Mimetic Criticism

1. Mimetic Criticism

3. Definition The best definition that I could find for Mimetic Criticism is: Mimetic criticism judges the literary work based in terms of the "truth" of its representation of the reality of the world and of human life and character.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abrKM1Z_te8

5. The Breakdown

6. BreifExplination Mimetic criticism is very general and vague, so often times you need to look for a deeper or underlying meaning of the piece in order to properly criticize it. The goal of analyzing a piece using mimetic criticism is to find the underlying connections to the real world.

7. Psychic spies from China Try to steal your mind's elation Little girls from Sweden Dream of silver screen quotations And if you want these kind of dreams It's CalifornicationIt's the edge of the world And all of western civilization The sun may rise in the East At least it settles in the final location It's understood that Hollywood sells CalifornicationPay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging Celebrity skin is this your chin Or is that war your waging The song is realistic from the very beginning when it mentions people dreaming of being stars basically and it would require “Californication” to get this. I.E. Going to Hollywood. In this paragraph it speaks about the amount of plastic surgery that is happening these days so that people may look younger to fit the expectations society has on them. However, in the end its just a pointless war you are fighting with yourself.

8. First born unicorn Hard core soft porn Dream of CalifornicationDream of CalifornicationMarry me girl be my fairy to the world Be my very own constellation A teenage bride with a baby inside Getting high on information And buy me a star on the boulevard It's CalifornicationSpace may be the final frontier But it's made in a Hollywood basement Cobain can you hear the spheres Singing songs off station to station And Alderon's not far away It's CalifornicationBorn and raised by those who praise Control of population everybody's been thereand I don't mean on vacation This portion of the song, which is the chorus, does not seem to have any real life connections at all. In this paragraph we see a common portrayal of an unrealistic Hollywood dream. It all eventually leads up to the inevitable “Californication”. This portion of the song still keeps with very realistic portrayals of Hollywood and our perception of things. It tells us that what we see in things is not always what it really is. It also can be interpreted in a way that things that are generally seen as unobtainable are available through “Californication”

9. Destruction leads to a very rough road But it also breeds creation And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar They're just another good vibration And tidal waves couldn't save the world From CalifornicationPay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging Sicker than the rest There is no test But this is what you're craving This portion of the song shows that sometimes, bad things need to happen for new and better ones to happen. I see this in a sense a reflection on things like drug abuse that we often see in Hollywood. I see this primarily because in the case of the artists of this song, their drug abuse and recovery from it greatly effected their work and not necessarily in a bad way.

10. This song overall fits the definition of mimetic criticism perfectly. It portrays the world and many people within it incredibly accurately. It describes the “Hollywood” lifestyle and mindset to a T. It does stray off occasionally, however, overall it is a very realistic piece that links directly to the real word and its issues. The song itself speaks primarily of the “Hollywood” lifestyle. It does not necessarily put it out to be a good or bad thing, however it does seem to mention both sides. When using mimetic criticism you are primarily looking at the truth behind the piece’s connections to reality. The truth behind the connection in this piece can be seen every day in multiple forms of media.