Tunnetylle

Tunnetylle is a neologism used in Finnish media studies to describe the phenomenon by which audiences experience and project emotional states onto media characters, objects, or events. The term captures the idea that viewers do not merely receive information but actively inhabit a narrative with felt meaning.

Etymology and scope: The word combines tuntea, "to feel," with a Finnish allative-like suffix, producing an expression that suggests movement toward feeling. It has been used to analyze film, television, video games, literature, and social media discourse.

Definitions and manifestations: Tunnetylle refers to emotional salience and empathetic engagement—the sense that a character's inner life seems accessible and worthy of attention. It encompasses identification with characters, attributions of intention, and emotional resonance evoked by pacing, music, and realism.

Methods and assessment: Researchers study tunnetylle through self-report scales, qualitative interviews, physiological measures (heart rate, skin conductance), and data from eye-tracking and discourse analysis. Comparative studies examine how genre, cultural background, and platform influence the strength of tunnetylle.

Criticism and considerations: Some scholars caution that tunnetylle may conflate audience emotion with narrative quality or cultural familiarity. Others note challenges in defining boundaries between general emotional engagement and the more specific projection of feelings onto on-screen agents.

See also: parasocial interaction, emotional engagement, media psychology.