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Sending Chills Up My Spine: Somatic Film and the Care of the Self

  • Max RyynänenEmail author
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Part of the Palgrave Studies in Educational Futures book series (PSEF)

Abstract

In this chapter, Max Ryynänen discusses somatic film culture. Films are consciously made to produce somatic stimulation and the audience aspires to get this somatic stimulation. Examples of this kind of film use are horror, thrillers, and action movies. We feel itching in the sole, we jump up from the chair, and we feel physical disgust. This form of film Ryynänen calls somatic film. What do we learn from our bodies when we watch somatic film? Ryynänen approaches the problem through a Foucauldian perspective. In the last part of the history of sexuality, Care for the Self, Michel Foucault raised discussion about the return of (Western) bodily self-care, once central for the stoics and now again present through the contemporary project of well-being. Through challenging oneself and through reflecting on one’s own borders through film might be a form of care of the self, and a way for us to not just experiment and reflect, but to teach ourselves and learn through film about our own bodies.

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© The Author(s) 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Aalto UniversityEspooFinland

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