Disbelief

Posted by TheFallen on August 08, 2002

In Reply to: PHRASE posted by SUSAN LATTMAN on August 08, 2002

: WHEN VIEWING SCIENCE FICTION..ARE WE ASKED TO SUSPEND BELIEF OR SUSPEND DISBELIEF???

The usual phrase is the suspension of disbelief, and it's not just applicable to sci-fi. Any work of fiction (and notably theatre or film) that successfully carries the reader/viewer/listener into the experience is said to achieve the suspension of disbelief. Other dramatists have set out deliberately to shatter this illusion to achieve effect, with Berthold Brecht being a classic example with the knowing "it's only a play" asides to the audience.