The willingness of an audience to temporarily accept implausible or fantastical elements in a work of fiction for the sake of enjoying the story. This psychological process allows viewers or readers to engage with fictional worlds despite their unrealistic elements.
Coined by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817 in his 'Biographia Literaria,' where he described his role in creating poems with 'supernatural' elements that would require readers' 'willing suspension of disbelief for the moment.' The phrase became central to understanding how audiences engage with fiction.
Coleridge's insight was revolutionary because it recognized that audiences are active participants in fiction—we choose to believe, and that choice can be broken if the work violates our trust! Modern blockbuster films live or die by this concept: we'll accept superheroes flying, but if they act inconsistently with their established character, we stop believing.
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