Mimesis (μίμησις) — “Imitation” or “representation.” Plato uses it critically: art imitates sensible objects, which are themselves imitations of the Ideas — so art is three removes from reality. Aristotle rehabilitates: mimesis in tragedy imitates human actions and produces katharsis, thereby having cognitive value. In modern aesthetics, the debate over whether art should imitate nature, the ideal, or express subjectivity marks the transitions from classicism to romanticism and modernism.
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