Abstract
This thesis attempts to record the crucial moments during the evolvement of imitation theory by expounding on the explanations made by Plato,Aristotle,and Plotinus,as well as the neo -classicist Samuel Johnson.Plato firstly put forward the concept of “mimesis”,which later was altered by Aristotle into “imitation with creation”.Then the great minds of the medieval time contended that by imitating the individual soul,poets could reach the One.Then the Romanticists changed “imitation” to “expression”.Meanwhile,after the Medieval,a group of critics,called medieval materialists,took the other way to develop the imitation theory,which reached its destination in periods of Realism and Naturalism.The word “representation” in their eves meant reflection of reality.
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