Consciousness, Literature and the Arts

Archive

Volume 6 Number 1, April 2005

___________________________________________________________________

"Opening A colorful Lexico: The Relation between Synesthesia and the Production of Metaphors

or

"Is reading synesthetic?"

by

Fee-Alexandra Haase

JSD Research Institute, South Korea

This article is a comparative study concerning similarities and differences of artificial phenomena in literature with certain similarities to synethetic phenomena in terms of their semiotic contents. The basic difference between synesthetic phenomena and the phenomena in artificial texts here described is that these phenomena are parts of artificial products. In that way they are neither ‘ad-hoc’-impressions nor follow a strict cultural codex. We will see different examples of these phenomena. This article provides also qualitative information on the types of quasi-synesthetic phenomena we can find in the arts and demonstrates the differences between them and synesthesia.[1] It observes how the principles of artificial esthetics govern a great amount of iconicity that occurs also within a synesthetic phenomenon. This article begins with a historical introduction of synesthesia and its forms in literature compared to other literary forms. The question discussed is whether synesthesia is a phenomenon realized in an artificial language or if an artificial language uses to imitate synesthetic effects.[2] Therefore we will discuss the close similarities and differences of rhetorical figures and expressions of synethetical effects and make a model demonstrating the theoretical approach for the description of synesthetic phenomena in order to discuss the relation between descriptions in art and pathological synesthesia. Finally we discuss whether a basic human skill, reading, contains criteria that qualify this skill as a synesthetic phenomenon.

I       Introduction: Esthetics and synesthesia and their historical sources

In traditional theories of arts coming up in the 19^th century esthetics (Gr. aísthesis ‘perception’) became frequently equated with the theory of the beautiful. Modern philosophers define esthetics as the theory and philosophy of sensual perception in art, design, philosophy and science. Therefore, not only the terms decide about the ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’, but the way of the sensuality in connection with the plotting system of the object on the esthetic value of an object. In the traditional view of art during the 19^th century esthetics is an equivalent to the theory of the beautiful. For Plato the beautiful is the natural-beautiful, in which the idea of the beauty comes to the expression. Art is only mimesis (imitation of the reality). At the beginning of the modern times in the Renaissance and in German idealism one later regarded the work of art as an ideal and the artist as a ´genius´.[3] This background in science is important for the understanding of categories of the beautiful following an idealistic conception.

An esthetic idea according to Platonic traditions cannot become a recognized phenomenon; it is an abstract concept that stands next to the real phenomena. The genius may also be defined as the faculty of esthetic ideas. In other words: Sensations do not enable us to adopt an esthetic realism. Taste is a critical faculty that judges by the use of comparisons between ideas and impressions of the senses. The etymology of the term ´esthetics´ derives from the Greek aisthesis (´sensation´). In the Western tradition the term has come to designate not the whole domain of the sensible. The noun ´esthetics´ places the term in the context of cultural processes. The noun ´esthetics´ provides the only meaning that can be useful in all societies: a definition which encompasses all of the factors which govern an audience's perception and appreciation for an art object. Esthetics as a noun is a usage that refers to the cultural canons of a people. The German philosopher Alexander Baumgarten (1714 - 1762) first used the term esthetics to convey physical ‘beauty‘. Today we can distinguish between the idealistic theoretical approach and the empiric approach to esthetic phenomena.

