This thesis is concerned with art and emotion, and horror fiction in particular. I criticize a theoretical paradigm of emotion and art based on cognitive theories of emotion, and argue that the approach developed in this thesis is a more promising one. I shall begin by clarifying the role of affective response in our emotional engagement with art. Two dominant cognitivist accounts of art and emotion—Walton’s Make-believe Theory and Carroll’s Thought Theory—will be discussed. I position the two theories as competing solutions to Radford’s puzzle of response to fiction so as to examine the subsequent debates between them. I aim to show that the debates reach an impasse as a consequence of their ignoring affective responses in favour of cognitive states. As a result, I call for a deeper investigation of affective responses to works of art. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that both theories fail to take formal/stylistic elements of an artwork into serious consideration and to address the power of film. In Chapter 3, I discuss problems specific to Carroll’s analysis of the horror genre. I hope to show that the flaws of his approach are rooted in a mischaracterization of the emotion “horror” as a cognitive emotion. I then set forth constraints for a more promising account of cinematic horror. One of the constraints is being able to deal with the peculiarities of horror film music and sound, which seem to be beyond the grasp of cognitivist analysis. The various drawbacks of the two cognitive theories can be traced back to their common assumption that cognitive states are necessary for emotion. So in Chapter 4 I scrutinize various forms of arguments in favour of this cognitivist view of emotion and I conclude that the view is not justified. In Chapter 5, therefore, I explore an alternative theory of emotion. Drawing mainly on works of J. Prinz and J. Robinson, I discuss an embodied appraisal theory of emotion which maintains that affective responses have primacy over cognitive states in emotion and that non-cognitive states can also trigger emotion. Taking this embodied appraisal theory of emotion as my starting point, in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7, I then develop an embodied theory of filmic emotion, on which an aesthetics of cinematic horror can be built. I defend the embodied theory in terms of its competence in providing an account of various phenomena regarding affective responses evoked by fiction, the emotive-power of stylistic/formal elements and the power of film. In the light of the embodied theory, I re-conceptualize the emotion “horror” and address the peculiarities of horror film music and sound. By demonstrating how the embodied appraisal theory of emotion contributes to a more comprehensive account of filmic emotion and a subtler aesthetic of cinematic horror, I conclude that it is a more promising theory of emotion that facilitates a proper understanding of our emotional engagement with art. / published_or_final_version / Philosophy / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.F.A.)--York University, 2000. Graduate Programme in Visual Arts. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-28). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ67762.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 36 p. : col. ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 32).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1983. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 17-18).

Emotional intelligence (EI) plays a significant role in human emotional well-being, personal growth and life satisfaction. Self-awareness is said to be a key to the development of this form of intelligence. It has also been claimed by art therapists and educators that the expressive arts can assist people in self-expression and emotional awareness. In accordance with this belief, the motion picture (a movie) as a form of expressive product has been used to help people become aware of their own hidden feelings and thoughts (i.e. viewing or making an autobiographical movie can promote emotional awareness). However, there has been little research that specifically addresses how the process of making (one particular form of expressive art) may help a person to engage with their emotions. Therefore the central aim of the research was to show firstly how the development of autobiographical animations may engender therapeutic opportunities for greater reflection thereby facilitating personal development of, and emotional awareness in the artist and secondly, to demonstrate that the viewing of such animations may prompt viewers to gain the understanding of the feelings of the animator and be stimulated to reflect on their own experience, followed by the subsidiary goal of demonstrating that making animation could provide additional opportunities to the growth of greater emotional awareness in therapeutic and school education settings. To achieve these aims, a practice-led research approach was adopted. The thesis presents the reflective journey undertaken in creating the final installation ‘A residual cleft in my beautiful life: childhood’ based on childhood memories, showing how reflection-on-practice and in-practice formed key components in shaping the research and accompanying artistic endeavours. The development of the installation confirmed that the processes undertaken in producing an animation provided opportunities for self-knowledge and personal growth (in the artist), and that the audience were stimulated to consider their own childhoods as well as the childhood presented to them. The evidences of the animation installation production and the audience’s responses to the artefact further support the positive feedback on the values of animation to assist in increasing self-awareness from interviews with art therapists, and an online survey with school teachers. Observation of s three month animation teaching placement is also reported to invite further study to explore animation practice and school education. In conclusion, this research contributes to knowledge firstly, by providing a practice based account of the researcher’s exploration of, and development of emotional insight through her therapeutic art; secondly by evidencing the potential of a new form of expressive art - animation – to be used as an expressive arts technique to engage the emotional intelligence of individuals and audiences.

Thesis (doctoral)--Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 440-449).

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Jyväskylä, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 192-200).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1993. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 24).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1994. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 36).