Into films: Does absorption in a movie’s story world pose a paradox?

Ed S. Tan, Miruna M. Doicaru, Frank Hakemulder, Katalin Bálint, Moniek M. Kuijpers

Abstract

Most film viewers know the experience of being deeply absorbed in the story of a popular film. It seems that at such moments they lose awareness of watching a movie. And yet it is highly unlikely that they completely ignore the fact that they watch a narrative and technological construction. Perhaps film viewers experience being in a story world while simultaneously being aware of its construction. Such a dual awareness would seem paradoxical, because the experience of the one would go at the cost of the other. We argue that the solution of this paradox requires dropping the notion of an undivided consciousness, and replacing it with one of consciousness as coming in degrees. In this chapter we present both cognitive and film-analytic arguments for differential awareness of story and narration/technology, and argue that a characteristic of absorption is to be found in story world super-consciousness.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TitelNarrative absorption
RedaktørerFrank Hakemulder
Antal sider20
UdgivelsesstedAmsterdam
ForlagJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
Publikationsdato15 nov. 2017
Sider97-118
Kapitel5
ISBN (Trykt)ISBN 9789027234162
ISBN (Elektronisk)ISBN 9789027265135
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 15 nov. 2017
NavnLinguistic Approaches to Literature
Vol/bind27

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