Synesthesia was described for the first time at the end of the 19^th century.[4] At the end of the 19^th century the term ‘audition colorée’ was used to describe synesthesia between the sense of hearing and visuality.[5] We have to look at the different forms used when synesthesia is realized. A phenomenon ‘synesthesia’ exists which is physiologically an empiric reception and connection of one sense with another. Synesthesia finds a way of documentation by a medium. The most common medium by synestheticallly affected persons is writing or oral speech. We will use samples as case studies taken from personal descriptions of persons with synesthesia, poems describing synesthesia and a sample for an artist producing synesthetic art and a poems containing synesthetic descriptions.[6] 

The modern neologistic term ‘synesthesia’ originates from the Greek ‘syn’ (together) and ‘aisthesis’ (perception). Synesthesia is an ability of a reception when senses are joined. Numbers, letters, and words are realized e.g. in colors. Synesthesia is the phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sense modality gives rise to a sensation in another sense modality. The most prevalent form of synesthesia is ‘hearing’ music or vowels in color. This is a rather peculiar condition in which the senses get cross-wired. Stimulation of one sense, it seems, causes an inappropriate stimulation of another. According to common models perceptions are represented not in individual nerve cells, but as specific samples on the cerebral cortex. Synesthetic experiencing comes off by a special cross-linking of different brain ranges.

Sight

              Hearing

                  Smell

              Taste

                  Touch

  The five traditional senses according to Aristotle

It was since Aristotle observed that the number of the human senses is five. The ancient philosopher Aristotle distinguished these five senses as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Perception is not possible without an entity that acts on the sense organs. Perception is not ‘objective’ in the sense commonly used which is outside of the observer. Perception needs an observer. Therefore the perception itself is relative to the observer. The sense organs are fundamentally automatic in working, while an evaluation process needs criteria.

Perception

Evaluation

Emotion

Thought

Reminiscence

Imagination

Concepts of consciousness

The normal ability to think or reason is called in Latin ‘sentire’. Latin ´sensus´ is a derivation of ‘sentire’, to perceive, to feel, from the same root as Old German ´sinnen´ with the meaning ´to meditate, to think´. The sensation is an impression, or the consciousness of an impression made upon the central nervous organ, through the medium of a sensory or nerve or one of the organs of sense a feeling, or state of consciousness produced either by an external object (stimulus) or by some change in the internal state of the body. Perception is only a special kind of knowledge; a sensation is a special kind of feeling. The pairs ‘knowledge and feeling’ and ‘perception and sensation’ are always in an inverse ratio of each other.

A sensation is formed based on the sensory input. Each receptor is more sensitive to a specific kind of environmental change, but is less sensitive to others. Five general types of receptors are recognized. Sensations are feelings that occur when the brain interprets sensory impulses. Somatic senses need receptive places associated with the body, such as muscles, nerves, and viscera. E.g. for taste the taste buds are the organs of taste and are located within papillae of the tongue. Within taste receptors the taste cells are modified epithelial cells that function as receptors. Taste cells contain the taste hairs that are the portions sensitive to taste.

Sensations result in an evaluation process of esthetic values. Philosophical concepts interpret among other things the so-called ‘esthetics of the ugly’ as a higher form of beauty. Traditional esthetics assumes that universal and timeless criteria for the evaluation of works of art exist, but e.g. the metaphysic esthetics of the German idealism was criticized as ordered esthetics ‘from above’. From this critical basic attitude two currents developed: the psychological esthetics and the sciences of arts. All cognitive achievements possess an esthetic potential. In addition the empiric esthetics assumes there are different levels of esthetic experiencing, so that in this way also the esthetics of the ugly one can be explained.[7]

II     Case studies of synesthesia

In the following case studies we will see how synesthesia is expressed and described literally.

1.  Description of types of synesthesia

A letter of a synesthetic person was publicized online with a description of synesthesia. This letter contains the description of days realized in colors. The author describes a day as a ´beautiful orange´ and used a quasi-metaphoric construction:

Today is a beautiful orange Ever since I was a kid, numbers and days of the week have had colors. One is dark blue, two is silver gray, three is orange, four is chestnut brown, five is yellow, six is white, seven is green, eight is dark brown, nine is light tan. Double numbers don't register. Monday is dark blue, Tuesday is silver gray, Wednesday is orange, Thursday is dark brown, Friday is green, Saturday is red, and Sunday is yellow. Today is a beautiful orange day on the river even though it's only Tuesday. Does anyone out there see music as color? My choir is singing Carmina Burana next weekend. I'd love to know what color that is! [8]

