Introduction: Analysing Emotion and Theorising Affect

Abstract

This discussion introduces ideas of emotion and affect for a volume of articles demonstrating the scope of approaches used in their study within the humanities and creative arts. The volume offers multiple perspectives on emotion and affect within 20th-century and 21st-century texts, arts and organisations and their histories. The discussion explains how emotion encompasses the emotions, emotional feeling, sensation and mood and how these can be analysed particularly in relation to literature, art and performance. It briefly summarises concepts of affect theory within recent approaches before introducing the articles.

Immersive-360° theater: User experience in the virtual auditorium and platform efficacy for current and underserved audiences.

“…It is a multifaceted concept (Jerald, 2015) that includes the feeling of spatial presence (the sense of physically being in the space of the theater) and social presence (the sense that the other people in the space, including the performers and audience, are "real" people with whom you could interact). For immersive-360°theater in particular, it is also crucial that audiences experience an emotional connection to the themes and actors within a performance, since emotional impact is a leading motivator for theater attendees (Tait, 2016;Walmsley, 2011). To gauge the potential of immersive-360°as a platform for theater, it is therefore important to understand how immersion, presence, and emotional arousal are experienced in the virtual theater auditorium.…”

sychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts Immersive-360° theatre: user experience in the virtual auditorium and platform efficacy for current and underserved audiences

“…For immersive-360° theatre in particular, it is also crucial that audiences experience emotional connection to the themes and actors within a performance. Art is made with embedded emotional intention and communication with its audiences (Tait, 2016), and the desire for emotional experience and impact is a leading motivator for theatre attendees (Walmsley, 2011). To gauge the potential of immersive-360° as a platform for theatre, it is therefore important to understand how immersion, presence, and emotional arousal are experienced in the virtual environment.…”