetics of Space (1957) - Gaston Bachelard

  • The Poetics of Space (1957) - Gaston Bachelard [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
    This is a deep, magical, densely captivating book about space, our homes, how we live in them, and how dwellings and space affect us; it is as much a book of philosophy as a work of serious literature. It requires careful, preferably leisurely reading, with the possibility of moments to pause and digest and re-read the words. It will change the way you look at your home and your life, providing a deeper, more insightful relationship with the spaces you occupy. --Amazon.com

    See also: Gaston Bachelard

    your Amazon recommendations - Jahsonic - early adopter products

    Managed Hosting by NG Communications