Analysing Represented Beings: An Anthropological Heuristic

Chapter 6 provides a detailed framework for the systematic analysis of characters as represented beings, summarising concepts from several disciplines in a heuristic model. The properties of characters as human, non- or superhuman beings are organised into four large dimensions: corporeality, psyche, sociality, and behaviour. Corporality includes external appearance, facial expressions, gestures, postures, movement, verbal behaviour, and physical interactions with the environment. Sociality can be described using sociological concepts of interactions and relations, groups, roles, values, norms, identities, and power structures. The psyche of characters encompasses relatively stable personality traits as well as fleeting perceptions, cognitions, emotions, evaluations, and motivations. When analysing the psyche of characters, several approaches can be used that lead to different results. Depending on the aims of the analysis, folk psychology may be used for an intuitive understanding, historically specific ideas to take cultural contexts into account, or contemporary sciences of the mind, including cognitive science, psychoanalysis, or personality psychology, for more nuanced interpretations. Rick Blaine from Casablanca serves as a key example in this chapter and is analysed in terms of his physical, social, mental, and behavioural characteristics. Finally, the chapter outlines how characters' transformations can affect thematic depth and audience engagement, demonstrating the dynamic nature of characters in both narrative and reception.