These are individual connotations of phenomena. We classify them as ‘pseudo-metaphoric’ since they are results of an individual idiolectic status. A Day in the Life contains a description of synesthesia; synesthesia here is an expression of memories which arose from the sense of smelling certain things and connotations made to certain situations:

My memories never really make sense to me. I don't always remember the important stuff, but I have very vivid memories of the things that seemed important to me at the time. Maybe the things I remember reflect my two- and three-year-old consciousness. And maybe it's the vividness and the colors of my memories that attaches them so concretely to my senses. Whatever the method, they're often indelibly bound. When I taste grass, I immediately remember lying next to my dad in the grass, sharing a special moment. He and I were very close at that time in my life, so I have a fondness for grass as a concept. And when I think of certain people -- my great-grandmother, for instance, I can remember the smell of her -- the distinct odor of her house. She had a bright pink, flowery blanket that she'd fold in two on the floor as a pallet for me to lie on, and the polyester surface of it was cool and smooth on my skin, and the smell would fill my nose. My mom still has the blanket, although it doesn't smell like my G'ma so much anymore. I can still create the scent in my head, though -- as vivid as if I were at my house when it was still her house. It's very easy for me to associate sounds and words and music with vivid visual memories, too.[9]

In this example we find connotations of personal memory with visual experience. It is one form, in which synesthesia is expressed pseudo-metaphorically.[10] The personal description given in the following samples contains a poetic form of allegories to express the meaning of synesthesia. Giovanni Malito describes with metaphors such as ‘the scent of the moon’ in Synesthetics the phenomenon synesthesia per se:

Giovanni Malito

                  Synesthetics

 (i)

                  to locate

                  the scent

                  of the moon

                  is the reason

                  you look up

       at night

                  (ii)

                  you taste

                  sunshine

                  your tongue

                  tingles

                  with nothing

       it must say

                  (iii)

                  hypersensitive

                  touching air

                  hand opened

                  is then closed

                  squeezing atoms

                  and molecules

                  you touch origins

       of everything [11]

1. Description of one sense by another one: Painting and music

We now look at the case, when synesthetic phenomena are put into artificial media. The way how one sense describes another one exemplifies the work of the modern artist Wladimir Kandinski. Color has an emotional, physiological and symbolic effect.[12] By the mid-19^th century synesthesia had intrigued an art movement that sought sensory fusion. The union of the senses appears in many forms of art; Germans use therefore the term ´Gesamtkunstwerk´. The physician Gustav Theodor Fechner differentiated in the 19^th century between ‘higher esthetics’ and ‘lower esthetics’. The ‘higher esthetics’ is the ‘beautiful-mental‘ esthetics of the traditional philosophy and literature science which regards esthetics almost exclusively in connection with art. Also the information esthetics played a role in the second half of the 20^th century. Therefore all cognitive achievements possess an esthetic potential. Empiric esthetics assumes there are different levels of esthetic experiencing. In this way also the esthetics of the ugly one can be explained. Walter Benjamins calls esthetics the ‘concept of hedonism’.

In his early years the painter Kandinsky discovered his synesthesia while attending a performance of Wagner's opera Lohengrin in Moscow. Kandinsky started exploring synesthetic experiences as a member of the group Der Blaue Reiter. To evoke emotions and sensations in the beholders and listeners of their art, the group explored the emotional and perceptual dynamics of simultaneous presentations of different arts. Kandinsky's main experiments with cross-modal sensations concerned the multi-sensory perception of movement. Kandinsky assumed that one could feel the multi-sensory consonances and dissonances in simultaneously performed color movements, musical movements and dance movements. Kandinsky's explorations of the consonance and dissonance of simultaneous auditory and visual stimuli offers alternatives for ´Gestalt´-experiments. Kandinsky viewed the Compositions as major statements of his artistic ideas. They share several characteristics that express this monumentality: the impressively large format, the deliberate planning of the composition, and the transcendence of representation by increasingly abstract imagery.[13] The first three Compositions were destroyed during World War II. Composition IV (1911, 639 x 404) is divided abruptly in the center by two thick, black vertical lines. On the left a violent motion is expressed through the profusion of sharp, jagged and entangled lines. On the right all is quite with sweeping forms and color harmonies.

