《Psychology of Art》ch 5. (brief introduction)

Ancient time:

1. The fable belonged in the domain of philosophy, whence it was borrowed by the teachers of rhetoric.

2. In Aesop’ s time, fables were told in a simple way: the moral was always separated and placed at the end.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781):

Definition of fable:

We apply a general moral statement to a specific story, narrated as if it were real－that is, not as a mere example or a comparison－and in such a way that the story explain the general moral statement, then this story is a fable.

1. The moral must be absolutely clear and obvious, not hidden behind the story, because the moral is the final aim of the fable’s action.

Vygotsky:
--> The stronger the similarity between words and moral, the more trite the fable
becomes.
--> The moral is used as a poetic techniques, as a jocular introduction, an intermezzo, a finale, or, most frequently, as what is called a “literary mask.”

• Oleksander (aleksandr) Potebnia (1835-1891):
  

Definition of fable:

The fable should be “a constant affirmation of different subjects taken from the domain of human life.”

• Both Lessing and Potebnia:
  

1. The fable is the most elementary literary form and base their explanation of all literature upon it.

2. They both reject the lyrical fable, the fable of the book of fables, which to them seems only a child’s toy. Instead they deal with apologues, and their analyses refer more to the psychology of logical thinking than to the psychology of art.

Vygotsky:
--> A fable can be used as a technique for expanding the thought of the speaker, but it can never explain complex relationships or deep thought and meanings.

• Vygotsky:

Q1: How can we explain that fables have endured fro millennia?
A1: The fable continues to find new applications.

Q2: Why uses animals in the fable?
A2:

1. Lessing:

a) Animals are steadier and more determined in their characters.

b) Animals prevent the fable from having any emotional effect upon the reader.

2. Potebnia:
a) Animals are used in fables because of their definitive characters.


3. Vygotsky:
a) Using animals in the fable is that they are suitable conventional
figures that provide the isolation from reality indispensable for ay aesthetic perception.

b) Animals are used in the lyrical fable not for their known specific character, but for a completely different reason. Each animal represents a specific, well-known pattern of activity.



圖片來源:

Lessing

Potebnia