Back to the Spectators Themselves: A Methodological Proposal for Adopting Empirical Phenomenology in Film and Media Studies
Jakob Boer
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FILM AND MEDIA ARTS May 30, 2024 DOI: 10.24140/ijfma.v10i2.9454 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Experienced viewers of slow cinema (selective sample) |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Argues that micro-phenomenological interviews with experienced viewers reveal distinct forms of passivity—letting go, attuning, and surrendering—that enable sustained, pleasurable engagement with slow cinema. The authors contend these experiential categories show activity and receptivity intertwining, challenging binary active-versus-passive models of spectatorship. |
Abstract
This article advances a methodological proposal for integrating empirical phenomenology into film and media studies, focusing on the reception of slow cinema. The study investigates spectators’ lived experiences using micro-phenomenology (MP), a second-person interview method that elicits fine-grained descriptions of embodied, affective, and attentional dimensions of film viewing. Drawing on a selective sample of experienced viewers, the study identifies recurrent experiential patterns that extend beyond traditional accounts of cognitive effort or intellectual labor. Key findings highlight distinct forms of passivity—such as letting go, attuning, and surrendering—that enable sustained and pleasurable engagement with slow cinema. These experiential categories reveal the subtle interplay between activity and receptivity in spectatorship, challenging binary models of active versus passive viewing. By making implicit spectatorial skills explicit, Micro-phenomenology demonstrates its value in uncovering overlooked dimensions of aesthetic experience and refining phenomenological categories relevant for interdisciplinary research. The study concludes that micro phenomenology provides a rigorous means of generating thick descriptions of cinematic experience, with implications for theory formation, audience research, and future collaborations with cognitive neuroscience. Ultimately, the paper argues that empirical phenomenology enriches film reception studies by deepening our understanding of how films affect embodied viewers in time.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualitative thematic analysis of the phenomenology of near-death experiences Cardiac arrest survivors | 2018 | Qualitative study | n = 34 |
| Phenomenology and Sequelae of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Use Psychiatrists who had taken MDMA | 1992 | Qualitative study | n = 20 |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Evoking the ineffable: The phenomenology of extreme sports. Extreme sports participants across three continents, including BASE jumping, big wave... | 2017 | Qualitative study | n = 15 |
| Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine (N, N-DMT) experience. Naturalistic inhaled N,N-DMT experiences posted to the r/DMT Reddit community | 2022 | Qualitative analysis | n = 3,778 |