Criticism on Imitation, Creation, Allegory, Morality & Delight

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The book is an attempt to understand sense of prominent literary tropes say imitation, creation, allegory, delight and morality being widely used in literary composition and evaluation since the emergence of plato. There are several tropes to be used in literature, these ones have been seminal, because they are original and derived several others to be used. These have been the basic literary tools to understand abstract feeling and translate thereof into a speaking fact. I personally have felt that to imitate has been an inborn quality of human beings. They have coined several words and process of sentence making in the linguistic arena. Similarly the writer or the poet makes several characters and situations on imitation of real characters and situations from the real world. In this context he takes resorts to mimetic principle which is a copy of something supernal in society. Even in the field of action, dance and singing we find the actor, dancer and the singer following trend or style already set by some excellent masterpieces in their respective fields. In the literary field, too, when an epic like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata is written, the next generation starts composing after the written text in a variety of way.

No doubt, imitation has been most exploited trope, but it does not mean that a writer imitates without being conscious of the fact. In other words passive imitation does not make any work worth memorable. We imitate the best in the way that it has its best organic life. This being the reason that there are so many writings of the 18^th century which has been made after imitation but has their own life to reflect on the then reality of life. From this instance it is dear that imitation is not separated from creation, in contrast, they go side by side. Or there is no work of art which is created entirely differently from the previous works.

Allegory is present in all kinds of works of art to make it ambiguous or unknown or strange from the know feeling on which it rests. Saying in straightforward word is not a work of art whether it has come from imitation or creation. To me, allegory means all sorts of literary devices because their purpose has been to make something different. Allegory is the first literary device used by Plato while explaining his ideas on the republic. All the later literary devices are complementary devices to allegory and they help as simplify our unknown feeling. It has been rightly said that delight is the first purpose and to instruct is the second one. So, delight morally or creating aesthetic beauty has been a desired objective of an artist. This book accounts for some of well discussed views of men of letters on the tropes undertaken for discussion and, applies them to some of chief works of literary significance so that we may practically be aware of strength of literary theories.

Dr. Naveen Kumar Jha, a reputed academician and a promising Pedagogue, is a new signature at the horizon of English literary criticism. He is a poet writing in Hindi, English & Maithili. His Hindi short story collection entitled "Khuli Aankhein" containing seven short stories has already got its claim among Hindi readers especially at Janakpurdham, Nepal. His English poems have been published in several English Journals. His Maithili Poem and essay have been widely published in Janakpurdham, Nepal & India as well.

He is a prolific writer to have got many pieces of English articles published in issues of English journals. His School Essay Composition has been published by Himalayan Books Pvt. Ltd. Bag Bazar, Kathmandu. Hindi English Translation is under publication and some collections of poems are under writing. His Examination Digest to compulsory English for grade XI and first year I.A., I. Sc., I.Com., I.Ed., came out in 2002 as a clinical investigation of examination phobia for the student in Nepal.

He is a blooming personality and his career as a writer seems to be upstanding. He is an M.A. in linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a teacher he was warmly received by student at R.R.M. Campus Janakpurdham, Nepal. He still holds a charming command on his students for his novelty of teaching technique and approach. He has been a debater in his student life being endowed with several awards by Debating Society of B. N. College Patna, Patna University. He was ranked 3rd in essay competition held by Pratiyogita Darpan.

His interest in dramatic activity and music has made his presence felt at All India English Teachers' Conference and other auspicious occasion. No doubt, he is a man of prodigious potentiality.

Currently, he teaches English at R.A.G.S. College, Ahalyasthan, a constituent unit of K.S.D.S.U., Darbhanga.

Man is a rational being, who shares most of traits of animals. But there are some fundamental types of difference between them. Animal is confined to the world of perception showing its behavioral responses to the physical stimuli only. On the other hand, mangoes far beyond sensual perception and makes innumerable symbolic worlds to carve abstract ideas born out of his contemplation. He can never remain satisfied with" is- affairs of things" being influenced by his passion and emotion. In his life he passes through several strokes of emotional disturbances, which remain unseen and unheard but felt severely. He takes recourse to several tropes that he may catch up with intensity of disturbed emotional affairs. He speaks out as clearly as common readers can hear and feel the same as has been done by the man like poet or other writers. When the man turned composer speaks in an ordinary way; there is no delight and curiosity for the listener. To make himself different from common fellow beings; he either imitates or creates allegory for helping him speak about his feelings quite strangely.

