Abstract
In this chapter I consider the originality and applicability of Jean-Pierre Meunier’s phenomenological account of cinematic identification. I focus in particular on the key role assigned to imagination in his account of spectator identification, and describe some suggestive parallels with contemporary theorists’ accounts of imagination (as perceptual engagement, mental simulation or make-believe, and Murray Smith’s threefold ‘structure of sympathy’). Finally, I consider some difficulties in Meunier’s model – his overly clustered concept of ‘identification’; a tension between formal-phenomenological analysis and background cultural-historical pre-understanding; and his focus on character identification at the expense of background ‘world’ apprehension – that could be modified in order to enhance his original contribution to philosophical film theory.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The structures of the film experience by Jean-Pierre Meunier |
| Subtitle of host publication | historical assessments and phenomenological expansions |
| Editors | Julian Hanich, Daniel Fairfax |
| Place of Publication | Amsterdam |
| Publisher | Amsterdam University Press |
| Pages | 190-203 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9789048537846 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789462986565 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Author(s) / the Publisher 2019. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- emotion
- film-philosophy
- identification
- phenomenology
- Jean-Paul Satre