Tag: Western Theories on Drama

1. Introduction

Western aesthetic theory has developed through centuries of philosophical reflection on the nature, purpose, and value of art.
From Plato’s suspicion of art as imitation to Dewey’s idea of art as experience, these theories have gradually shifted emphasis—from representation to creation, from object to experience, and from beauty to meaning and utility.

Understanding these frameworks helps connect Bharata’s Rasa theory with global aesthetic discourse.

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2. Art as Imitation and Catharsis

(a) Plato – Art as Imitation (Mimesis)

• Plato (427–347 BCE) in The Republic described art as mimesis, or imitation of the physical world.

• Since the physical world itself is a copy of the perfect world of Ideas or Forms, art becomes an imitation of an imitation, twice removed from truth.

• He regarded poets and painters as deceivers, appealing to emotion rather than reason, and potentially corrupting society.

• Hence, Plato banished poets from his ideal state.

• Purpose: None—art is misleading and morally dangerous.

• Impact: Initiated a long debate on truth vs. appearance in aesthetics.

Indian parallel: While Plato rejected imitation, Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra sanctified representation (anukaraṇa) as a divine and educative act, turning imitation into spiritual revelation rather than falsehood.

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(b) Aristotle – Art as Imitation and Catharsis

• Aristotle (384–322 BCE) countered Plato in Poetics.

• Accepted that art imitates life but claimed imitation is natural to humans and a source of knowledge and pleasure.

• Defined tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of certain magnitude.”

• The purpose of art, especially tragedy, is Catharsis—a purification or purgation of emotions such as pity and fearthrough empathetic experience.

• Art provides moral and psychological balance by releasing suppressed emotions.

Keywords:
Mimesis → Representation → Emotional Education → Catharsis.

Comparison with Bharata:
Bharata’s Rasa-anubhava resembles Aristotle’s Catharsis; both involve transformation of emotion into aesthetic pleasure. However, Rasa is spiritual and universalized (ānanda), while Catharsis is ethical and psychological.

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3. Art as Imagination

(a) Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)

• In Critique of Judgment, Kant identified the faculty of imagination as central to aesthetic experience.

• Art arises from a “free play of imagination and understanding.”

• Aesthetic judgment is disinterested—not guided by utility or desire, but by pure contemplation.

• The experience of the beautiful is thus subjective yet universal, since all rational beings share this free play of faculties.

• Beauty in art gives the pleasure of “purposiveness without purpose.”

Key concept: Art does not imitate; it creates new forms of harmony through imagination.

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(b) Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)

• Expanded Kantian thought; for Coleridge, imagination is the creative power that reconciles opposites—real and ideal, reason and emotion.

• Distinguished between:

  • Primary Imagination – spontaneous perception of reality;

  • Secondary Imagination – conscious artistic creation that shapes reality anew.

• Thus, art is a recreation of nature in the mind of the artist, not mere copying.

Indian connection:
Similar to Bhāvanā-vāda of Bhaṭṭanāyaka—where imagination (bhāvanā) universalizes emotion to produce Rasa.

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4. Art as Beauty

(a) Aesthetic Idealism – Hegel and Croce

• G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831):

  • Art is the sensuous manifestation of the Absolute Spirit.

  • Through beauty, the spirit externalizes itself in material form.

  • Art, religion, and philosophy are progressive revelations of Truth; art represents the Idea made visible.

  • Thus, beauty is the unity of form and content—a visible idea.

• Benedetto Croce (1866–1952):

  • Beauty equals intuition or pure expression.

  • Art is not logical or moral but intuitive knowledge, the expression of the artist’s inner vision.

  • Every true expression is beautiful because it reveals individuality through intuition.

Comparison:
Hegel views beauty as the embodiment of the Idea; Croce as the expression of intuition.
Both make beauty central to art’s purpose.

Indian resonance:
Abhinavagupta’s Śānta-rasa also sees art as ananda-maya (blissful) realization of beauty — the merging of self with universal harmony.

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5. Art as Communication

(a) Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)

• In What Is Art?, Tolstoy defined art as a means of communication of emotion.

