According to Gerald Prince in A Dictionary of Narratology, diegesis is "(1) The (fictional) world in which the situations and events narrated occur; (2) Telling, recounting, as opposed to showing, enacting." In diegesis the narrator tells the story. The narrator presents to the audience or the implied readers the actions (and perhaps) thoughts of the characters (including perhaps, but not necessarily, all that dwells within their imagination, their fantasies and dreams). The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ... The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ...

Diegesis in contrast to mimesis

Diegesis (Greek διήγησις) has been contrasted since Plato's and Aristotle's times with mimesis, the form that is showing rather than telling the thoughts or the inner processes of characters, by external action and acting. Diegesis, however, is the narrative in fiction and nonfiction, the telling of the story by the narrator(s). The narrator(s) may speak through his/her characters or may be the invisible narrator or even the all-knowing narrator who speaks from above in the form of commenting on the action or the characters. For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Aristotle (Greek: AristotélÄ“s) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Mimesis (μίμησις from μιμεîσθαι) in its simplest context means imitation or representation in Greek. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

What diegesis is

Diegesis may concern elements, such as characters, events and things within the main or primary narrative. However, the author may include elements which are not intended for the primary narrative, such as stories within stories; characters and events that may be referred to elsewhere or in historical contexts and that are therefore outside the main story and are thus presented in an extradiegetic situation.

Diegesis in literature

For narratologists, all parts of narratives--characters, narrators, existents, actors--are characterized in terms of diegesis. For definitions of diegesis, one should consult Aristotle's Poetics; Gerard Genette's Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method (Cornell University Press, 1980); or (for a readable introduction) H. Porter Abbott's The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative (Cambridge University Press 2002). In literature, discussions of diegesis tend to concern discourse/sjuzet (vs. story/fabula). Narratology, a term coined by Professor Edward Maloney from Georgetown University, is the theory and study of narrative and narrative structure and ([1]) the way they affect our perception. ... Aristotles Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. ... The cover of the paperback edition of Seuils. ...

Diegesis is multi-levelled in narrative fiction. Genette distinguishes between three "diegetic levels." The extradiegetic level (the level of the narrative's telling) is, according to Prince, "external to (not part of) any diegesis." One might think of this as what we commonly understand to be the narrator's level, the level at which exists a narrator who is not part of the story he tells. The diegetic level is understood as the level of the characters, their thoughts and actions. The metadiegetic level or hypodiegetic level is that part of a diegesis that is embedded in another one and is often understood as a story within a story, as when a diegetic narrator himself/herself tells a story.

Diegesis in film

Because much of cinema is based on mimetic construction techniques (such as continuity editing), "diegetic" typically refers to the internal world created by the story that the characters themselves experience and encounter: the narrative "space" that includes all the parts of the story, both those that are and those that are not actually shown on the screen (such as events that have led up to the present action; people who are being talked about; or events that are presumed to have happened elsewhere). Continuity editing is the predominant style of film editing practiced by most Hollywood editors. ...

Thus, elements of a film can be "diegetic" or "non-diegetic." These terms are most commonly used in reference to sound in a film, but can apply to other elements. For example, an insert shot that depicts something that is neither taking place in the world of the film, nor is seen, imagined, or thought by a character, is a non-diegetic insert. Titles, subtitles, and voice-over narration (with some exceptions) are also non-diegetic. In film studies, diegesis refers to the story world, and the events that occur within it. ...

Film sound and music

Sound in films is termed diegetic if it is part of the narrative sphere of the film. For instance, if a character in the film is playing a piano, or turns on a CD player, the resulting sound is "diegetic." If, on the other hand, music plays in the background but cannot be heard by the film's characters, it is termed non-diegetic or, more accurately, extra-diegetic. The score of a film (commonly but erroneously called the "sound track") is "non-diegetic" sound. Some examples: Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a longitudinal wave, and therefore is a mechanical wave. ...

