Published In
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2024
Subjects
Fiction -- Literature, Empathy in literature, Empathy -- Fiction
Abstract
The transformative power of fiction has been acknowledged since antiquity (Jaén and Simon, 2012) and technologies such as cinematography have amplified it. This power resides in its capacity to move us, to change our emotional states. Moreover, the audiovisual and narrative strategies employed in film fictions allow us to experience emotions not only intensely but also safely. Our participatory responses are both elicited and modulated by the fictional “crafted” quality of the stories that we witness on the screen. What happens before our eyes does not pose a threat to us and does not need our intervention. Yet, it seems quite real to our brains and may transform us, by allowing us to adopt different cognitive-affective perspectives, which may result in prosocial behaviors, that is, actions oriented toward the benefit of others.
Rights
COPYRIGHT © 2024 Jaén Portillo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.3389/fnhum.2024.1363720
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41732
Citation Details
Jaén Portillo, I. (2024). From body to world: empathy and the transformative power of cinematic imagination. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18, 1363720.