The Concept of Embodied Cognition in Cognitive Film Theory
Jacek Ostaszewski
jacek.ostaszewski@uj.edu.plJagiellonian University (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1160-4021
Abstract
The article explains the origins of the development of cognitive film theory. It also presents two basic orientations within cognitive science - the computational model of cognition and the embodied model of cognition – which function in film theory as two consecutive phases. The embodied model of cognition is explained in the context of both the tradition of phenomenological thought and the achievements of neuroscience, including the discovery of mirror neurons, which, despite the surrounding controversy, became the basis for multidirectional reflection on the reception of films. The article discusses the implementation of the mirror system hypothesis in the explication of the pre-conceptual film perception, including the role of embodied simulation and empathy as mechanisms of participation in cognitive and aesthetic film experience. The methodological issue of the naturalized aesthetics project as well as the possibilities of synthesizing the cognitive and phenomenological approach in the elucidation of the aesthetic reception of film are also presented.
Keywords:
cognitive film theory, information processing, embodied cognition, mirror neurons, autonomic reactions, empathyReferences
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Authors
Jacek Ostaszewskijacek.ostaszewski@uj.edu.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1160-4021
Professor of humanities at the Institute of Audiovisual Arts, Jagiellonian University. In film studies, he specializes in narratology and film theory. He has published Film i poznanie: Wprowadzenie do kognitywnej teorii filmu [Film and Cognition: An Introduction to Cognitive Film Theory] (1999) and Rozumienie opowiadania filmowego [Understanding the Film Narrative] (1999), and edited the anthology Kognitywna teoria filmu [Cognitive Film Theory] (1999). With Alicja Helman, he co-authored the textbook Historia myśli filmowej [History of Film Thought] (2007) and co-edited the anthology Film: Język – Rzeczywistość –Osoba [Film: Language – Reality – Person] (1992). In the field of narratology, his most important achievement is the book Historia narracji filmowej [History of Film Narration] (2018).
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