Double Abyss Structure

Double abyss structure is an art theory term and artistic technique, most commonly used in films and novels. In double abyss structure, the audience experiences things exactly as the characters portrayed, giving a more "real" feeling to it. This is best exemplified by books written in first-person narrative, where everything happens exactly as perceived by the narrator or narrators. In films, double abyss structure usually manifests as changes to the main character's senses or cognitive abilities. For example, if a scene takes place in pitch darkness, and the audience can only see darkness as well, then they can only see as well as the characters. Similarly, if a character takes a narcotic and the camera becomes blurry and sound distorted, then the audience is experiencing what the character is experiencing, and it is double abyss structure. Paintings and pictures make use of double abyss structure as well, but more subtly and to an extent which is limited by the medium. A painting showing a wolf menacing a farmer in his field is from the audience's perspective. If, however, the wolf was extremely large and menacing, with glowing eyes and exaggerated fangs or claws, then the wolf appears as it does to the farmer in his state of terror, and double abyss structure is occurring. Note that a huge wolf with glowing eyes does not necessarily indicate a farmer's state of terror; more likely, the painter is utilizing artistic license. Note also that a drawing from a "normal" perspective is not necessarily indicative of an absence of double abyss structure.

Despite the name, this technique need not apply throughout the entirety of a work of art. Action films and horror films in particular sometimes switch briefly to a character's perspective and then back out again to magnify the drama, and novels can change narrators several times in a chapter, occasionally even from character to narrator, with accompanying changes in writing style or layout.