W. Kandinsky. Composition IV. 1911

Composition VI (1913, 640 x 421) was made two years later. The theme of this work is The Deluge. Kandinsky defined three centers to this Composition which are discerned sequentially by the viewer. Initially, the eye is drawn to the pink and white vortex in the left center.

W. Kandinsky. Composition VI. 1913

In these pictures Kandinski found a way to express abstract qualities not following the traditional mimetic concept of art. To express synesthetic effects within a theory of art, Kandinsky used allegorical concepts consisting of the metaphoric concepts of ´spirituality´, ´geometry´ and ´emotionality´. Kandinsky wrote that artists had an ‘inner necessity’ to express the ‘inner essence of things’. The main focus of his exploration of color was how it could be employed as an expression of ‘the Spiritual’. Kandinsky wrote that colors evoke emotions. Along with other formal elements like lines, shapes, and forms, color is a language that communicates to all. Kandinsky’s esthetic is rooted in symbolistic principles he describes in the following chapters of Concerning the Spiritual in Art:

Part I. About general aesthetic

 I.           Introduction

 II.          The movement of the triangle

III.                                    Spiritual revolution

IV.                                   The pyramid

Part II. About painting

V.           The psychological working of color

VI.          The language of form and color

VII.         Theory

VIII.         Art and artists

IX.          Conclusion

In the section About general aesthetic in the introduction describes the origin of art in metaphors of human beings:

Every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions. It follows that each period of culture produces an art of its own which can never be repeated. Shapeless emotions such as fear, joy, grief, etc. which belonged to this time of effort, will no longer greatly attract the artist. He will endeavour to awake subtler emotions, as yet unnamed.[14]

In the section The movement of the triangle Kandinsky speaks about a ‘life of the spirits’:

The life of the spirit may be fairly represented in diagram as a large acute-angled triangle divided horizontally into unequal parts with the narrowest segment uppermost. The lower the segment the greater it is in breadth, depth, and area.[15]

Color effects were considered hierarchical depending on the ‘level of spiritual development’ of an individual. Kandinsky's theory of synesthesia pointed out that in synesthetic sensory impressions were immediately communicated to the soul. In the chapter Spiritual revolution Kandinsky writes:

The spiritual triangle moves slowly onwards and upwards. Today one of the largest of the lower segments has reached the point of using the first battle cry of the materialist creed. Spiritual darkness, the insecurity of ignorance and fear pervade the world in which they move. Maeterlinck is perhaps one of the first prophets, one of the first artistic reformers and seers to herald the end of the decadence just described.[16]

In the chapter The Pyramid the difference between the arts music and painting is described:

In manipulation of form music can achieve results which are beyond the reach of painting. On the other hand, painting is ahead of music in several particulars. Music, for example, has at its disposal duration of time; while painting can present to the spectator the whole content of its message at one moment. Music which is outwardly unfettered by nature, needs no definite form for its expression.[17]

In the section About painting of the chapter The psychological working of color the connotation of ´color´ and ´things´ possessing this special color is described:

Whether the psychic effect of color is a direct one, as these last few lines imply, or whether it is the outcome of association, is perhaps open to question. The soul being one with the body, the former may well experience a psychic shock, caused by association acting on the latter. For example, red may cause a sensation analogous to that caused by flame, because red is the color of flame. A warm red will prove exciting, another shade of red will cause pain or disgust through association with running blood. In these cases color awakens a corresponding physical sensation which undoubtedly works upon the soul.

