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Reconciling an underlying contradiction in the Distancing-Embracing model
1Department of Psychology,University of Toronto,Scarborough,ON Canada M1C 1A4,Canada.Cupchik@utsc.utoronto.cawww.utsc.utoronto.ca/people/cupchik.
Abstract:
The Distancing-Embracing model proposes that negative emotions embedded in literary works can be rewarding. This is consistent with a holistic ontology in the German Romantic tradition. However, the application of cognitive psychology to explain experiences of aesthetic pleasure is problematic because it is founded on a mechanistic Enlightenment epistemology. The appreciation of negative emotions requires cognitive elaboration and closure, whereas hedonistic reward is contingent on the reader's needs, in the moment, for pleasure or distraction.
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