• Jacques Tati's film Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday) systematically builds much of its humor through the systematic confusion and shifting placement of "diegetic" and "non-diegetic" sound-image relationships, showing that these positions depend on the audience's perception of the mimetic space of the film.

• In Blazing Saddles the new sherrif rides across the desert to swelling sound, revealed eventually as a jazz band with whom he exchanges greetings. Mel Brooks reuses this in High Anxiety with a symphony orchestra on a coach in the traffic surprising the protagonist, and hence the audience.

• In The Truman Show, a sequence shows the characters at night, when most of them are sleeping. Soft, soothing music plays, as is common in such scenes, but we assume that it does not exist in the fictional world of the film. However, when the camera cuts to the control room of Truman's artificial world, we see that the mood music is being played by a man standing at a bank of keyboards. This abrupt shift from apparently non-diegetic to diegetic is a kind of cinematic joke.

• The same joke is used in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka where the heros theme is heard in a non-diegetic context and then the camera pans back to show a group of musicians following him, playing the music diegetically, after their presence is pointed out by another character. The hero goes on to describe the band as his theme music, also parodying the idea of character themes in the movies that the film itself parodies.

• A similar instance (but reversed) is in the Scrubs episode "My Mentor" - J.D. is listening to Leroy's "Good Time" diegetically on his mp3 player. However, it seems to shift to non-diegetic sound as nurses change bedsheets in time with the music and the janitor sweeps the floor in time to the music.

• In the film Blowup, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, all the music heard in the film is diegetic-either heard from a live pop group, record player or car radio.

• Director Luis Buñuel disliked non-diegetic music, and tried to avoid it in his films. The films of his French era have absolutely no score, some (Belle de Jour, Diary of a Chambermaid) contain absolutely no music whatsoever. Belle de Jour does, however, feature (potentially) non-diegetic sound effects, believed by some to be clues as to whether or not the current scene is a dream.

• The film The Blair Witch Project was presented in the style of a documentary of real-life events, which would thus contain no non-diegetic music. To counter this, producers released a tie-in "soundtrack", fashioned to resemble a mixtape, containing tracks from various industrial and goth rock musicians. Keeping with the film's mockumentary theme, the soundtrack's liner notes state that the original mixtape was found in the abandoned car of one of the missing teens who appear in the film. Only one song (besides an eerie score in the closing credits) is heard within the film itself, playing briefly over a car stereo in the background.

• Another example of diegetic music is in the British soap "Eastenders". Often in the cafe, music is heard playing over the radio, and is usually modern music.

Jacques Tati as Monsieur Hulot. ... Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot was Jacques Tatis most famous film, released in 1953. ... Alex Karras as Mongo in Blazing Saddles Blazing Saddles is a Warner Bros. ... Mel Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky on June 28, 1926) is an Academy Award-winning American actor, writer, director and producer best known as a creator of broad film farces and comedy parodies or, as he says, spoofs. // Born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York to Russian-Jewish parents Maximillian Kaminsky... High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks. ... The Truman Show is a 1998 movie directed by Peter Weir, written by Andrew Niccol, and starring Jim Carrey. ... Im Gonna Git You Sucka is a 1988 comedy feature film written, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans. ... Scrubs is an American situation comedy that premiered on 2001 October 02 on NBC. It was created by Bill Lawrence, who also co-created Spin City. ... My Mentor is the second episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. ... John Dorian (portrayed by Zach Braff) Dr. Jonathan Michael Dorian (most commonly referred to as J.D.) is a fictional character played by Zach Braff in the American sitcom Scrubs. ... A digital audio player (DAP) is a device that stores, organizes and plays digital music files. ... Janitor is a fictional character played by actor Neil Flynn in the American sitcom Scrubs. ... Blowup (also rendered as Blow-Up) is an award-winning 1966 British-Italian art film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English language film. ... Michelangelo Antonioni (born September 29, 1912) is an Italian modernist film director whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics. ... Luis Buñuel Portolés (February 22, 1900 – July 29, 1983) was a Spanish-born filmmaker who worked mainly in Mexico and France, but also in his native country and the United States. ... Belle de jour is a 1967 French film starring Catherine Deneuve. ... Diary of a Chambermaid is the title of a play written by Andre Heuse, Andre de Lorde, and Thielly Nores. ... Belle de jour is a 1967 French film starring Catherine Deneuve. ... Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of movies, video games, music, or other media. ... The Blair Witch Project is a low-budget American horror film released in 1999. ... A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner. ... For the album by Los Abandoned, see Mix Tape (album). ... This article is about notable bands within the goth scene. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Liner notes are the booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or any sound recording container. ...

