ABSTRACT
This volume contains several analyses of suspense written from various perspectives, from numerous theoretical and methodological positions. The general goal—as emphasized in the introduction—is to somehow "encircle" the problem and thus achieve a conceptualization of suspense that would be as comprehensive as possible. Some authors gathered here present and discuss hypotheses based on an empirical, social-scientific approach, whereas others use philosophical, film-theoretical or semiotic theories. My aim is to formulate a psychological conceptualization, a description and explanation of suspense as a reception phenomenon. Of course, such a psychological conceptualization cannot and should not be attempted without recognizing the results of those works that primarily analyze the (suspense) text itself. However, I focus on the understanding and processing of texts, on the viewers' or readers' prerequisites of this processing, and on the effects this has on them.
