Just reading about theories on the origins of theatre, and apparently Aristotle said that he believed “mimesis” was an innate ability of humans. Mimesy is basically imitation or mimicry. They don’t point out here though that one of the alternate and more archaic uses of the word “ape” means exactly that same thing: mimicry. So, to call us “Great Apes” is - in one sense - to say that we are very skilled in mimicry.
You could also go back and look at things like Native American mythology for support here, I think. Because so many of their stories involve watching and being taught by animals, probably through mimesis or “aping”.
A quick google search of “apes & mimesis” points towards several papers that try to say that this inherent tendency towards mimesis is a major factor in the development of language and consciousness. This book also seems interesting: Mimesis and the Human Animal: One the Biogenetic Foundations of Literary Representation. I’ll have to look around more in this direction.
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