Diegesis in Music-Theatre

As with film, the term 'diegetic' refers to the function of the music within a work's theatrical narrative, with particular relevance to the role of song. Within the typical format of opera/operetta, characters are not 'aware' that they are singing. This is a non-diegetic use of song. If however the song is presented as a musical occurrence within the plot, then the number may be described as 'diegetic'.

For example, in The Sound of Music, the song "Do-Re-Mi" is diegetic, since the characters are aware they are singing. The character Maria is using the song to teach the children how to sing. It exists within the narrative sphere of the characters. In contrast, the song "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" is non-diegetic, since the musical material exists externally to the narrative. The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical based on the book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. ... Do Re Mi is a theater musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and book by Garson Kanin. ... How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? was a British talent show, shown on Saturday evenings on BBC One, first broadcast on 29 July 2006 until the series finale on 16 September 2006. ...

The "Once More, With Feeling" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer toys with the concept of non-diegetic versus diegetic music when the characters find themselves compelled to burst into song in the style of a musical. The audience's first critical assumption--that this is a "musical episode" where the Buffy cast is presumably unaware that they are singing--is overturned when it becomes clear that the characters are all too aware of their musical interludes and that determining the supernatural causes for the singing will be the focus of the episode's story. The audience is then forced to abandon one form of suspension of disbelief (i.e. that musical numbers will go unacknowledged by the characters in a musical) in favor of another (that the characters are aware of how unnatural spontaneous singing is in the context of the "real world"). Once More, with Feeling is a musical episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American cult television series that aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... The Scooby Gang, or Scoobies, are Buffy Summers and her friends and colleagues who assist her in her duties as Slayer in the cult television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ... Suspension of disbelief refers to the willingness of a reader or viewer to accept the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. ...

Diegesis in Role-Playing Games

In role-playing games diegesis includes all the "in-game" parts of the story, both those that are and aren't actually played out. However, rules or system elements that are used to resolve what does and doesn't happen in the imagined situation are typically "non-diegetic." For example, the number of hit points that a character has may determine whether or not a character dies in a fight, but are not themselves part of the narrative situation. The term "meta-concept" is also used for some non-diegetic elements.^{[citation needed]} This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... In many wargames, role-playing games, and combat-oriented video games, hit points are an abstraction for the amount of damage an object or player in the game can take before becoming ineffective. ...

Diegesis in Professional Wrestling

In professional wrestling diegesis refers to the portrayal of storylines and/or worked events within the professional wrestling industry as real. The terminology used in the professional wrestling industry for such diegesis is kayfabe. In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KEI-feib; IPA: ) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. ...

Kayfabe is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non-wrestling aspects of promotions, such as feuds, storylines, and gimmicks, in a similar manner with other forms of entertainment such as soap opera or movie. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to an actor breaking character on camera. In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KEI-feib; IPA: ) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. ... Suspension of disbelief refers to the willingness of a reader or viewer to accept the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. ... A professional wrestling feud is a staged disagreement between two wrestlers or factions of wrestlers over a purported slight or insult. ... In professional wrestling, an angle is a fictional storyline. ... In professional wrestling, a gimmick is a wrestlers personality, behavior, attire and/or other distinguishing traits while performing. ... For Philippine soap opera, see Teleserye. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor or actress is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ...