Between the mind and the senses: Jean Mitry’s approach to cinematic consciousness
AN-ICON July 21, 2023 DOI: 10.54103/ai/15446 (opens in new tab) via DOAJ
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Mitry Husserl Mental state Projection Imagination |
| Key points | Argues that representing altered states through technical images is contradictory, and reconsiders Mitry's phenomenological perspective on filmic access to mental states via projection. |
Abstract
Representing altered states of consciousness, even through the most phantasmal of technical images, is an inherent contradiction; once we attribute a physical body, i.e. objectivity, to mental images, we deny what Husserl considers their very essence. Jean Mitry draws from this assumption when discussing filmic access to mental states from a phenomenological perspective. The following essay reconsiders Mitry’s contribution with specific reference to the role of projection, technically and metaphorically speaking, in the cinematic technique and imagination; this, with the intention of suggesting some crucial questions for the comparison between the filmic forms of the visible and those inaugurated by the technology of the virtual.