This desire for fascination connects to the basic human desire for, and attraction of, possible worlds which can satiate our craving for overstimulation.
The security of witnessing a dangerous spectacle unharmed enables us to taste the threat of fascination without consequence, and then to return to our sheltered existence.
He regards postmodern culture as a culture dominated by the desire of becoming fascinated rather than interested in fascination as an intense power wielded by one agent over another.
According to Bredekamp, images only remain silent as long as no one engages in them. Once they are looked at, the established relation between viewer and image demands a reaction that includes the return of the gaze.
The powerful experience and deep awareness of life and being-in-the-world are driving forces in the production and reception of both literature and art.
For Heinrich, the history of religion is a history of fascination. Their main connection lies in the idea of repression. What is perceived as fascinating, according to Heinrich, are unsolved conflicts and unreleased tensions.
[w]hoever is fascinated doesn’t see, properly speaking, what he sees. Rather, it touches him in an intermediate proximity; it seizes and ceaselessly draws him close, even though it leaves him absolutely at a distance.’