No more sufficient, in the psychic sphere, is the theory of association. Generally speaking, color is a power which directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.

IT IS EVIDENT THEREFORE THAT COLOR HARMONY MUST REST ONLY ON A CORRESPONDING VIBRATION IN THE HUMAN SOUL; AND THIS IS ONE OF THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE INNER NEED.[18]

In the following section The language of form and color the ‘weapons’ of paintings are described:

Painting has two weapons at her disposal:

1. Color.

2. Form.

Form can stand alone as representing an object (either real or otherwise) or as a purely abstract limit to a space or a surface. This essential connection between color and form brings us to the question of the influences of form on color. Form alone, even though totally abstract and geometrical, has a power of inner suggestion. A triangle (without the accessory consideration of its being acute-or obtuse-angled or equilateral) has a spiritual value of its own. In connection with other forms, this value may be somewhat modified, but remains in quality the same.

The more abstract is form, the more clear and direct is its appeal. In any composition the material side may be more or less omitted in proportion as the forms used are more or less material, and for them substituted pure abstractions, or largely dematerialized objects.

Two great divisions of color occur to the mind at the outset: into warm and cold, and into light and dark. To each color there are therefore four shades of appeal--warm and light or warm and dark, or cold and light or cold and dark.

Generally speaking, warmth or cold in a color means an approach respectively to yellow or to blue. This distinction is, so to speak, on one basis, the color having a constant fundamental appeal, but assuming either a more material or more non-material quality. The movement is an horizontal one, the warm colors approaching the spectator, the cold ones retreating from him.

The colors which cause in another color this horizontal movement, while they are themselves affected by it, have another movement of their own which acts with a violent separative force. This is, therefore, the first antithesis in the inner appeal, and the inclination of the color to yellow or to blue, is of tremendous importance.

The second antithesis is between white and black; i.e., the inclination to light or dark caused by the pair of colors just mentioned. These colors have once more their peculiar movement to and from the spectator, but in a more rigid form.

Cool red (madder) like any other fundamentally cold color, can be deepened - especially by an intermixture of azure.[19]

Kandinsky used for his theory human beings in a model conception; for Kandinsky color is related to the human soul. Examples of this construction are the expressions ‘keyboard´ for color, ´hammer´ for eye, ´piano´ for the soul in part II of Concerning the Spiritual in Art. We will now look at examples for the question ‘What makes colors ´speak´? Kandinsky used colors as indicators of other qualities like yellow for warm and blue for cold. All traditional color concepts show some similar basic distinctions between colors and introduce to some basic features of each color. If we look at the color theories, most common is the color wheel or color circle based on red, yellow and blue as basic colors. These are the three pigment colors that cannot be formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derivatives from these three hues. Green, orange and purple are the colors formed by mixing the primary colors. The tertiary colors exist from mixing a primary and a secondary color. They are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green and yellow-green. The meanings of colors have certain stability. Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Since then scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept. Basically it is taken from the prismatic arrangement visible in the arrangement of colors in a rainbow. The primary colors Itten called red, yellow and blue.

The use of colors in such a metaphoric way like in Kandinsky’s art can base upon a ‘tertium comparationis’-description: So the color stands for an attribute it has in common with an object posessing this color. So the message of this color can be understood. In this way synesthesia follows some artificial rules and is artificial itself. In other cases the synesthetic effects are based upon a personal connotation system; the connotation of days of the week and colors is a personal configuration not depending on general cultural or social concepts, but on personal memory and connotation by an individual entity. Artificial effects of synesthesia are based upon more comprehensive ´cultural memory´. The Latin word ´forma´ derivates in many languages in Europe and stands for visible and conceptional forms. Color is always related to a form. Form is the equivalent to the disposition, arrangement or order of parts which can have ´color´ as an attribute. The connotations of colors with certain values brought some ´common effects´ which make it easy for us to make a distinction between general esthetic common connotations and personal synesthetic effects. The basic colors yellow, red and blue have as attributes certain meanings which mostly relay to ´natural´ phenomena of this color.

