Friday, August 29, 2008
Willing Suspension of Disbelief
Suspension of disbelief or "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" is an aesthetic theory intended to characterize people's relationships to art. It was coined by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817. It refers to the willingness of a person to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. It also refers to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. According to the theory, suspension of disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment.
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5 comments:
imagination?
Jacob, I love this conversation. I read it back on your other blog a few months ago and then had the conversation with my mom. It's such a unique way to look at art and a terrific paradigm(?) to discuss.
Ben Graham
Sorry, above reply was for the previous post regarding interpretation.
Ben G.
Hmm..I've been trying to think of a way to coin this in terms that make a little more sense as to how I view Fictional art. This was on my mind quite a bit yesterday. I decided to read something I could work through quickly, and selected Three by Ted Dekker. It definitely had the adrenaline going. LOL On the one hand, I can suspend "reality" to a point to follow a story line, but I am still cognizant of the fantasy of it. In light of this discussion, though, and of reality, Three was probably a apt book to be reading, I suppose. LOL
this is interesting. i kind of like it, but then again i don't. i'm gonna look up more information about it.
-veronica
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