also Schaeffer 1999: 243 passim) “involvement” and “psychological participation” (Walton 1990: 240–89) “transportation” (Gerrig 1993: 12 passim) “ effet de réel” (Barthes 1968). Thus the term "aesthetic illusion" is arguably more satisfactory than the various synonyms used in research: “absorption” (Cohen 2001: 258) “recentering” and “immersion” (Ryan 1991: 21–3 cf. The etymological presence of 'playfulness' in "in-lusio" also contributes to foregrounding this important facet. While aesthetic illusion is not restricted to an effect of works of art, the term "aesthetic" is justified by the fact that it etymologically gestures towards a quasi-perceptual quality of the imaginative experience involved and implies an awareness, typical of the reception of art, that “illusion” is triggered by an artifact rather than (an, e.g., magic) reality. Typical aesthetic illusion maintains a position that is closer to the pole of immersion rather than to the pole of distance. This ambivalence derives from the positioning of aesthetic illusion on a scale simultaneously influenced to varying (increasing or decreasing) degrees by its two poles of total rational distance (disinterested “observation” of an artifact as such ) and complete immersion (“psychological participation” ) in the represented world. Moreover, it is distinct from delusions in that it is neither a conceptual nor a perceptual error, but a complex phenomenon characterized by an asymmetrical ambivalence. Explication The Nature of Aesthetic IllusionĪesthetic illusion is distinguished from real-life hallucinations and dreams in that it is induced by the perception of concrete representational artifacts, texts or performances. At the same time, however, this impression of immersion is counterbalanced by a latent rational distance resulting from a culturally acquired awareness of the difference between representation and reality. Aesthetic illusion consists primarily of a feeling, with variable intensity, of being imaginatively and emotionally immersed in a represented world and of experiencing this world in a way similar (but not identical) to real life. cultural-historical, situational and generic ones.
Like all reception effects, aesthetic illusion is elicited by a conjunction of factors that are located (a) in the representations themselves, (b) in the reception process and the recipients, and (c) in framing contexts, e.g. These representations may be fictional or factual, and in particular include narratives (2.3 and 4). Aesthetic illusion is a basically pleasurable mental state that frequently emerges during the reception of many representational texts, artifacts or performances.