Brench verfremdungseffekt

"The distancing effect is a technique used in theater and cinema that prevents the audience from losing itself completely in the narrative, instead making it a conscious critical observer. the actor accomplishes this by directly addressing the audience, barring them from feeling empathy (film), interrupting the narrative (cinema), or drawing attention to the filmmaking or theatrical process. 

Bertolt Brecht, German leftist playwright and director. The theater of his time, like most Hollywood movies now, relied on emotional manipulation to bring about a suspension of disbelief for the audience, along with an emotional identification with the main character. Audience members were taken on an uncritical emotional roller coaster ride, crying when the main character cried, laughing when s/he laughed — identifying with him/her even when the character had nothing in common with them or their interests (working-class audiences swooningly identifying with a Prince of Denmark, for example).

Brecht saw that these audiences were manipulated by theater technology — beautiful, realistic sets, cleverly naturalistic lighting, the imaginary fourth wall, and most importantly, emotionally effusive acting techniques. He soon watched with horror as the Nazi movement gained popular support in his country with its racist, xenophobic demagoguery, relying on similar emotional manipulation. Emotional manipulation was, to him, Enemy Number One of human decency.

It was in this context that Brecht developed his theory of Verfremdungseffekt, also known as V-effekt, alienation effect, or distanciation effect. (Important disclaimer: there is compelling evidence that many of Brecht’s greatest ideas were developed in uncredited cooperation with his artistic partners).

The alienation effect attempts to combat emotional manipulation in the theater, replacing it with an entertaining or surprising jolt. For instance, rather than investing in or “becoming” their characters, they might emotionally step away and demonstrate them with cool, witty, and skillful self-critique. The director could “break the fourth wall” and expose the technology of the theater to the audience in amusing ways. Or a technique known as the social gest could be used to expose unjust social power relationships so the audience sees these relationships in a new way. "

The term used to designate the concept of the epic theatre theory formulated by Bertolt Brecht. the original German term is VERFREMDUNGSEFFEKT which is also known for estrangement.

Brencht describes it as a technique that allows us to portray human and social events, so as to be considered unusual, needing explanation, and not considered as gratuitous or merely natural.The purpose of this effect is to provide the socially situated viewer with the possibility of constructive criticism. The distancing effect is achieved through the use of a variety of scenic language features, primarily through a technique of interpretation in which, according to Brecht, the actor must conform to the action of the character as if it could be modified.This action must necessarily result in a social gesture, which the author explains as being the physical expression of the character's emotion, derived from the social relations that determine such emotion. Although primarily focused on the actor's work, distancing should be complemented with narrative features of posters, songs, and other scenic language effects