Nathan Bransford - The Forums

The concept of participation mystique has wide-reaching ramifications for social beings. It's rituals so much part of our everyday existence we readily engage in them, often unaware of our rapt participation. A fundamental definition for participation mystique: Self-identification with tangibles, persons and objects and systems; and intangibles, forces, symbols, and abstractions. Maybe we have difficulty creating narrative participation mystiques because we are unaware of the many we participate willingly in unawares.

Take patriotism, for example: Participation mystique. Institutional belief systems, like religion, politics, lifeways, groupthink and workplace interactions; and informal belief systems, public and private social interactions, recreational, intellectual, emotional, and physical activities, and so on, wherever interpersonal interactions foster or alienate individual senses of belonging and identifying with one or more discrete tangible or intangible aspect: Participation mystiques.

The term participation mystique arose from psychoanalysis foundations for explaining nonconscious self-identification with circumstances. For example, the sentimental values and feelings we develop for tangible and intangible personal possessions. Also love interests, family, acquaintances, nemeses, heroes, supernatural beings, authority figures, ideologies, cultural identities, moral and social values, natural forces, emotions, etc.

Writing methods that deeply engage readers in a narrative's participation mystique: An overly simplistic method creates circumstances similar to those of a target audience's. Characters with problems to resolve, meanings to unravel, goals to achieve that are reflections of a target audience's circumstances create reader rapport with a reader surrogate through self-identification resonance. Readers self-identifying with circumstances confronting a reader surrogate character engage in a participation mystique.

Other influential factors for invoking a participation mystique include benefitting from readers' willing suspension of disbelief. Readers generally approach a fictional narrative eager to suspend disbelief. No matter how factual, authentic, credible, or incredible the circumstances, readers generally want to care about and participate vicariously, deeply in a narrative. Violating that implicit contract between writer and reader upsets a participation mystique. The same for creative nonfiction, invoking readers' disbelief upsets a participation mystique.

Incredible circumstances may upset a participation mystique. For unimaginative readers fantastical phenomena are so incredible they can't suspend disbelief, can't engage in a participation mystique.

Exotic circumstances invoke wish fulfillment through providing a proxy reality participation mystique in an exotic secondary setting world different from our everyday routine alpha existence. In a sense, commonplace faster than light travel fantastical motifs reflect a wish fulfillment desire to leave the natal nest and strike out into new, untracked frontiers for the sake of establishing and reinforcing self-identity formation, invoking awe and wonder and ideally pity and fear as well so readers care what will happen. Fantasy premises reflect a wish fulfillment desire for exotic powers to favorably, vicariously influence readers' destiny and self-identity formation. Horror premises reflect an emotional need for understanding the meaning of exotic, unknown and perhaps unknowable paranormal or natural phenomena.

Anyway, that's three big participation mystique related phenomena, willing suspension of disbelief, exotic secondary settings, and self-identification resonance with circumstances of a participation mystique itself.

Number one method for invoking and maintaining a participation mystique involve the many methods of creating close narrative distance. Simply put, close narrative distance comes from readers identifying with a reader surrogate persona closest to the immediate time, place, situation, persons, and events of an unfolding insuperable personal drama--tragedy or comedy. Personal drama, that's key.

The closeness of narrative distance directly functions through who's the strongest attitude holder. A reader surrogate persona can be an overt narrator, a protagonist, or a main character at the center of the action though not necessarily or unnecessarily a narrator or a protagonist, though a narrator can be a main character and a protagonist, or any permutation of the former.

An overt narrator expressing commentary about a narrative's circumstances has a strong attitude, frequently a subjective, biased, and open to interpretation point of view and attitude. Perhaps a covert narrator objective and unbiased in attitude doesn't express commentary and a protagonist is the strongest attitude holder. Perhaps a main character at the center of dramatic action is the strongest attitude holder but mostly unaltered by the circumstances of a drama. By definition, a protagonist is most transformed by a drama, and if the strongest attitude holder, is the ideal reader surrogate.

Voice with attitude as a function of Discourse comes into play in narrative distance and by extension participation mystique. Characters with attitude come into play. Setting, Idea-theme, and Event with attitude, Plot's causation, tension, and antagonism with attitude come into play. That's SPICED's attitude, personal attitude readers identify with.

If readers as vicarious bystanders are closest to a narrator as reader surrogate and attitude holder, narrative distance is comparatively close, though still somewhat open when removed from the immediate time, place, situation, persons, ideas, and events of a narrative. If readers are closest to a protagonist or main character as the reader surrogate and attitude holder who is interacting in the immediate time, place, situation, persons, ideas, and events of a narrative, narrative distance is about as close as it can get and, therefore, the participation mystique potentially goes about as deep as it can go.

Lest I forget, personal thoughts and sensations also evoke strong, close narrative distance and, therefore, invoke a deep participation mystique.

Unsettled narrative point of view upsets a participation mystique. Unsettled narrative point of view is a consequence of unnecessarily shifting narrative distance away from a reader surrogate and attitude holder on to some other persona's viewpoint, be it to a protagonist, co-protagonist, deuteragonist, triagonist, main character, antagonist, nemesis, villain, supporting character, foil character, auxiliary character, object, setting, or narrator, or to an authorial persona intrusion. The latter being the dreaded lecturing tell, an intrusive authorial recital which upsets a participation mystique.

