Människans behov av fiktion-Den rörliga bildens förmåga att beröra ...

42 Tomas AxelsonSummaryOur Need for FictionThe Human Mind Touched by Moving Images(Människans behov av fiktionDen rörliga bildens förmåga att beröramänniskan på djupet)This article is analyzing how people in late modernsociety characterized by de-traditionalizationand individualization, use moving images as a culturalresource for the construction of meaningfulsubjective world views. The article makes use ofempirical data to illustrate and theoretically developperspectives on how the audience uses fictionfilm in every-day life to elicit self-reflectionand how film engagement is interconnected tospectator’s creation of self images (Giddens 1991,Axelson 2008, Vaage 2009a), but also how cinematicexperiences could be a resource for the spectators’construction of more profound and longlastingideas of being part of a moral community(Brereton 2005, Jerslev 2006, Klinger 2008, Vaage2009b). Some empirical findings support a conclusionthat moving images create a transitionalspace for the human mind helping the individualwith an ongoing process of transforming the self,dealing with who you actually are, and who youwant to become (Axelson 2008, Vaage 2009b).Other case studies show how the audience experiencemeaning in watching films, providing insightsabout meaning in life and general lessons oflife value (Oliver & Hartmann 2010).Keywords: world views, the reflexive self, extendedself, utopian reflexiveness, visual culture, filmviewing, meaning-making.Tomas Axelson, TD, assistant professor in religiousstudies/media and communication, School ofHumanities and Media, Dalarna University,Falun, Sweden.KULTURELLA PERSPEKTIV 2011:2