The book aims, among other things, to answer platos criticisms of representative art. Of all the writings on theory and aestheticsancient, medieval, or modernthe most important is indisputably aristotles poetics, the first. In it, aristotle offers an account of what he calls poetry a term which in greek literally means making and in this context includes dramacomedy, tragedy, and the satyr playas well as lyric. The lost second book of aristotles poetics ebook, 2012. Here, walter watson offers a new interpretation of the lost second book of aristotle s poetics. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. At some point, aristotles original work was divided in two, each book written on a separate roll of papyrus. Aristotle writes also that he will address catharsis and an analysis of what is funny. So unpoetic a soul as aristotles has no business speaking about such a topic, much less telling poets how to go about their business. According to the theory of forms, material objects read more. The lost second book of aristotles poetics classics.
Read download the lost second book of aristotles poetics. Poetics is the earliest known work of literary criticism. Aristotle dismisses the third kind of action as being completely outside the domain of the tragic, for there is no disaster. Aristotle s work on aesthetics consists of the poetics, politics bk viii and rhetoric. The existence of a second book is proved by ancient. Jun 29, 2012 the lost second book of aristotles poetics ebook written by walter watson. Aristotles work on aesthetics consists of the poetics, politics bk viii and rhetoric. The lost second book of aristotles poetics is a core plot element in umberto eco s bestseller novel, the name of the rose. For some time now scholars have argued that a tenth century manuscript known as tractatus coislinianus summarizes. The second book of aristotles poetics home facebook. Such scholars fail to appreciate the achievements of robertellus, bernays, and lane cooper, who have shown us how much can be done with the extant text of the poetics in terms of uncovering a solid basis for a theory of comedy. The lost second book of aristotles poetics by walter watson. Meanwhile, while teaching at st andrews, i came across a mysterious and forgotten text that, when it was first published in 1839, was identified as an abstract of the lost second book of aristotles poetics, his missing treatise on comedy.
Aristotle s poetics seeks to address the different kinds of poetry, the structure of a good poem, and the division of a poem into its component parts. In this, the fullest, sustained interpretation of aristotles poetics available in english, stephen halliwell demonstrates that the poetics, despite its laconic brevity, is a coherent statement of a challenging theory of poetic art, and it hints towards a theory of mimetic art in general. The poetics is much better known than the rhetoric, though only the first book of the former, a treatment of epic and tragic poetry, survives. It has been a standard book for literary criticism since centuries. The lost second book of aristotles poetics ebook written by walter watson. The lost second book of aristotles poetics bryn mawr classical.
The tractatus, thought to have been written in the. Two other unique features are jankos translations with notes of both the tractatus coislinianus, which is argued to be a summary of the lost second book of the poetics, and fragments of aristotles dialogue on poets, including recently discovered texts about catharsis, which appear in english for the first time. Walter watson of all the writings on theory and aesthetics, ancient, medieval, or modern, the most important is indisputably aristotles poetics, the first philosophical treatise to propound a theory of. Aristotle in his books on the aristotelian philosophy.
Full text of on the second book of aristotle s poetics and the source of theophrastus definition of tragedy see other formats stop early journal content on jstor, free to anyone in the world this article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in the world by jstor. This paper provides an overview and commentary of aristotle s theory of poetry, of drama, and of narrative structure, as presented the poetics. Aristotle gives his views on tragedy, the plot, the characters and the content, and then it is compared to epic poetry. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A document known as the tractatus coislinianus, first recovered in the biblioteque nationale in paris in 1839, appears to be a summary of aristotle s second book. Here, walter watson offers a new interpretation of the lost second book of aristotles poetics. Full text of on the second book of aristotles poetics and. Read download the lost second book of aristotles poetics pdf. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the lost second book of aristotles poetics. Aristotle s poetics is the earliestsurviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on.
As the shortest book ive got on my literature student bookshelf, this dover thrift edition poetics is the cheapest, and most flimsy, but completely worthwhile book. The lost second book serves as a reliable guide to readers unfamiliar with aristotle s thought. The lost second book of aristotles poetics by walter. Content wise, i think this book is great, but it was just so very boring. Walter watson, the lost second book of aristotles poetics. Malcolm heaths introduction fills almost half the book but he truly captures the essence of poetics.
