“Eidetic Mimesis” as Artistic Interpretation of Archetype

Abstract

The article is devoted to the justification of the term “eidetic mimesis”, used to refer to the artistic interpretation of the archetype (in the ontological sense of the word). It is generally true that various mythological and poetical systems are based on the belief that all the existence of humanity, society and the world is a reproduction of the original events and objects. Such a reconstruction of the archetype, which makes sacral the everyday life, can be divided into natural, domestic, ritual and artistic. The last of these forms is saved and filled with new meanings in developed cultures; in particular, it was manifested in the phenomenon of iconography as a way to detect the presence of a transcendent Absolute. The essence of this phenomenon can be described as “eidetic mimesis”, because it is the imitation of reality (which is the main feature of mimesis). However, the object of this imitation is not the appearance of the objects, but rather their inner essence – eidos.

Keywords

• archetype
• cultural hermeneutics
• mimesis
• artistic interpretation
• eidos