Retrospective Imaginative Involvement and Entertainment Narratives

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that audience members frequently engage in imaginative thinking of entertainment messages they have consumed. Manifestations of such retrospective imaginative involvement (RII) may range from short episodes of daydreaming or mind wandering in which entertainment content (e.g., characters, locations, events) play a central role to more elaborate and even organized activities such as writing fan fiction or engaging in cosplay. The chapter explicates the concept of RII as a novel approach to describe and explain this under researched element of media entertainment. It builds on the temporarily expanded boundaries of the self (TEBOTS) model to derive motivational explanations for the appeal of and intentions behind RII activities, and employs the model of narrative comprehension and engagement to elaborate the foundational cognitive mechanisms that enable and facilitate RII. Finally, it connects RII to contemporary notions of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment and offer perspectives for future thematic research.