ABSTRACT
In chapter 4 it was maintained that interest is the major emotion experienced during the watching of a traditional feature film. What then are the determinants of interest in the stimulus, that is, the fictional events? Existing insights into the structure of traditional narratives would appear to offer more than enough points of departure for a description of those elements that determine costs and benefits-what we refer to here as investment and returnand are responsible for interest. There are two such elements, namely, thematic structures and character structures. The former regulates expectations with respect to the course of the action, while the latter governs expectations regarding the characters and the viewer's involvement in their fortunes. This latter element, the cognitive character structures, will be discussed in chapter 6. The literature of drama theory recounts a number of efforts to define the dramatic situations that form the core of existing dramas or might fulfill such a role in future dramatic works. Polti (1921/1977) undertook to characterize 36 such situations, including Fatal Imprudence, Self-sacrifice for Kindred, Erroneous Judgment, and Mistaken Jealousy. Souriau (1950) employed a more rigid system, distinguishing six separate dramaturgical functions, including the Aimed Dramatic Force (often a passion, such as desire or fear), the Representative of Value, and the person who obtains the Value, and the Adversary. In Souriau's view, various functions can be united in a single character; he also takes into account the different viewpoints according
to which a situation can be defined. Thus, by means of permutation and combination, he arrives at over 200,000 different situations. These, in turn, form thematic clusters, such as Temptation and Betrayal. A system closely associated with that of Souriau is the structuralist "actant" model devised by Greimas (1966) for the interpretation of mythical stories. Whereas Souriau divides drama into situations, Greimas sees a story in terms of sequences. These are characterized by a particular constellation of actants, such as the Sujet-Heros, the Objet Valeur, the Destinataire, and the Opposant.
