A Study Of The Criticism Of Realistic Theory In Mimesis

"Mimesis" is an important theoretical work on western literary theory in the 20 th century.Starting from the analysis of specific works,Auerbach profoundly discusses the "reproduction of reality" in the Western literary tradition from classical to modern times from the perspective of "imitation".Although he did not clearly define "realism",the historical description of western realistic literature in "Mimesis" implies a comprehensive and worth exploring category of "realism".Its core is to closely read and explore realistic works that focus on practical issues and daily life with the help of philological traditions,reproduce the subtle meanings of words,and thereby understand the survival state and spiritual power of mankind,reconstructed words reproduce the vitality of reality.The first chapter combs the theoretical basis of Auerbach’s realistic criticism.The theories of "realism" and "imitation" in "Mimesis" have both inherited and developed western traditions.Western academic circles have explained the connotation of "realism" in literature from multiple perspectives."Realism" is associated with concepts such as "objectivity","reality",and "reproduction",and sometimes refers to literary movements in a specific period,with multiple forms of extension.In contrast,Auerbach focuses on grasping the specific meaning of "realism" from a specific context,proposing a category of "realism" that involves different periods,countries,themes,styles,and characters.Based on the differences in imitation strategies,Auerbach believes that realistic literature is not only a complex representation of the real society,but also a imitation or response to literature itself.The ideal literary "imitation" should reproduce a high degree of unity between daily life and serious tragedy in the form of mixed literary styles,in order to present a "true" and complete history and outline the reality of human spirit.The second chapter elaborates on the personalized writing of Auerbach’s realistic criticism theory.Auerbach mainly discusses the issue of literary representation of reality from two aspects: one is to reshape reality,and the other is to construct historicity.Firstly,Auerbach intervened in the history of western narrative literature from the two Greek traditions,focusing on the differences in narrative style and stylistic treatment between Homer’s epics and biblical stories: Homer’s epics are characterized by foregrounding,completeness,and sublimity,pursuing "literary truth" to achieve realistic self-consistency in literature;The biblical story presents a background,suggestive,and daily nature,emphasizing "historical truth" to consolidate a unified belief.He also explored the profound impact of the creative factors in the literature of the two Greeks on later narrative literature.Secondly,Auerbach elucidated his philological thoughts by sorting out literary history issues.As a Roman philologist,he advocated interpreting texts by grasping the relationship between "words" and "reality",thereby restoring the historical and cultural philological tradition.Deeply influenced by Vico’s historicism,Auerbach insisted on respecting and thinking about human beings in his historicism,thereby displaying the value of human spirit in history.On the issue of historical expression,Auerbach used "figural interpretation" to connect literary imitation with historical reality.The theory of imagery carries the Judaism Christian tradition and reflects Auerbach’s criticism and resistance to Nazi totalitarianism and Aryan philology.The third chapter discusses the significance of Auerbach’s realistic criticism theory.The comprehensive exposition of "realism" and the holistic attention to historical writing in "Mimesis" have shown a broad vision and profoundly influenced western literary criticism in the 20 th century.The complex creative background of "Mimesis" is composed of the identity of an exile,the situation of Western literature under the two world wars,and the social environment in Istanbul’s transformation.This has prompted the humanist Auerbach to take a cautious attitude towards the crisis of western culture.The stylistic rule advocated by Auerbach is to integrate rhetorical analysis with the exploration of social history.This is his adherence to the academic tradition of returning humanities research to philology and history.