DEFINING THE FICTIVE VIEWER (NARRATEE) IN CINEMA

Stepan V. Fedotkin

Stepan V. Fedotkin — Postgraduate Student, All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography, Wilhelm Pieck St., 3, 129226 Moscow, Russia. E-mail: belovavhist@mail.ru

History of Arts

2017

Vol. 45

Pp. 232-240

April 21, 2017

September 15, 2017

778.5.01

85.37

The article is devoted to the issue of fictive viewer or narratee in cinema. This concept derives from the term “fictive reader” in literary theory, by which is meant the imaginary addressee. The figure of narratee could be implicit or explicit. A look into camera reveals the position of the imaginary addressee, making it explicit and indicates the off-screen space. This could also be a gesture, a shot, a throw or any other action directed into the camera — what we may call a form of dialog between film and spectator. In the article this term is compared with the concept of implied viewer in painting, and there are a lot of examples of the use of gazes into the camera in a variety of films of the world cinema.

narratee, look into the camera, addressee, interpellation, point of view, off-screen space.

1. 1 Daniel S. Kartina Klassicheskoi Epochi. Problema Kompozicii v zapadnoevropeiskoi jivopisi XVII veka [The Picture of the Classic Epoch. Problem of the Composition in Western European Painting of the XVII Century]. Leningrad, Iskusstvo Publ., 1974. 199 p. (In Russian)
2. 2 Foucault M. Slova i Veshi. Archeologia Gumanitarnych Nauk [The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences]. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1977. 487 p. (In Russian)
3. 3 Shmid V. Narratologia [Narratology]. Moscow, Iazyki slavianskoi kultury Publ., 2008. 304 p. (In Russian)
4. 4 Bonitzer P. Les deux regards. Cahiers du cinéma, no 275, April 1977, pp. 40–46. (In English)
5. 5 Bordwell D. Poetics of Cinema. New York; London, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group Publ., 2007. 512 p. (In English)
6. 6 Branigan E. Point of View in Cinema. A Theory of Narration and Subjectivity in Classical Film. Berlin; New York; Amsterdam, Mouton Publishers Publ., 1984. 246 p. (In English)
7. 7 Brown T. Breaking the Fourth Wall: Direct Address in the Cinema. Edinburg, Edinburg University Press Publ., 2012. 188 p. (In English)
8. 8 Casetti F. Inside the Gaze. The Fiction Film and its Spectator. Bloomington, Indiana University Press Publ., 1998. 174 p. (In English)
9. 9 Fried M. Absorption and Theatrality. Chicago, University Of Chicago Press Publ., 1988. 268 p. (In English)
10. 10 Wollheim R. Painting as an Art. Princeton, Princeton University Press Publ., 1990. 384 p. (In English)

 Download

 Download