Yellow

Yellow stimulates the nervous system as well as the mind. Yellow makes objects seem closer and larger. Its opposite color is violet. Yellow is associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy.

Red

Red stimulates the mind and nervous system. Bright red can be an irritant if used over large areas. Red is the color of fire and blood and associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense color. Red is widely used to indicate danger. Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love. Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness. Dark red is associated with vigour, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, malice, and wrath.

Blue

Blue has a calming effect. Blue does not require the eye to focus to be perceived. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquillity and calmness. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability. Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

Orange

Orange stimulates the mind and stimulates the appetite. Orange requires the eye to focus, therefore objects seem closer and larger. Orange conveys warmth and assurance. Its opposite color is blue. Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. Orange is the color of fall and harvest.

Green

Green creates a feeling of freshness. Its opposite color is red. Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money. It is the most restful color for the human eye. Green suggests stability and endurance.

Violet

Violet does not require the eye to focus; therefore objects and walls seem farther away.

Purple

Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

Brown

Brown in more earthy tones creates intimacy and evokes a sense of tranquillity, but can make a room seem too subdued if used widely without texture or another color to enliven it. Beiges and tans are more sophisticated tones. Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities. Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

Gold

Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

White

White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection. White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning.

Black

Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery. Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown. It usually has a negative connotation. Black denotes strength and authority. It is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color.[20]

White   Birth, purity, cleanness

Black   Mourning, death, earth, seriousness, grief

Red      Fight, love, passion

Orange    Warmth, wealth, enthusiasm, creativity, happiness

Yellow     Warmth, happiness, cowardice, betrayal, hatred, joy, intellect, energy

Green   Spring, youth, freshness

Blue     Sincerity, loyalty, melancholy 

Violet   Seriousness, dignity

Purple  Power, high-ranked priest, dignity

Pink     Happiness, tenderness, love

Gold     Super-terrestrial, richness, royal power

Silver    Strong confidence

Color psychology in Europe

2. Interference of language and picture

Now we will discuss synesthetic effects of literature using examples from the Middle Ages. This way, the article also explores some cognitive and esthetic principles about picture poems. Rhabanus Maurus, a German abbot in a monastery in Fulda in the 9^th century, devised ‘visual poetry’ around 810 on the subject of the redeeming Holy Cross. His visual poems also featuring illustrations, have been composed from woodcut. The text continues in the illustration. The letters printed in red can also be read separately establishing a second, different sense next to the literal meaning. The figures, corresponding with preserved manuscripts, largely consist of carefully inserted xylographic parts within a typographical whole, with the distinction between the two very hard to perceive. Such a poetic language draws attention to itself in the hierarchy of signifiers developed from one common text. In manneristic styles there is a greater awareness of the production of signifiers. In the following example the four evangelists are integrated in the text and subscriptions are separated in lines composing a level of secondary meaning, e.g. the words ´fuit in diebus hero´.

From this text box emerge individual letters and groups of letters which compose self-contained poems or sequences of words referring to the basic theme of the composition, the glorification of the Cross and Christianity using effects of intertextuality. The monumental manuscript contains a series of 28 picture poems taken from the first version of the treatise on the Holy Cross presented by Hrabanus in the years 810–814. The book ends with a dedication miniature depicting the author below the Cross as symbol of salvation. The book is an introductory work of medieval semiotic thinking and guides the reader through the world of Charlemagne who promoted these artificial methods for propaganda and the enhancement of his power as an emperor.[21]

3. Color and literary languages

Metaphors concerned with matters of sound deal with a common level of synesthesia. William Shakespeare’s works are examples for the use of metaphors in a literary text which can be considered as synesthetic effects. In act IV, scene II of The Winter’s Tale red blood that reigns in the winter’s pale is described:

With heigh! the doxy, over the dale, Why, then comes in the sweet o the year; For the red blood reigns in the winter’s pale. The white sheet bleaching on the hedge,...

