Tragikus feszültség. A tragédia paradoxonának kognitív és evolúciós pszichológiai magyarázata

Absztrakt

Tragic suspense. The cognitive and evolutionary psychological explanation of the paradox of tragedy

This article seeks to provide a functional explanation of suspense, as elicited by tragic plots, and the connected emotions. It traces tragic suspense back to the emotions (thrill, sadness), empathy, and the desire to punish, triggered by fictional stimuli, and makes the case that the emotional pattern colloquially known as tragic
suspense has a motivational effect on certain viewers and ways of thinking, which can be considered to have an adaptive purpose. The paper emphasizes the fundamental causality of emotions in mental and psychological processes connected to the understanding of stories, basing its assumptions in evolutionary and cognitive psychological theories.