Choice anyone interested in the first great work of literary theory will find the lost second book of aristotle s poetics. The format of carnes lords second edition has been made uniform to its university of chicago press twin aristotles nicomachean ethics translated by robert bartlett and susan collins but, unlike the later, it is without an interpretative essay which would have been most welcome. Only the first part that which focuses on tragedy and epic as a quasidramatic art, given. Aristotles poetics is the earliestsurviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on. The lost second book of aristotles poetics bryn mawr.
Jan 01, 2012 the lost second book of aristotles poetics book. The lost second book of aristotles poetics 9780226274119. It discusses things like unity of plot, reversal of situation, and character in the. Buy the lost second book of aristotles poetics by watson, walter isbn. The first kind is much better, because at least something happens, but even better is the second, in which the disaster is compounded by a revelation of the close ties between perpetrator and victim. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of aristotle 384322 b. On the second book of aristotles poetics and the source of theophrastus definition of tragedy is an article from harvard studies in classical philology, volume 28 view more articles from harvard studies in classical philology. The lost second book of aristotles poetics classics for all. Theres no introduction to the book, just a note about when it was written circa 330bc and about aristotle himself, taking up less than a page. Now, philosopher walter watson offers a new interpretation of the lost second book of aristotle s poetics. The tradition of a lost second book of the poetics since the renaissance any treatment of aristotles poetics has discussed and lamented the loss of a second book. As mentioned above, there has long been speculation about the existence of a lost second book of the poetics dealing with aristotle s theory of comedy. The book builds on richard jankos aristotle on comedy 1984, which argued that the supposed abstract or epitome of poetics book two, in the manuscript known as tractatus coislinianus, is actually based on the lost second book, an opinion much debated over the previous century. Buy the lost second book of aristotle s poetics by watson, walter isbn.
Poetics by aristotle, free pdf, ebook, epub global grey. Assessing this theory against the background of earlier greek views on poetry and art, particularly. Greek was very much a live language, and a language still unconscious of grammar, not, like ours, dominated by definitions and trained upon dictionaries. The book is divided into short, fragmented sections that deals with every aspect of drama, poetry and epic. Aristotles poetics, halliwell university of chicago press. This paper provides an overview and commentary of aristotles theory of poetry, of drama, and of narrative structure, as presented the poetics. Based on richard jankos philological reconstruction of the. The lost second book of aristotles poetics in searchworks. Walter watson of all the writings on theory and aesthetics, ancient, medieval, or modern, the most important is indisputably aristotle s poetics, the first philosophical treatise to propound a theory of.
On the second book of aristotles poetics and the source of. The first kind is much better, because at least something happens, but even better is the second, in which the disaster is compounded by a revelation of. While the principal subject of the poetics is tragedy, important comments are also made in the work about comedy and, to a lesser extent, about epic. Mar 23, 2015 aristotle writes also that he will address catharsis and an analysis of what is funny. Poetics free pdf, doc, fb2, fb3 free download ebook pdf. Its discoverer suggested that it derived from the lost second book of aristotles poetics, which inaugurated the systematic study of comedy, but it was soon condemned as an ignorant compilation verging on forgery, and thus matters stood until the first publication of aristotle on comedy in 1984. Poetics by aristotle in doc, fb2, fb3 download ebook.
On the second book of aristotle s poetics and the source of theophrastus definition of tragedy is an article from harvard studies in classical philology, volume 28 view more articles from harvard studies in classical philology. Aristotle was born at stagira, in the dominion of the kings of macedonia, in 384 bc. Aristotle defines poetry very broadly, including epic poetry, tragedy. Based on richard jankos philological reconstruction of. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. As mentioned above, there has long been speculation about the existence of a lost second book of the poetics dealing with aristotles theory of comedy. This book should appeal to aristotle scholars and to those interested in aesthetics more generally. Two other unique features are jankos translations with notes of both the tractatus coislinianus, which is argued to be a summary of the lost second book of the poetics, and fragments of aristotle s dialogue on poets, including recently discovered texts about catharsis, which appear in english for the first time. But he does not actually address any of those ideas. He defines poetry as a medium of imitation that seeks to represent or duplicate life through character, emotion, or action. Full text of on the second book of aristotles poetics and the source of theophrastus definition of tragedy see other formats stop early journal content on jstor, free to anyone in the world this article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized. At some point, aristotle s original work was divided in two, each book written on a separate roll of papyrus.
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