What is Catharsis?
What is Catharsis?
Catharsis, meaning “cleansing” in Greek, refers to a
literary theory first developed by the philosopher Aristotle, who believed that
cleansing our emotions was the purpose of a good story, especially a tragedy.
Catharsis applies to any form of art or media that makes us feel strong
negative emotions, but that we are nonetheless drawn to – we may seek out art
that creates these emotions because the experience purges the emotions from our
system. We can feel something intense, then walk out of the theater feeling
better afterward. Catharsis is roughly synonymous with the idea of “blowing
off steam.”
II. Examples of Catharsis
Example 1
The idea of catharsis is one possible explanation for the
popularity of sports, especially in places where the local team tends to lose.
Why, for example, do Oakland Raiders fans keep watching the games, despite the
team’s abysmal record? Part of the reason, of course, is sheer dogged loyalty.
But it may also be that sports fans feel better when they can experience deep
feelings of frustration during the game, but then be cleansed of them when the
game is over.
Example 2
Catharsis may also help to explain why we enjoy negative
emotions in music. Many people enjoy music that is sad, angry, or dark – they
get pleasure from listening to such music. Why is this? It might be because
such music helps the listener purge negative emotions from their system. If you
listen to a death metal song in which the singer screams the lyrics, it might
help lessen your own feelings of needing to scream.
III . The Importance
of Catharsis
Aristotle was perhaps the greatest philosopher of the
ancient world, and he was curious about everything – biology, physics,
politics, ethics, literature, etc. This powerful thinker raised many insightful
questions and tried to answer them through philosophy. One question that
particularly vexed Aristotle was: why do we enjoy watching or reading
tragedies? Why do we enjoy stories that make us sad?
It’s important to remember that ancient Greek culture had
real tragedies, which modern culture generally doesn’t. Hollywood seems to be
addicted to happy endings, which means almost none of our popular stories are
really “tragic” in the true sense. After all, a real tragedy is one in which
the hero is ultimately destroyed and there is no happy ending to be found. So
when Aristotle pondered the question of tragedy, he was wondering why so many
people in his society preferred stories that had unhappy endings.
His theory, as we’ve seen, was that such stories are
cathartic. We feel such tremendous sympathy for the hero, such rage at the
villain, such sorrow at the tragic ending, that we can then walk out of the
theater and back into our own lives with less “baggage,” – less pent-up emotion
threatening to boil over.
IV. Examples of Catharsis in Literature
Example 1
Example 2
In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe takes the structure of a
classical tragedy and applies it to African culture. He tells the story of a
powerful village leader whose arrogance drives away his supporters. He is
ultimately brought so low that he kills himself. Catharsis, along with Achebe’s
skill as a writer, may help to explain why this story is so popular.
V. Examples of Catharsis in Popular Culture
Example 1
The idea of catharsis is often
used to explain the popularity of violent video games: such games can be
thought of as an “outlet,” where frustrated adolescents can pour all their rage
and pain without actually hurting anyone. Through playing violent games, they
may actually become less violent. However, there is also the possibility that
playing violent video games makes people more violent, which would seriously
undermine the theory of catharsis, at least where interactive storytelling is
involved. The social science is not clear on this question, but the most likely
answer is that there is no one answer: that different people react differently
to the simulated violence of video games.
Example 2
The movie Citizen Kane is one of the few unambiguous modern
tragedies. Over the course of the movie, we watch an incredibly talented and
ambitious man rise to the heights of fame and glory, while slowly losing the
fight against his own inner demons until he ends up utterly alienated and dies
alone in his mansion. The story makes viewers feel a combination of pity for
Kane, frustration at his wrongful actions, and sorrow at his fate. But in the
end, we are supposed to walk away feeling cleansed.
Example 3
The Notebook is a good example of a modern drama. It’s often
mistakenly viewed as a tragedy because it has so many sad themes. But there are
two things to notice about The Notebook: first, the ending is not exactly sad.
Although the main characters die, they die together in a pose of intimacy, and
the suggestion is that their love is stronger than death itself. Although death
is always sad, this is still a victory for the heroic lovers. Second, the
conflict in The Notebook revolves around illness, which is not a “human flaw” in
the classical sense – it’s an external problem that the protagonists struggle
against, rather than a flaw in the soul or behavior of a main character. So The
Notebook is not a tragedy, but it may still be very cathartic for audiences!
VI. Related Terms (with examples)
Tragedy
Drama
In the ancient world, the two types of stories were comedy
and tragedy. In the modern world, we separate our movies and TV into comedies
and dramas. Dramas typically evoke themes like sadness, anger, or betrayal, so
in this way they are similar to tragedies. However, there are two key
differences: first, dramas still tend to have happy endings (or at least
uncertain endings that could be happy or sad); second, the plot is usually
driven by external conflicts rather than internal conflicts within the hero’s
own soul. Nonetheless, a drama can still produce catharsis – just not as
effectively, Aristotle would say, as a tragedy.
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Catharsis is healthy