Aristotle's Poetics

by Aristotle; Baxter, John; Atherton, Patrick; Whalley, George

• ISBN13: 9780773516113
• ISBN10: 0773516115
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-11-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Aristotle's Poetics combines a complete translation of the Poetics with a running commentary, printed on facing pages, that keeps the reader in continuous contact with the linguistic and critical subtleties of the original while highlighting crucial issues for students of literature and literary theory. Whalley's unconventional interpretation emphasizes Aristotle's treatment of art as dynamic process rather than finished product. The volume includes two essays by Whalley in which he outlines his method and purpose. He identifies a deep congruence between Aristotle's understanding of mimesis and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's view of imagination. Whalley's new translation makes a major contribution to the study of not only the Poetics and tragedy but all literature and aesthetics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii	(2)
George Whalley on the Poetics: A Preface	ix
On Translating Aristotle's Poetics	3	(32)
The Poietic Art	35	(110)
A Note on the Text of the Translation	35	(4)
Topical Summary	39	(4)
Translation-and-Commentary	43	(97)
Excursus Notes	140	(5)
Appendices	145	(12)
A The Sections of a Tragedy	145	(2)
B Wording, Lexis, and Principles of Style	147	(5)
C Critical Problems and Their Solutions	152	(5)
The Aristotle-Coleridge Axis	157	(24)
Index	181