Techniques used in creating dramatic suspense in roman comedy and a modern thriller
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20156459 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Louise Cilliers (Université Oran 1 Ahmed Ben Bella, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 367-383 |
| Publication date | 1996-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387 |
| Publisher | Unisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02564719608530148 |
| OpenAlex | W1996752537 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
Theatre productions and thrillers have one important quality in common: the success of both depends on the author's ability to arouse and maintain the spectator's/reader's interest. In this article the phenomenon of dramatic suspense and some of the techniques used to create suspense in a thriller and in Roman comedy are discussed. The qualities shared by Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal (1971) and the comedies of Plautus and Terence, include a plot structure containing an initiating event with a potentially significant outcome, a perspicuous but stereotyped plot, the dual goal of escape and entertainment, a predetermined time, date and place for the climax and various strategies of delaying the expected event. A comparison of the various techniques employed to generate and maintain suspense, also reveals the different approaches of Plautus and Terence in this respect, and sheds some light on the reason for Plautus’ popularity and Terence's less enthusiastic reception amongst contemporaries
Aesthetics · Art · Comedy · Entertainment · Epistemology · Literature · Phenomenon · Physics · Popularity · Visual arts · Crime and Detective Fiction Studies · History · Law in Society and Culture · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism · Social Psychology
The Theory and Analysis of Drama
Adventure, Mystery, and Romance
Fearing Fictions
Tradition and originality in Roman poetry.
Zur Eigenart der römischen Komödie
Dramatic Suspense in Seneca and in His Greek Precursors
Life and Literature in the Roman Republic
The People of Aristophanes
Understanding Terence
Dramaturgy of the Spectator
The role of temporal expectancies in the production of film suspense
The Theatre of Aristophanes
Greek Tragedy and the Emotions
Stories are to entertain
Factors Involved in Generating Suspense
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |