Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature - New and Expanded Edition (Princeton Classics Book 78)

A half-century after its translation into English, Erich Auerbach's "Mimesis" still stands as a monumental achievement in literary criticism. A brilliant display of erudition, wit, and wisdom, his exploration of how great European writers from Homer to Virginia Woolf depicted reality has taught generations how to read Western literature. This new expanded edition includes a substantial essay in introduction by Edward Said as well as an essay, never before translated into English, in which Auerbach responds to his critics. A German Jew, Auerbach was forced out of his professorship at the University of Marburg in 1935. He left for Turkey, where he taught at the state university in Istanbul. There he wrote "Mimesis," publishing it in German after the end of the war. Displaced as he was, Auerbach produced a work of great erudition that contains no footnotes, basing his arguments instead on searching, illuminating readings of key passages from his primary texts. His aim was to show how from antiquity to the twentieth century literature progressed toward ever more naturalistic and democratic forms of representation. This essentially optimistic view of European history now appears as a defensive--and impassioned--response to the inhumanity he saw in the Third Reich. Ranging over works in Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English, Auerbach used his remarkable skills in philology and comparative literature to refute any narrow form of nationalism or chauvinism, in his own day and ours. For many readers, both inside and outside the academy, "Mimesis" is among the finest works of literary criticism ever written.

To describe Mimesis as a classic is to offer something of a dismissive understatement, which conveys nothing of the excitement of this book, as fresh and direct, as untechnical, as when it first appeared. To say that it constitutes virtually a history of Western literature is to omit adding that it writes that history in a way that is still new and stimulating, with nothing of the manual about it, a synchronic kind of history with which we are only just now catching up. It is also important to stress the novel relationship Auerbach establishes between sentence or syntax and narrative form; and the world-wide democratic perspective in which he framed his work which has only become visible since globalization. Mimesis is certainly one of the half dozen most important literary-critical works of the twentieth century.--Fredric R. Jameson

Written in exile, from what Auerbach called with grave irony his 'incomparable historical vantage point,' Mimesis is a magnificent achievement. For me, as for many others, this hugely ambitious, wise account of the representation of reality in Western literature, at once a celebration and a lament, is one of the essential works of literary criticism.--Stephen Greenblatt

Every student of literature should know Mimesis, arguably the single greatest work of 20th-century criticism. How do writers--from Homer and Dante to Stendhal and Virginia Woolf--depict the world? To explore this question, Erich Auerbach brings to bear the authority of truly encyclopedic learning and the persuasiveness of a supple, humane literary intelligence. Yes, Mimesis is magisterial, but it is also thrilling to read, inspiring, and more relevant than ever: A masterpiece.--Michael Dirda

The New York Times

The compass and the richness of the book can hardly be exaggerated. This is true too of the originality of Mr. Auerbach's critical method which is at once encyclopedic and microscopic, combining the disciplines of philology, literary criticism, and history.