In the Sonnet 99 red is the color of shame:

Fearfully on thorns did stand, One blushing shame, another white despair;

A third, nor red nor white, had stol n of both,

And to his robbery had annex d thy breath;

In act II, scene V of Twelfth-Night; or, What You Will the expression ‘to fool someone black and blue’ is used:

To anger him we ll have the bear again; and we will fool him black and blue;

shall we not, Sir Andrew? Sir And.

III      Theory –

Structures and concepts of the representation of esthetic phenomena

Elements of a notation system are tools used to build a composition with a secondary connotation system. This was demonstrated. How do they work together? A concept as a whole is made of series of segments that have their active role in the whole and interact among themselves. Color is the most vital visual sensation. Colors draw our attention immediately. Color also influences the composition and this is also the case in a design .

Words the ancient Greeks used to define concepts of beauty are structural elements for proportions of parts. For visible beauty symmetria (harmony for commensurability) was the principal term. For audible beauty and for musical works it was harmonia (consonance). The word taxis for ´order´ had a similar meaning. Obviously the color connotations described in the sample cases above contain certain basic and in common shared meanings. So an emotional approach can be explained when colors are used. The forms of feelings can be divided into three classes of the simple emotions, the affections, and the strong desires. The connotation for elements of categories of one sense with another sense can be explained by the use of a ‘tertium comparationis’, a third quality both elements have in common; e.g. softness of touch and yellow as a color both stand in opposition to gravity as common quality of touch color.

Perception and sensation of esthetic phenomena

Perception is not possible without an entity that acts on the sense organs and the organs themselves. This means that perception is not ‘objective’ in the sense commonly used indicating a position outside the observer. Perception needs an observer. The sensual organs are fundamentally automatic in working depending on our knowledge of perception.

Cognition

Perception

Emotion

Thought

Reminiscence

Imagination

Categories of consciousness

Ethic and esthetic values are in close connection. The distinction often made between emotions and judgments gives rise to conflicting accounts of morality, when e.g. emotions contain judgments. Judgments can be formed both by emotions and the rational thinking. Emotions are responses to sense and incorporate judgments and beliefs about those senses.

Channels of esthetic perception

A channel is a sensory mode utilized by a medium for visual, auditory or tactile perception. Channels are transmitters serving like a technical feature of a medium in which an esthetic phenomenon appears. The ‘sensorium’ is the part of the brain that receives and coordinates all stimuli through the senses. ‘Sensuality’ is the excessive devotion to the delights of the senses. Sentiment is an opinion about a specific matter, or an emotion elicited by an image. A speaker is more likely to be taking a disparaging attitude when using ‘sentimental‘ or ‘sentimentality‘.

 The stimulus

                         The receptor

                         The sensation

          Steps in sensation in an psycho-physiological approach

The faculties through which the body perceives, receives and feels stimuli from outside are the faculties of sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and balance. These senses are the means of providing physical gratification and pleasure. This quality of being sensual is capable of perceiving with a sense or senses and is also responsive to external conditions or stimulation. Esthetics is created by these five senses (sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell stimuli) combined with connotation derived from ´classic connotations´ like the symbolic meanings of colors we demonstrated. Also synesthetic phenomena base as philological effects upon this method. This is an argument for synesthesia as a personal ability or skill. This faculty for the appreciation of beauty is related to high tastes acquired though culture and depends upon complex associations. The sphere of the senses has here a transmissive function; it is a kind of messenger of information between the sense, things and the soul which are separated from each other. These cchannels of esthetic perception of the main five senses have certain categories which can be combined as synesthetic effects, e.g. as colors of vision in combination with taste categories.