• The artist, moved by emotion, consciously transmits it to others through a medium.

• The sincerity and universality of feeling determine artistic value.

• Good art unites humanity by sharing sincere, moral emotions.

(b) John Dewey (1859–1952)

• In Art as Experience, Dewey proposed that art is not an object but a dynamic experience.

• Art integrates “doing and undergoing”: the artist’s creation and the spectator’s perception form a complete cycle of communication.

• Every genuine experience has aesthetic quality when perception and action are harmonized.

Key Ideas:

• Art as process, not product.

• Meaning arises in communication between creator and perceiver.

• Art and life are continuous—everyday acts can become aesthetic when fully experienced.

Indian parallel:
Bharata’s concept of Abhinaya as communication of Bhāva to evoke Rasa mirrors Tolstoy’s and Dewey’s communicative theories.

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6. Art as Utility

(a) Marxist Aesthetics

• Rooted in the materialist view of society, Marxist thinkers (Marx, Engels, Lukács, Brecht) see art as a social product reflecting the conditions of its age.

• Art is not autonomous but shaped by class struggle, ideology, and economic base.

• Georg Lukács: Art’s realism reveals the totality of social relations.

• Bertolt Brecht: Advocated Epic Theatre—art should educate and provoke critical awareness(Verfremdungseffekt – “alienation effect”).

• Purpose: Not beauty or imitation, but social function—to transform society.

(b) Pragmatist and Functionalist Views

• Art’s value lies in utility, in serving human ends—education, moral development, therapy, propaganda, or innovation.

• Aesthetic pleasure is intertwined with usefulness.

Comparison:
Indian theory also acknowledges utility—Nāṭya was created by Brahmā to educate (śikṣā), entertain (vihāra), and elevate (mokṣa) mankind.

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7. Performance Studies – A Modern Interdisciplinary Lens

(a) Origins

• Emerged in the 1970s through scholars like Richard Schechner, Victor Turner, and Erika Fischer-Lichte.

• Combines anthropology, theatre studies, and cultural theory.

• Studies not only theatre but all performative behaviors—rituals, sports, political rallies, festivals, and social roles.

(b) Key Concepts

1. Performance as Behavior

   • Schechner defined performance as “twice-behaved behavior”—repeated, rehearsed actions drawn from social patterns.

   • Every society enacts its identity through performance.

2. Restored Behavior

   • Actions are learned, stored, and reactivated in new contexts.

   • Similar to how classical Nāṭya reenacts epic stories within codified gestures.

3. Liminality and Ritual (Victor Turner)

   • Performance creates a liminal space between reality and imagination, enabling transformation.

   • Parallels the Indian idea of Ranga as sacred space.

4. Performer–Audience Relationship

   • Performance is co-created; meaning arises through audience interaction, echoing Bharata’s Sahr̥daya(sympathetic spectator).

5. Embodiment and Agency

   • The performer’s body is not a mere instrument but a site of knowledge, memory, and resistance.

(c) Relevance to Indian Context

• Classical Indian performance is inherently performative: ritual, music, dance, and drama merge.

• Nāṭyaśāstra already conceived art as social action and ritual communication, centuries before Performance Studies formalized it.

• Contemporary Indian theatre (e.g., Ratan Thiyam, Habib Tanvir) uses folk and ritual performance as political and aesthetic expression, resonating with Schechner’s ideas.

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8. Comparative Overview of Theories

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9. Synthesis and Significance

• From imitation to imagination, from beauty to communication, Western aesthetics evolved from a static view of art to a dynamic, experiential, and social process.

• Performance Studies integrates these perspectives, treating art as embodied knowledge and social action.

• The Indian Rasa theory stands uniquely integrative: it includes imitation (through abhinaya), imagination (bhāvanā), beauty (rasa), communication (sahr̥daya-anubhava), and utility (dharma-śikṣā-mokṣa).

Thus, both traditions ultimately affirm that art is a transformative experience — an act of creation, reflection, and communion that refines emotion into understanding and connects the individual to the universal.