More than half a century after its translation into English, Erich Auerbach's Mimesis remains a masterpiece of literary criticism. A brilliant display of erudition, wit, and wisdom, his exploration of how great European writers from Homer to Virginia Woolf depicted reality has taught generations how to read Western literature. This new expanded edition includes a substantial essay in introduction by Edward Said as well as an essay, never before translated into English, in which Auerbach responds to his critics. A German Jew, Auerbach was forced out of his professorship at the University of Marburg in 1935. He left for Turkey, where he taught at the state university in Istanbul. There he wrote Mimesis, publishing it in German after the end of the war. Displaced as he was, Auerbach produced a work of great erudition that contains no footnotes, basing his arguments instead on searching, illuminating readings of key passages from his primary texts. His aim was to show how from antiquity to the twentieth century literature progressed toward ever more naturalistic and democratic forms of representation. This essentially optimistic view of European history now appears as a defensive--and impassioned--response to the inhumanity he saw in the Third Reich. Ranging over works in Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English, Auerbach used his remarkable skills in philology and comparative literature to refute any narrow form of nationalism or chauvinism, in his own day and ours. For many readers, both inside and outside the academy, Mimesis is among the finest works of literary criticism ever written. This Princeton Classics edition includes a substantial introduction by Edward Said as well as an essay in which Auerbach responds to his critics. The classic book that has taught generations how to read Western literature More than half a century after its translation into English, Erich Auerbach's Mimesis remains a masterpiece of literary criticism. A brilliant display of erudition, wit, and wisdom, his exploration of how great European writers from Homer to Virginia Woolf depict reality has taught generations how to read Western literature. A German Jew who was forced out of his professorship at the University of Marburg in 1935, Auerbach left for Turkey, where he taught in Istanbul. There he wrote Mimesis , publishing it in German after the war. Displaced as he was, Auerbach produced a work of great erudition that contains no footnotes, basing his arguments instead on searching, illuminating readings of key passages from his primary texts. His aim was to show how, from antiquity to modernity, literature progresses toward ever more naturalistic and democratic forms of representation. Ranging over works in Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English, Auerbach uses his remarkable skills in philology and comparative literature to present an optimistic view of Western history and culture and to refute any narrow form of nationalism or chauvinism. This expanded Princeton Classics edition of Mimesis includes a substantial introduction by Edward Said as well as an essay in which Auerbach responds to his critics. From the Back Cover: One of the most significant works of literary criticism of this century, Erich Auerbach's MIMESIS undertakes a new and profound approach to major moments in Western literature. More than a work of literary criticism, this study is filled with insights into the Western imagination and Western culture itself, in its repeated attempts to master and control reality and experience. Auerbach's studies range from the beginnings of Western literary consciousness to the present. The significant moments of art and awareness he studies are in themselves keys to the meaning of Homer, Petronius, Gregory of Tours, The song of Roland, Chretien de Troyes, Dante, Boccaccio, Rabelais, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cevantes, Moliere, Racine, the Abbe Prevost, Schiller, Stendhal, Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Zola, Virginia Woolf, and others. Comprehensive as his survey is in scope, the studies themselves are closely focused, penetrating, and minute, and serve to show how the strategies of language and rhetoric are the ultimate ways in which the various images are distinguishable from each other in their grasp and representation of reality. The major revolutios in the sense and portrayal of reality are seen to reverberate deeply with significances relevant to transformations in our culture. Frontmatter Introduction to the Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition (page ix) 1. Odysseus' Scar (page 3) 2. Fortunata (page 24) 3. The Arrest of Peter Valvomeres (page 50) 4. Sicharius and Chramnesindus (page 77) 5. Roland Against Ganelon (page 96) 6. The Knight Sets Forth (page 123) 7. Adam and Eve (page 143) 8. Farinata and Cavalcante (page 174) 9. Frate Alberto (page 203) 10. Madame Du Chastel (page 232) 11. The World in Panragruel's Mouth (page 262) 12. L'Humaine Condition (page 285) 13. The Weary Prince (page 312) 14. The Enchanted Dulcinea (page 334) 15. The Faux Dévot (page 359) 16. The Interrupted Supper (page 395) 17. Miller the Musician (page 434) 18. In the Hôtel de la Mole (page 454) 19. Germinie Lacerteux (page 493) 20. The Brown Stocking (page 525) Epilogue (page 554) Appendix (page 559) Index (page 575) Dealing with literary criticism, the author aims to show how, from antiquity to the twentieth century, literature progressed toward ever more naturalistic and democratic forms of representation. The exploration of how great European writers from Homer to Virginia Woolf depicted reality has taught generations how to read Western literature. Erich Auerbach's 'Mimesis' still stands as a monumental achievement in literary criticism which has taught generations how to read Western literature. This expanded edition includes an introductory essay by Edward Said, and an essay by Auerbach, translated into English, in which he responds to his critics