Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Suspension of disbelief or “willing suspension of disbelief” is a formula for justifying the use of fantastic or non-realistic elements in literary works of fiction. It was put forth in English by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who suggested that if a writer could infuse a “human interest and a semblance of truth” into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative.

Cognitive estrangement in fiction involves using a person’s ignorance or lack of knowledge to promote suspension of disbelief.