Translation

The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context

Number: 9 October 23, 2025
  • Josef Früchtl *
TR EN

The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context

Abstract

From Ancient Greece the concept of mimesis largely defines our understanding of art right up until the end of the eighteenth century, when it is drastically suppressed, until it re-emerges in the mid-twentieth century with a new focus, characterized not through philosophical aesthetics this time, but through the social and cultural sciences. Viewed historically and systematically, mimesis or imitation can be reconstructed as a concept which revolves around two poles, namely a world-reproducing and a world-creating pole, that fundamental aspect of art as a realistic mirror of nature, and art as its own, autonomous world. As imitation of action mimesis finally proves to be a primarily practical and social capacity.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

The author declares that no specific funding was received for this research.

Thanks

This article is the English translation of Josef Früchtl’s original work “Mimesis,” first published in Handbuch Kunstphilosophie, edited by Judith Siegmund (Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2022). The copyright of the original German version belongs to the author. The English translation was prepared jointly by Josef Früchtl and Sarah L. Kirkby. Permission to publish this translation in Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies was granted by the author. The author confirms that no generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used in preparing this work.

References

  1. Aristoteles. Poetik. Edited and translated by Manfred Fuhrmann. Reclam, 1982.
  2. Blumenberg, Hans. “‘Nachahmung der Natur.’ Zur Vorgeschichte der Idee des schöpferischen Menschen” (1957). In Wirklichkeiten in denen wir leben. Aufsätze und eine Rede, 55–103. Reclam, 1981.
  3. Danto, Arthur C. “The End of Art.” In The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art, 81–115. Columbia University Press, 1986.
  4. Derrida, Jacques. “Economimesis.” Diacritics 11, no. 2 (1981): 2–25.
  5. Früchtl, Josef. “Adorno and Mimesis.” In Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, edited by Michael Kelly, vol. 1, 23–25. Oxford University Press, 1998.
  6. ———. Mimesis – Konstellation eines Zentralbegriffs bei Adorno. Meiner, 2024.
  7. Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Platons dialektische Ethik und andere Studien zur Platonischen Philosophie. Meiner, 1968.
  8. ———. Truth and Method. 2nd, rev. ed. Translated by Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall. Continuum, 1989.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

World Languages, Literature and Culture (Other), Literary Theory, Literary Studies (Other)

Journal Section

Translation

Authors

Josef Früchtl * This is me
0009-0008-1774-1047
The Netherlands

Publication Date

October 23, 2025

Submission Date

September 5, 2025

Acceptance Date

September 30, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Number: 9

APA
Früchtl, J. (2025). The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context (J. Früchtl, Trans.). Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 9, 297-309. https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1803098
AMA
1.Früchtl J. The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. 2025;(9):297-309. doi:10.64957/nesir.1803098
Chicago
Früchtl, Josef. 2025. “The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context”. Translated by Josef Früchtl. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, nos. 9 (October): 297-309. https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1803098.
EndNote
Früchtl J (October 1, 2025) The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 9 297–309.
IEEE
[1]J. Früchtl, “The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context”, Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, no. 9, pp. 297–309, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.64957/nesir.1803098.
ISNAD
Früchtl, Josef. “The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context”. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. Trans. Josef Früchtl. 9 (October 1, 2025): 297-309. https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1803098.
JAMA
1.Früchtl J. The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. 2025;:297–309.
MLA
Früchtl, Josef. “The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context”. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, translated by Josef Früchtl, no. 9, Oct. 2025, pp. 297-09, doi:10.64957/nesir.1803098.
Vancouver
1.Josef Früchtl. The Concept of Mimesis: History, Meaning, and Epistemic Context. Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. 2025 Oct. 1;(9):297-309. doi:10.64957/nesir.1803098

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