Born Again Heathenism: Enchanted worlds on film
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Born Again Heathenism : Enchanted worlds on film. / Grodal, Torben Kragh.
I: Nordic Journal of Media Studies, Bind 6, 2008, s. 45-58.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Born Again Heathenism
T2 - Enchanted worlds on film
AU - Grodal, Torben Kragh
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - The article discusses films with fantastic elements using evolutionary psychology. The fascination with the fantastic on film is a by-product of different evolutionary mental adaptations, like the interest in causality with the purpose of control that create interest in fantastic violation of naturalist expectations; the horror fear of being preyed upon by powerful agents (animals or other humans) and the fear of contamination from dead bodies; and the need to enforce moral supervision and submission to powerful others to enhance group cohesion, and these functions get a powerful emphasis by invention of supernatural agents. The prominence of supernaturalism in media is not necessarily linked to an increase in religious interest vis à vis science but could also be caused by a diminished 'heresy control' allowing media to exploit a range of innate dispositions of being intrigued by different supernatural phenomena that might be called 'heathen' because it often reuses all kinds of folk superstitions.
AB - The article discusses films with fantastic elements using evolutionary psychology. The fascination with the fantastic on film is a by-product of different evolutionary mental adaptations, like the interest in causality with the purpose of control that create interest in fantastic violation of naturalist expectations; the horror fear of being preyed upon by powerful agents (animals or other humans) and the fear of contamination from dead bodies; and the need to enforce moral supervision and submission to powerful others to enhance group cohesion, and these functions get a powerful emphasis by invention of supernatural agents. The prominence of supernaturalism in media is not necessarily linked to an increase in religious interest vis à vis science but could also be caused by a diminished 'heresy control' allowing media to exploit a range of innate dispositions of being intrigued by different supernatural phenomena that might be called 'heathen' because it often reuses all kinds of folk superstitions.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - evolutionary theory
KW - supernaturalism
KW - enchantment
KW - film melodrama
KW - fantasy films
KW - horror films
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
SP - 45
EP - 58
JO - Nordic Journal of Media Studies
JF - Nordic Journal of Media Studies
SN - 1601-829X
ER -
ID: 9016901