Mimesis

Mimesis
Erich Auerbach

The Representation of Reality In
Western Literature

By
Saad Ezz El-Arab & Ahmed Fathy



1. Realism in Homer’s Odyssey:

1.1. The epic represents the quintessence of realism in the sense that:
1.1.1. The syntactical connection between part and another is perfectly clear.
1.1.2. Time and place are well ordered and perfectly articulated.
1.1.3. The description of implements, ministrations and gestures are uniformed.
1.1.4. The whole work stands out in a realm where everything is visible and touchable.

1.2. The episode of Odysseus's scar is described in a very detailed way:
1.2.1. Action: A hunting accident in which he was wounded at a boar hunt.
1.2.2. Time: This accident occurred in Odysseus's boyhood during the time of his visit to his grand father "Autolycus".
1.2.3. Characterisation: This episode gives a full account of Autolycus, his house, the degree of relationship between them and his character. It also gives a record of Odysseus's recovery, his return to Ithaca and his parent’s anxious questions.
1.2.4. Narrative Scope: All is narrated, with such a complete externalization of all the elements of the story and of their interconnections as to leave nothing in obscurity.
i. Homer’s narration is for the time, the only present, and fills both the stage and the reader’s mind completely.
ii. Speech is to show, manifest and to externalize thought.
iii. Style is externalized, uniformly illuminated phenomena, at a definite time and a definite place, and thoughts and feeling are completely expressed.
iv. Homer’s reality is powerful enough in itself; it ensnares us, weaving its web around us. This real world exists for it contains nothing but itself and its uniqueness, in addition to the simplicity of the narration.
v. The Homeric poems conceal nothing; they contain no teachings and no secret second meanings. They are very unified.
vi. In homer life is enacted only among the ruling class, others appear only in the role of servants to that class. The social picture of the whole work is completely stable. Men’s life is divided between war, hunting, feasting, and market place councils, while women supervise the maids in the house.
vii. Homer’s epic represents domestic, daily life which is depicted in the phenomena of a fully externalized form, visible and palpable in all their parts, and completely fixed in their spatial and temporal relations.

2. Unrealism in Biblical Stories [Old Testament] e.g.: The Story of Abraham and Isaac:

2.1. Action:
2.1.1. The story begins with God’s calling Abraham and Abraham replies behold, here I am.
2.1.2. The reader is not informed what Abraham was doing when God called to him; it is left to obscurity as the same other elements.
2.1.3. We only hear God’s voice that utters nothing but a name, a name without an adjective and without a descriptive epithet for the person spoken to.

2.2. Characterisation:
2.2.1. Moreover, the two speakers are not on the same level. How can we conceive of Abraham? And how to picture him? As prostrate, kneeling or bowing or gazing upward.
2.2.2. While God and Abraham are simply named without mentioning any qualities or any other sort of identification. God says “take Isaac, thine only son, whom thou lovest” but this is not a characterisation of Isaac (part from being Abraham’s son) as a person; he may be handsome or ugly, intelligent or stupid, tall or short, pleasant or unpleasant.

2.3. Place:
2.3.1. This word is not meant to indicate the actual place where Abraham is. There is no clear identification for the two speakers. Where are they? The readers are not told, but they have the belief that they are not to be found together in one place on earth.
2.3.2. The action of the story is not stated whether indoors or in the open air.
2.3.3. The journey is made, because God has designated the place where the sacrifice is to be performed; so there is no identification of the place.


2.4. Time:
2.4.1. There is no identification of time: when does Abraham come, and when does God call Abraham?
2.4.2. We are told nothing about the journey except that it took three days. They began early on the morning. But at what time on the third day did Abraham lift up his eyes and see his goal? The text says nothing on the subject. As “early in the morning” is given, not as an indication of time, but for the sake of its ethical significance.


3. Conclusion:

3.1. Both styles exercised their influence upon the representation and investigation of reality in European culture.
3.2. The two styles in their opposition represent basic types of realism and unrealism.
3.3. On one hand, Homer’s realism is presenting a definite, complex of events whose boundaries of space and time are clearly delimited. His reality is displayed in the fully externalized description, uniform illumination, uninterrupted connection, free expression, all events in the foreground and unmistakable meaning.
3.4. On the other hand, the Biblical stories represent the suggestive influence of the unexpressed, background quality, multiplicity of meaning and the need for interpretation.