Catharsis Edit Meaning

1.

noun relating to cathartic. Introduced by Aristotle meaning the process of relieving strong feelings eg thru drama or other artistic activities, targeting provision of relief from anger or suffering.

Actor's or artist's state of mind may go thru catharsis while they're on the set shooting a emotionally intense movie after a break up in private life.

See healing, cure, convalescence, salvation

2.

The release of pent-up or repressed energies through their attachment to a new object or situation and their resultant release. For instance, the vicarious satisfaction of a desire to commit violence due to frustration with one's boss, through something other than violence against one's boss, e.g. through watching violent films, doing karate as a hobby, fighting a rival gang, playing Doom, etc.

It's a concept taken from Freudian psychoanalysis.

It also has a peculiar meaning in Gramscian theory, where it refers to the rearticulation and reconfiguration of desires and passions into a new ideological/philosophical framework - roughly speaking, the achievement of a new, revolutionary formation of desire.

See Andy

3.

Plural: Catharses

Noun:

1. The release of emotions or emotional tension to restore or refresh the spirit. Venting.

2. Medical Term - Purging, especially the digestive tract. See hurl, blow chunks

1. I got so frustrated after watching the Matrix Revolutions that as a catharsis, I decided to give a girl a good emeril.

2. See that skankyho? She might look skinny, but really, she has her own little catharsis every night, after her midnight binge.

4.

Exressions of pity and terror in plays, etc.

Greek Tragedies always had catharsis

eg:-

Shakespear's Julius Caesar(ACT II Scene I)

See meaning, synonyms

5.

a therapeutical technique used to release tension by bringing repressed feelings and fear to surface

Cutting does NOT count as a form of catharsis, as it further represses the issues at hand.

See Katie