Catharsis

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Catharsis or katharsis is from the Ancient Greek word κάθαρσις, katharsis, meaning 'purification' or 'cleansing', commonly used to refer to the purification and purgation of thoughts and emotions by way of expressing them. The desired result is an emotional state of renewal and restoration. In dramaturgy, the term usually refers to arousing negative emotion in an audience, who subsequently expels it, making them feel happier. In Greek the term originally had only a physical meaning, describing purification practices. In medicine, it can still refer to the evacuation of the catamenia ('monthlies', menstrual fluid). Similarly, a cathartic is a substance that accelerates the defecation of faeces. The first recorded uses of the term in a mental sense were by Aristotle in the Politics and Poetics, comparing the effects of music and tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of catharsis on the body. The term is also used in Greek to refer to the spiritual purging process that occurs in...

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