History of human civilization is replete with-human invention and discovery to have been adding to reservoir-of knowledge and wisdom needing for pleasure and comfort for people and cohesion and coherence of society. We see that men of genius come to forefront to lay foundation of thought on which generations of thinkers rest their view. In far off days when society was taking its shape, they felt for making code of conduct for evaluation and correction of cultural streams brought into being by the then human efforts. Poetry and drama were not considered to be appropriate means of consolidation of society rather cheap ones of pastime for youth. They kept people off from the burning problems of the living world, where anarchy was day-to-day phenomenon. Owing to crying need of society mobility was a buzz word in ethics; religion and literature. Whatsoever was said was too symbolic or too allegorical to be understood by the common ones. The ancient great minds were searching for the truth in all walks of life. Literature could not get its due place, but was a subordinate to philosophy and religion, because it was not considered to be a right means to search the truth.

Plato was the first western philosopher who talked about moral philosophy as a main content of literature. Actually speaking, he had the least interest in any literary works; however he raised absence of issue of morality from literary composition and dealt with its significance for individual and society. He thought that poet must talk about systems of life instead of deviating youth to the unreal world of fantasia. To him, reality lies in idea or forth, not in appearance, being experienced through senses. A poet writes about the objects or appearance known through senses. This type of writing would be just reflection on idea or copying of appearances of ideas or truth. In this way works of a poet is to copy of copies, being twice removed from reality. He was too hard for the poet that he be banished from society or the republic, or if be permitted to live, he should be limited to offer songs in praise of the republic. Remarking on Homer he said that only he wrote poetry on medicine, warship, but could not justify its validity for lack of actual experience of the subject. Homer just copied ideas or forms. It is only the skilled one, who has all the knowledge of the subject concerned and could claim truth or falsehood of verses of Homer.

Aristotle, a disciple of Plato, was the first western thinker in the sense that he wrote on poetry systematically making his remarks on tragic drama, epic and comedy. Opposing Plato's idea of imitation he said that Poet's works is not a slavish copying, but shaped differently from the original form. Poet is a creator to have been engaged in finding inward principle of order, no that his works may be independent from the original form. The theory of creation came into being just as a reaction to theory of imitation and two streams have been running parallel till the date. Homer made a fusion of Plato with Aristotle when he held the view that poetry is copying of nature through different methods and media. Poem is like a picture or painting invented by the poet in harmony with itself. Plato's didacticism and moralism shake hand with Aristotle's formalism. Further Longinus added concept of sublimity to poetry, which is "flashing forth at the right moment scatters everything before it like a thunder bolt." He is against a kind of pompous or false sublimity and favours for ordered sublimity likely to be found from ordered nature by the poet. It is the elevated language that plays a significant role in bringing out dignified composition, in which ordered sublimity lies. Ordered sublimity can be very sincerely found in the works of Kant, Burke, Addison in the 18th century.

The theory of imitation of Plato was challenged just with emergence of Aristotle. The ultimate truth does not lie in the unseen word only; it in the visible world as well, which has come from the ultimate unknowable one. Everything in this world comes from the one and goes back to it. The Poet takes recourse to intellect and knowledge to express the one. Beauty is central to this system, that is, the more beautiful thing, the closer to the one. Plotinus is of the view that beauty of the artist's creation does not lie in the physical objects that the poet copies and shapes, but in the way he puts or imposes his materials into creation. The artist converts his materials into something other than the original and so new form comes into being. The creation of the artist comes from his mind, intellect and ultimately from the one. This is the reason that those Romantic critics are highly influenced by Plotinus.

Saint Augustine was the first literary theorist to have taken into account sign for interpreting Christian scripture. He is an ideal of modern semioticians for the reason that he defined signs in terms of things used to signify something. All signs are things, but all things are not signs. The importance of sign is not for itself, but for the thing signified. Words are things, the whole use of which is signification. He is fond of enjoyment out of signification towards God by signs. This idea leads to the concept of allegory in which the surface hides a depth of intellectual beauty. Thus we move from symbolic interpretation to allegorical one made of figurative language, which being difficult to interpret, gives more pleasure.