Friday, July 29, 2016

Willing Suspension of Disbelief



The idea is proposed by Coleridge as a formula for justifying the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literature. To believe the supernatural and unbelievable, the spectator or reader suspends his critical faculties. In other words it’s a Sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment.

Coleridge suggested that if a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative”

Examples

Life of Pi: Pi Patel has two stories to offer about what happened at the Pacific Ocean. The first story tells of a boy named Pi Patel, who survives on a life boat at Pacific Ocean with a Bengal Tiger, called Richard Parker. In the second story he replaces all the animals with humans, including his mother. The first story is a better story, but the second is the reasonable. The very structure of the story itself is designed to force the reader or viewer to subconsciously choose whether they are prepared to walk away from the “reasonable” to accept the better story.  If the reader or the audience is ready to suspend their ‘disbelieve’ the first story can be taken into account.

Superman: The storyteller tells the audience that, in this story, a man can fly and he comes from a distant planet called Krypton.  The audience suspends their disbelief and prepares themselves to enjoy the story.

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