This concept traces the historical shift in literary theory from mimesis (literature as imitation/reflection of divine or external truth) to creation (literature as human invention and ethical action), spanning medieval Neoplatonism, Christian scriptural hermeneutics, and Renaissance humanism. Key theoretical mechanisms include Plotinus's emanationist metaphysics recasting art as spiritual ascent, Augustinian and Thomistic sign/allegory theory (literal vs. figurative/spiritual senses of meaning), Dante's fusion of theological allegory with literary realism, and the Renaissance reconception (Boccaccio, Pico, Sidney) of the poet as an autonomous inventive agent rather than an imitator, culminating in poetry's claimed capacity to shape ethical and civic life rather than merely represent reality.
This concept traces the historical shift in literary theory from mimesis (literature as imitation/reflection of divine or external truth) to creation (literature as human invention and ethical action…