Includes bibliographical references (pages 168-172) and index.

Introduction: Approaching mimesis : Part one. Foundations : Plato's Republic : The invention of the image ; Poetry and censorship: Books two and three ; Mirrors and forms: Book ten ; Poetry and the city -- Aristotle's Poetics : Second nature ; Tragedy, plot, and reason ; The tragic effect -- Part two. Three versions of mimesis : Imitatio: rhetorical imitation : Mimesis as a cultural practice ; Roman echoes ; Ancients and moderns ; Genius, originality, and the anxiety of influence -- Theatre and theatricality : Spectacle and spectator ; Theatrum mundi ; Acting, naturally ; 'The never ending show' -- Realism : The grapes of Zeuxis ; Reflection and convention ; Realism and sincerity ; Pygmalion's folly: anti-realism -- Part three: Mimesis in modern theory : Mimesis and identity : Psychic mimesis ; Identification: Freud ; The mirror stage: Lacan ; Performing race and gender -- Mimesis and culture : Sympathetic magic ; Mimicry and the mimetic faculty ; Mimetic desire: Girard ; Simulacra and hyperreality -- Conclusion: Memetics.

"The term mimesis has long been used to refer to the relationship between an image and its 'real' original. However, recent theorists have problematized and extended the concept, allowing new perspectives on such key concerns as the nature of identity. Matthew Potolsky offers a clear introduction to this potentially daunting concept." "An accessible and broad-ranging study of a term rapidly returning to the forefront of contemporary theory, Mimesis will be a welcome guide for readers in such fields as literature, performance and cultural studies."--Jacket.