Poetics

Poetics is a lecture text on poetry surviving from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE), originally titled On Poetry. Twenty-six chapters survive, and the section discussing comedy is generally believed to be lost. The book is short but is the first systematic work of literary theory in the West; for more than two thousand years thereafter, most Western discussion of poetry, drama, and narrative has drawn its concepts and frameworks from it. Structurally, the work falls roughly into five parts. Chapters 1–5 form the introduction, distinguishing the arts by their objects, media, and modes of imitation, and tracing the origins and development of poetry, tragedy, and comedy. Chapters 6–22 discuss tragedy, offering the famous definition of tragedy, analyzing the six components of plot, character, thought, diction, song, and spectacle, stressing that plot is the foundation and "soul" of tragedy, and discussing reversal, recognition, and suffering, as well as the principles that plot should imitate a complete action, follow probability or necessity, and have an appropriate length. Chapters 23–24 turn to epic, comparing its similarities and differences with tragedy. Chapter 25 discusses critics' objections to poets and the methods for rebutting them. Chapter 26 compares the merits of epic and tragedy. The theory of imitation, the theory of catharsis, the theory of hamartia, and the proposition that "poetry is more philosophical than history" have all become objects of repeated interpretation and debate. Chen Zhongmei's translation is based on the Greek original, with a long introduction before the text and fourteen topical appendices plus multiple indexes after it, offering detailed examination of the Greek semantic context of key terms; it is one of the most widely circulated and influential Chinese translations.