THE ROLE OF OBJECTS AND SITUATION MODELS IN FILM TRANSPARENCY <br>A CONTRIBUTION TO THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF FILM

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of how viewers interpret feature films.  It explains the role of mental models called situation models in interpreting diegetic worlds of fiction. By using P. F. Strawson’s interpretation that persons and material objects occupy a central position among logical subjects when we think about our world, and associating the knowledge of diegetic worlds of fiction with the knowledge of reality, we propose that these two can be compared and thus offer a better understanding of the role of extended networks of objects in viewing film narratives. Recognizing sight gags as particularly complex narrative figures, the paper describes the doubling of situation models by viewers interpreting specific sight gags. A result of this doubling is the incongruity registered by the viewer, who thus gains an analytical opening into the structure and functioning of individual situation models.