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Catharsis () is a Greek word meaning "purification" or "cleansing" derived from the Ancient Greek Gerund καθαίρειν transliterated as ''kathairein'' "to purify, purge," and adjective ''katharos'' "pure or clean" (ancient and modern Greek: καθαρός). DRAMATURGICAL USES The term in drama refers to a sudden Emotion al breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great sorrow, pity, laughter or any extreme change in emotion that results in the restoration, renewal and revitalization for living. Using the term 'Catharsis' to refer to a form of attempting to interpret Aristotle's meaning of the term should take into account that ''Poetics'' is largely a response to Plato 's claim that poetry encourages men to be Hysterical and uncontrolled. In response to Plato, Aristotle maintains that Poetry makes them less, not more, emotional, by giving a periodic and healthy outlet to their feelings. In literary aesthetics, catharsis is developed by the conjunction of stereotyped characters and unique or surprising actions. Throughout a play we do not expect the nature of a character to change significantly, rather pre-existing elements are revealed in a relatively straight-forward way as the character is confronted with unique actions in time. This can be clearly seen in Oedipus Rex where King Oedipus is confronted with ever more outrageous actions until emptying generated by the death of his mother-wife and his act of self-blinding. As a literary effect, catharsis should be compared with the equivalent effects for epic and poetic forms of Kairosis and Kenosis . In contemporary Aesthetics catharsis may also refer to any emptying of emotion experienced by an audience in relation to drama. This exstasis can be perceived in comedy, melodrama and most other dramatic forms. Deliberate attempts, on political or aesthetic bases, to subvert the structure of catharsis in theatre have occurred. For example, Bertold Brecht viewed catharsis as a pap for the bourgeois theatre audience, and designed dramas which left significant emotions unresolved, as a way to force social action upon the audience. In Brecht's theory, the absence of a cathartic resolving action would require the audience to take political action in the real world in order to fill the emotional gap they experience. This technique can be seen as early as his agit-prop play ''The Measures Taken''. "CATHARSIS" BEFORE TRAGEDY Catharsis before the sixth-century rise of tragedy is, for us, essentially a historical footnote to the Aristotelian conception. The practice of '' found at Canicattini, to cure the daughters of Proetus of their madness, caused by some ritual transgression. To the question of whether the ritual procures Atonement or just Healing , Burkert answers: "To raise the question is to see the irrelevance of this distinction" (1992:57). The Greek ''nosos'' embraces both physical sickness and social ills. MEDICAL USES The term ''catharsis'' has been used for centuries as a medical term meaning a "purging." Most commonly in a medical context, it Euphemistically refers to a purging of the Bowel s. A drug, herb, or other agent administered as a strong Laxative is termed a ''cathartic''. The term ''catharsis'' has also been adopted by modern Psychotherapy , particularly Freudian psychoanalysis, to describe the act of expressing deep emotions often associated with events in the individual's past which have never before been adequately expressed. Catharsis is also an emotional release associated with talking about the underlying causes of a problem (it was first mentioned by Aristotle: catharsis associated with audience watching tragic plays) It can also describe the effect producing an outlet for violence by acting as a form of release for violent behaviour. For example in forms of media or in a dream. RELIGION Another meaning under the heading of 'purging' can concern body and soul — in it concerns efforts made to come to terms with guilt and sin, Penance such as by Chastisement (in modern use of that word, the meaning of punishment has taken over from the original sense of purification), such as practiced by Flagellant s; a testimony to the age of this use is the very name of the Cathars (a medieval sect). In Mysticism , the end of human life and of philosophy is to realize the mystical return of the soul to God. Freeing itself from the sensuous world by katharsis, the purified human soul ascends by successive steps through the various degrees of the metaphysical order, until it unites itself in a clear and completely conscious contemplation to the One, and unifies into the state of ecstasis. Thus in the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus , the first step in the return of the soul to God is the act by which the soul, withdrawing from the world of sense by a process of purification (katharsis), frees itself from the trammels of matter. A point to note here is that Psychology and Philosophy were not separate in Classical Philosophy (Greek through Roman period). Thus in classical mysticism, as well as current mystical traditions, katharsis is a process leading to the transcending of psychological, as well as spiritual, traumas and negativities. Cathartic Sacrifice In early cults, the distinction between sacred and unclean is far from complete or well defined (see Taboo ); consequently we find two types of cathartic sacrifice: one to cleanse of impurity and make fit for common use, another to rid of sanctity and in like manner render suitable for human use or intercourse.
SEE ALSO Closure (psychology) SOURCES & EXTERNAL LINKS
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