Poetics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The study of the principles and forms of literary expression encompasses various creative methods, structures, and styles of writing
2. This field explores the aesthetic elements of literature, including narrative devices and structuring techniques
3. It investigates the artistic qualities behind composition and the emotions evoked through language and form

Etymology: Aristotle's "Poetics," written in the 4th century BCE, is the work that gave this word its name. Its Greek title, "Peri poiētikēs," means roughly "about the art of making" or "concerning composition," and the root "poiein" ("to make, to create") is the same verb that gave English "poet," which originally meant "maker." So the word has always pointed to craft rather than to any particular genre of verse. Aristotle's treatise is the earliest surviving systematic analysis of drama and epic. He examined how plots are built, why tragedy produces pity and fear, and what makes a character or a reversal effective, and he treated these as principles that could be studied apart from the individual works. That shift, from praising poems to asking how they work, is what the word has carried ever since. Its use in English as a name for the general study of literary technique followed the later reception of Aristotle's work in Europe.

Synonyms: poetry, verse, lyricism