Casting Allusions

The modest philosophical literature on allusion focuses on descriptive issues concerning literary examples, and thus tends to neglect both allusions in other media and normative concerns about allusions in general. In this paper I will help fill both gaps through an analysis of three different cases...

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Main Author: Jason Holt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics) 2019-07-01
Series:Aesthetic Investigations
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.aestheticinvestigations.eu/index.php/journal/article/view/169
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author Jason Holt
author_facet Jason Holt
author_sort Jason Holt
collection DOAJ
description The modest philosophical literature on allusion focuses on descriptive issues concerning literary examples, and thus tends to neglect both allusions in other media and normative concerns about allusions in general. In this paper I will help fill both gaps through an analysis of three different cases of what I call casting allusions, which depend on the audience’s recognition that a certain cast member was also in the cast of a different work. These cases vary greatly in aesthetic merit, and this is best explained via two dimensions of allusive value: richness (given the medium) and dynamic engagement. All else being equal, an allusion will be more aesthetically pleasing when it relies on a wider variety of medium-relevant channels or prompts less passive, more evolving audience response. Such an account finds further support in elaborate cinematic examples, such as the tapestry of allusions to Bruce Lee in the Kill Bill films.
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spelling doaj.art-f204f1533e534400ae41c2b34c7ee0d32022-12-21T23:28:19ZengNederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics)Aesthetic Investigations2352-27042019-07-012210.5281/zenodo.4073178Casting AllusionsJason Holt0Acadia UniversityThe modest philosophical literature on allusion focuses on descriptive issues concerning literary examples, and thus tends to neglect both allusions in other media and normative concerns about allusions in general. In this paper I will help fill both gaps through an analysis of three different cases of what I call casting allusions, which depend on the audience’s recognition that a certain cast member was also in the cast of a different work. These cases vary greatly in aesthetic merit, and this is best explained via two dimensions of allusive value: richness (given the medium) and dynamic engagement. All else being equal, an allusion will be more aesthetically pleasing when it relies on a wider variety of medium-relevant channels or prompts less passive, more evolving audience response. Such an account finds further support in elaborate cinematic examples, such as the tapestry of allusions to Bruce Lee in the Kill Bill films.https://www.aestheticinvestigations.eu/index.php/journal/article/view/169allusioncastingaesthetic value
spellingShingle Jason Holt
Casting Allusions
Aesthetic Investigations
allusion
casting
aesthetic value
title Casting Allusions
title_full Casting Allusions
title_fullStr Casting Allusions
title_full_unstemmed Casting Allusions
title_short Casting Allusions
title_sort casting allusions
topic allusion
casting
aesthetic value
url https://www.aestheticinvestigations.eu/index.php/journal/article/view/169
work_keys_str_mv AT jasonholt castingallusions