Abstract
Western modes of thinking are usually associated with logic, reason, rationality and the positivist scientific
paradigm. This is juxtaposed against "spiritual" ways of perceiving the world and different world views as
associated with non-Western contexts. The article explores negotiations of differing ontologies where the
positivist paradigm fails to explain phenomena. The possibilities of ascribing truth and reality to such an
encounter are sought here in literary theory of the fantastic and notions of the surreal. These scientifically
unexplainable events are illustrated with reference to the pro-filmic experiences of particular documentary
crews, explained through Todorov’s literary theory of the fantastic, incorporating the uncanny and the
marvelous.