“Spellbound in darkness”

Abstract

Abstract This contribution discusses various strands in classical and modern film theory that have tried to conceptualize the phenomenon of absorption. In the 1910’s already, several authors described the specific state the film spectator is in with a dream. This metaphor has been taken up in a variety of ways, from the often-used designation of Hollywood as a “dream factory” to psychoanalytical film theory in the 1970’s. The so-called cinematic apparatus – the darkened hall, the projector and the positioning of the spectator – was seen as a crucial element in producing this dream-like state, as was the specific impression of reality that filmic images produce. This strand is manifest in the French Filmology movement, in early semiotic film theory and, again, in psychoanalytical film theory. The article also discusses alternative accounts for the phenomenon of absorption such as the semio-paragmatic concept of “fictionalisation” or the more recently used concept of “immersion”.

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