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ARISTOTLE_RECOGNIZED
July 30 - October 9, 2018
"Recognition, as the name indicates, ARISTOTLE_POETICS
is a change from ignorance to
knowledge, producing love or hate I think this would include
between the persons ..." things like Oedipus suddenly
recognizing that his wife
"Recognition, then, being between is his mother.
persons, it may happen that one person
only is recognised by the other-- when
the latter is already known--or it may
be necessary that the recognition
should be on both sides."
This is a useful insight I've
been known to miss...
There are these peculiar,
E.g. The realization on A-ko's part standard "plot developments"
that A-ko loves B-ko, and the in shoujo fiction that
converse realization on B-ko's part barely even register on me
that B-ko loves A-ko may be two as "events":
seperate events in a story.
A becomes aware of B's existence.
B becomes aware of A's existence.
A realizes they're in love with B.
B realizes they're in love with A.
A continues to avoid confessing
their love to B, but for a different
reason.
All of these micro-events
can be juggled in a different
order: slight variations in
plot that the devotees are
highly sensitive too.
"A third part is the Scene
of Suffering. The Scene of
Suffering is a destructive
or painful action ..."
And that one is really
peculiar-- it's a different
logical order than the other
two "parts" isn't it? And it
sounds a lot like a form of
Spectacle.
Aristotle really likes the oedipal model:
"Still better, that it should be perpetrated in
ignorance, and the discovery made afterwards."
Myself, I don't see why that should be so interesting.
Perhaps: The fear that at any moment we might
think we know what we're doing, but might not...
From Section XVI:
"What Recognition is has been already explained. We will
now enumerate its kinds."
"First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of
wit, is most commonly employed recognition by signs. Of
these some are congenital,--such as 'the spear which
the earth-born race bear on their bodies,' or the stars
introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Others are
acquired after birth; and of these some are bodily
marks, as scars; some external tokens, as necklaces, or
the little ark in the Tyro by which the discovery is
effected. Even these admit of more or less skilful
treatment. Thus in the recognition of Odysseus by his
scar, the discovery is made in one way by the nurse, in
another by the swineherds."
Aristotle may very well have "explained" recognition (certainly
he's mentioned it in his lists) prior to this, but it took these
examples to make it clear what he actually meant.
He's referring to something like a scene where
someone suddeny realizes that the household
slave is actually the long lost heir.
I've seen this called a "birth mystery" in
the korean drama world (the writer main
Another thing you might character in "Because This is my First Life"
mean by "recognition" refers to them dismissively... I can think of
is a moment at which examples from dramas from ten years ago, but
the audience realizes not recent ones. Fallen out of favor?)
something, perhaps
recognizes something Presumably there are other variants,
of themselves in the like suddenly learning that the funny
story. guy who made friends with you is
really a government agent.
You might say that the murder mystery
is built upon this framework-- the
drive of the story is the knowledge
that there is someone to be Recognized,
but you must learn who.
"The fourth kind is by
process of reasoning."
Then there's the much beloved
but rarely played "revelation
of secret identity" scene.
The audience really likes
things like this, but the
writer is always reluctant
to make this move, because
it can only be done once
(per character) and it
changes the story dynamic
thereafter.
Similarly, one might look
at the tendency for the
author of love stories
to drag out the resolution
of the relationship as
long as possible (if not
farther), because once that
source of tension is gone
the story is over-- and if
you want to keep going with
the characters, you have to
tell a different story.
You might say
there's a conflict of interest
between the reader's
desires and the author's.
Alternately: the author
needs to be more far-sighted
than the reader, and delay
gratification to increase
the pay off later.
Is this really supposed to be a fifth type
of recognition, seperate and distinct from
the other four?
"But, of all recognitions, the best
is that which arises from the
incidents themselves, where the
startling discovery is made by
natural means."
You could argue that if any of
the "recognitions" are done E.g. the third type, where
right, it will seem like they (I gather) a character's
were done by "natural means". involuntary reactions may
make something about them
clear to an observer.
Aristotle's example sounds natural
but *really dull*:
"Such is that in the Oedipus
of Sophocles, and in the In the Korean drama "Sky
Iphigenia; for it was natural Castle" there's a scene
that Iphigenia should wish to where one woman gets
dispatch a letter." angry at another and
throws in the line "do
A-ko goes through B-ko's bag and you want me to rip your
finds a name badge from their old lips off?!". The woman
Burger King job. she's yelling at
immediately identifies
her as someone she knew
as a kid-- her standard
dialog hasn't changed.
This particular list of classifications
looks unusually poorly thought out for
Aristotle-- though it has the virtue of
being semi-empirical, it seems rooted in
examples of dramas Aristotle (and the
intended reader) is familiar with.
Recognition
of what?
by whom?
on what basis?
of what significance?
under what conditions?
at what time?
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