catharsis

catharsis

Purging or purification of emotions through art. The term is derived from the Greek katharsis (“purgation,” “cleansing”), a medical term used by Aristotle as a metaphor to describe the effects of dramatic tragedy on the spectator: by arousing vicarious pity and terror, tragedy directs the spectator's own anxieties outward and, through sympathetic identification with the tragic protagonist, purges them.

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catharsis

1. (in Aristotelian literary criticism) the purging or purification of the emotions through the evocation of pity and fear, as in tragedy

2. Psychoanal the bringing of repressed ideas or experiences into consciousness, thus relieving tensions

3. purgation, esp of the bowels

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catharsis [kə′thär·səs]

(psychology)

Release of tension by releasing deep-seated emotions or reliving a traumatic experience.