Narrative Absorption brings together research from the social sciences and Humanities to solve a number of mysteries: Most of us will have had those moments, of being totally absorbed in a book, a movie, or computer game. Typically we do not have any idea about how we ended up in such a state. Nor do we fully realize how we might have changed as we return for the fictional worlds we have visited. The feeling of being absorbed is one of the most illusive and transient feelings, but also one that motivates audiences to spend considerable amounts of time in narrative worlds, and one that is central to our understanding of the effects of narratives on beliefs and behavior. Key specialists inform the reader of this book about the nature of the peculiar state of consciousness during episodes of absorption, the perception of absorption in history, the role of absorption in meaningful experiences with narratives, the relation with related phenomena such as suspense and identification, issues of measurement, and the practical implications, for instance in education-entertainment.
Various fields have worked separately on topics of absorption, albeit using different terminology and methods, but having reached a high level of development and complexity in understanding absorption. Now is the time to bring them together. This volume will be a point of reference for years to come.
1. Acknowledgements; 2. Narrative absorption: Introduction and overview; 3. Part I. Conceptualization of narrative absorption; 4. Chapter 1. Beyond metaphors and traditions: Exploring the conceptual boundaries of narrative engagement (by Bilandzic, Helena); 5. Chapter 2. Towards a new understanding of absorbing reading experiences (by Kuijpers, Moniek M.); 6. Chapter 3. Narrative persuasion: Effects of transporting stories on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (by Fitzgerald, Kaitlin S.); 7. Chapter 4. Immersion into narrative and poetic worlds: A neurocognitive poetics perspective (by Jacobs, Arthur M.); 8. Chapter 5. Into film: Does absorption in a movie's story world pose a paradox? (by Tan, Ed S.); 9. Chapter 6. "Spellbound in darkness": Narrative absorption discussed by film theory (by Kessler, Frank); 10. Chapter 7. Antecedents of identification: Character, text, and audiences (by Cohen, Jonathan); 11. Part II. Empirical studies on narrative absorption; 12. Chapter 8. Identifying with in-game characters: Exploring player articulations of identification and presence (by Vught, Jasper van); 13. Chapter 9. The effect of suspense structure on felt suspense and narrative absorption in literature and film (by Balint, Katalin); 14. Chapter 10. Elaboration, emotion, and transportation: Implications for conceptual analysis and textual features (by Dixon, Peter); 15. Chapter 11. Forms of absorption that facilitate the aesthetic and explanatory effects of literary reading (by Kuiken, Don); 16. Part III. Outcomes of narrative absorption; 17. Chapter 12. Absorption and meaningfulness: Examining the relationship between eudaimonic media use and engagement (by Oliver, Mary Beth); 18. Chapter 13. The role of absorption processes in narrative health communication (by Graaf, Anneke de); 19. Chapter 14. Absorption in narrative fiction and its possible impact on social abilities (by Calarco, Navona)
