Modes of Evocation of the Presence Effect in Literature and Cinema: Theoretical Aspect

Abstract

In the book “Production of Presence. What Meaning Cannot Convey,” H.-U. Gumbrecht defines aesthetic experience as “an oscillation between presence effects and meaning effects,” but presence effects are researched relatively less often in literary and film theory. How is the presence effect produced in literature and cinema? In the article, the author examines both cinematic and fictional “excess” and “lacunae” that participate in the production of the presence effect, as well as other means that shift the focus from the production of meaning to the creation of a bodily, sensually experienced contact. Haptic images are involved in creating such an experience, activating the tactile perception of the reader. In recreating the effect of presence, the speed of representation is also involved: it allows us to simulate the non-mediated contact of the reader with the narrative world. The presence effects in literature and cinema also problematize the mimetic interaction between the reader and the narrative: it is possible to talk about establishing “bodily-mimetic” relations that would characterize the peculiarity of the reader’s experience shaped by the effects of presence.

Keywords

• aesthetic experience
• presence
• experientiality
• bodily mimesis
• haptic image
• narrative pace
• reception event
• excess