Editing Suspension of disbelief (section)

== Concept ==
The traditional concept of the suspension of disbelief as proposed by Coleridge is not about suspending disbelief in the reality of fictional characters or events, but the suspension of disbelief in phenomena that is regarded as implausible.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Once-Told Tales: An Essay in Literary Aesthetics|last=Kivy|first=Peter|date=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470657676|location=West Sussex|pages=100}}</ref> This can be demonstrated in the way a reader suspends disbelief in supernatural phenomena itself—simulating the feelings of a character that is experiencing the phenomena in the narrative of a story—rather than simply the implausibility of the phenomena in a story.

The phrase "suspension of disbelief" came to be used more loosely in the later 20th century, often used to imply that the burden was on the reader, rather than the writer, to achieve it. This might be used to refer to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. These premises may also lend to the engagement of the mind and perhaps proposition of thoughts, ideas, art and theories.<ref>{{cite news|title= From 'King Kong' to 'Indecent Proposal,' audiences have been asked to buy a premise that can make – or break – a film|work=Los Angeles Times|date=15 April 1993|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-15-ca-23034-story.html|access-date=2010-10-24|first=Robert W.|last=Welkos}}</ref> With a film, for instance, the viewer has to ignore the reality that they are viewing a staged performance and temporarily accept it as their reality in order to be entertained.  Early [[black-and-white]] films are an example of visual media that require the audience to suspend their disbelief for this reason.<ref name=":1" /> Cognitive estrangement in fiction involves using a person's ignorance to promote suspension of disbelief.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Dictionary of Critical Theory|last=Buchanan|first=Ian|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780199532919|location=Oxford}}</ref>