In order to create a fully satisfying and fully realized, complete participation mystique, a reader surrogate must undergo a problematic, profound, and inspirational transformation. The proverbial larger than life, life-defining experience so much talked about as essential for fulfilling narratives. In the case of an overt narrator, circumstances of a narrative cause the narrator to experience the greatest transformation, and vicariously, readers. In the case of a covert narrator, a protagonist experiences the greatest transformation and is the attitude holder-reader surrogate. Readers experience the transformation through him or her, or it if it's what's intended for readers to engage with.

Effective openings build on readers' ready willingness to engage in a participation mystique to the point they can't let go. A fundamental opening method portrays emotionally causal conflict evoking empathy at least, sympathy perhaps, and irresistible curiosity as well.

The core quality for a deep participation mystique is upsetting readers' emotional equilibrium. Then the participation mystique doesn't let up on conflict, causation, tension, and antagonism until a final outcome when emotional equilibrium settles into a new normal equilibrium.

Openings progress into middles, where a participation mystique deepens because empathy and curiosity and emotional disequilibrium deepen. Transitions or act-bridging crises signal turns, reversals, twists which also deepen a participation mystique because they signal changing circumstances which represent progress and setbacks discovering what's knowable about a main dramatic complication, and increasing efforts to address the complication, increasing forces in opposition in response to increasing efforts, and raising stakes and building complications and deepening conflict, furthering emotional disequilibrium, and increasing doubt of opposing outcomes, favorable or unfavorable.

Middles progress into endings, where a participation mystique deepens because of the above as well as because readers root for a reader surrogate's success, or failure in some circumstances, and readers hopes and wishes and desires for favorable outcomes seem hopeless but with a glimmer of hope to hang on to until a final outcome wraps it all up and emotional equilibrium is restored. Denouement.

Polymath - wow!
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Ok, (picking jaw up off the floor). So you said perhaps you might find it challenging to write about this subject. How did you find it? You've articulated it beautifully, and though at first I was a little daunted by the length of your explanation, I found it a great 'connector' of the many variables which come together to form the way we, as human beings, want to experience a book. Thank you.

Would you care to name any authors who particularly achieve that goal for you? I know there are soooooo many to choose from, but just to name a few?

You know who immediately comes to mind as a subtle master in this regard? Raymond Chandler.

Oh dear dear dear, polymath. Hmmm. I think I maybe might perhaps be spying that veil, maybe. Hm hm hm. I hesitate to hope...I might understand.

Thanks for the validation, Leila.

I was prospecting for who first located willing suspension of disbelief as a prime factor in narrative arts when I stumbled onto the concept of participation mystique. I'd heard willing suspension of disbelief bantered about without much explanation, as though I was supposed to take it as a given and either understand it or not and nary an in between. I soon found Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the originator and investigated his take on it, closing on what it means.

Meanwhile, I'd come across an Australian master of arts (writing) student's thesis, which provided more background on willing suspension of disbelief and the role secondary settings play, plus a mother load on participation mystique and how the three interact.

Kim Falconer's thesis, "Fiction in Another World"
http://www.falconastrology.com/pdfs/Fic ... _World.pdf

I further investigated participation mystique and secondary settings' roles and origins and ramifications, tracking the former to psychoanalysis and Jung and Freud. Wikiepedia has a survey article on Participation Mystique's origins and psychoanalytical perspective. It's no coincidence writing, reading, and interpreting literature parallels with Freud developing psychoanalysis from interpreting literature available to him.

I then tested my understanding by rereading favorites, new reads, and so on. It got to where I got it most from remaining conscious of how I emotionally responded while I read. Then I waded into narratives which had eluded my engagement before. New horizons had opened up as if by magic. Nothing any longer was inaccessible or impenetrable. Huzzah. Some are as yet requiring more effort to understand their intents and meanings than I like to invest. I came to a satisfactory conclusion it's not me; it's the failings of the narrative and by extension the writer and the writing fashions and reading audience expectations of their times.

Frequently, I'm indicted for overthinking, trying too hard, making mountains out of molehills. Phbbt. This is me: I like to take things apart, see how they work, how they go together. Tangible objects aren't as fun anymore. Intangibles like how narratives are put together, how and why they work, now that's a fun challenge and ever so closely related to what it means to be human. And taking them apart, counterintuitively, makes them more whole to me.

Reading is my lifelong passion. Dissecting narratives and coming to an understanding of narrative theory, wanting adding my own contributions to it, has brought me further joy from reading. If nothing else, no writing or developmental editing or writing and literature professorship career presents, I will have enough reward from my now fully realized reading pasttimes.

I read most anything anymore. Some I don't get much past the first hundred words unless some other reason than close engagement puts my eyes on the page. Like a novel generating a lot of buzz, a study assignment, assigned or chosen for a study purpose or project, or just because I've nothing better at hand for reading.

I've most liked recently Jonathan Franzen's novels, John Grisham's, and Richard Harris' Hannibal saga. My favorite story at present is "Her Favorite Story" by Mark Richard. It's in the collection The Ice at the Bottom of the World, 1989, a beautifully tragic drama about finding a sense of belonging and losing it. Close to home for me. I like reading authors' bodies of work, the body of work of a given literary movement, and eras of particular aesthetics, like the ages of science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller, western, horror, etc., and investigating how they reflect and influence society.

Margo wrote:Oh dear dear dear, polymath. Hmmm. I think I maybe might perhaps be spying that veil, maybe. Hm hm hm. I hesitate to hope...I might understand.

So cool, Margo.

I pray I've meaningfully connected with one fellow traveler. You give me hope my journey hasn't been in vain. If you've seen the elephant on account of me, my bill due on receipt is that you pay it forward.