                                    Channels of esthetic perception

Esthetic state

Synesthetic state

Anesthetic state

Esthetic states

Sensation of the ´Esthetic state´

We can divide sensations into three states: The state of esthetic perception, the anesthestic status and the synesthetic perception. A sensation is an experience by the senses. Thoughts and emotions can also be called sensations. The term can also have a negative connotation. Sensibility depends on nerves. A sensation is a perception associated with stimulation of a sense organ or with a specific body condition like the sensation of heat or a visual sensation. The faculty of feeling or perceiving is based on physical sensibility. Affections are related merely to feelings, while passions belong to the faculty of strong desire. Affections are irresponsible, while passions are abiding and deliberate.

A sensation is a state of excited interest or feeling. The sensation caused by the appearance of that work is still remembered. Sensation properly expresses such as change in the state of the mind which is produced by an impression upon an organ of sense. Perception expresses the knowledge or the intimations we obtain by means of our sensations concerning the qualities of matter. It involves the notion of external elements. Sensation as the faculty through which the external world is apprehended is the entry to the senses. Sense is any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt by the senses of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, and equilibrium. A perception or feeling is produced by a stimulus. Sensation is a sense e.g. of fatigue.

The ´anesthetic state´

The word ´anesthesia´ derives from the Greek word aisthesia (reception of feeling). Anesthesia means a status without feeling. The term was coined in the 19^th century when modern anesthesia became common. Since this time the rapid growth of anesthesia has embraced many facets. Comparing it to anesthetic which is by construction an antonym of esthetic, synesthetic states can illuminate some of the meaning of esthetic phenomena. If something is anesthetic, it tends to dull the senses or cause sleepiness. In contrast esthetic may be thought of as anything that tends to invigorate.

Sensibilities of esthetics

Pleasure comes from the extent to which the product makes the task more pleasurable. Pleasure and esthetic quality belong together. An example is communicating our pleasure and happiness to anyone who has given us a new sensation through any work or act or art. When the basis of one’s esthetics is one’s natural affection together with one’s artistic affirmations, a person may create her/himself through favouring tastes she/he desires having an effect of a  synesthetic phenomena, if these are wanted. Artistic creation and culture itself are modes of pure communication, in which the synesthetic effects can get an over-personalized meaning. The strength of feeling is usually proportioned to the strength of intellect. When the cognition of the intellect is deep, the feeling arising will also be strong and vivid.

Simple emotions

Affections

Desires

Classification of sensibilities

Anesthesia is the prevention of consciousness or sensation, usually by means of chemicals known as anesthetics.

The ´synesthetic state´

A synesthetic status encompasses both a sensory experience and an esthetic potential. Characteristic of a synesthetic performance style are the variety of artistic principles, forms and techniques, manipulated in such a way as to fuse the senses of the receptor. In opposition to the individual synesthetic effects we have here a artificial product, which has a sender and a receiver. Informations are communicable and not reduced to sensual expressions. A synesthetic style in performance has the ability to communicate. It provides a ‘synesthetic sense’ within appreciation and the intuitive sense that presents the unpresentable beyond conventional techniques to present ideas that are beyond conventional communication. The five senses are result of cultural coding which each child goes through when exploring the reality. Each genuine synesthetic person has a constant encyclopaedia of connotated phenomena differing from the encyclopaedia of every other person. So synesthesia is an individualized phenomenon intending to save an idiolect, when expressed literally. Since this is a conditionized, trained and socially accepted skill, we could also call it ´artificial synesthesia´. It demonstrates the intellectually conditionized state of human capable to read and with such a capability able to connote visual phenomena with other senses.

We finally now come to our main thesis: ´Why reading is synesthetic´. The physiological condition of synesthesia is a procedure in terms of sensory impressions of cognition and reaction, of memory and emotion. Although it would certainly be misleading to translate the Greek ´koine aisthesis´ and ´sensus communis´ simply as ´consciousness´, it is accepted practice to translate Aristotle's word ´phantasia´ as ´imagination´. Synesthetic descriptions can be classified –when used in literature – as phantasy. Reading is a highly synesthetic process. There are several stages in the reading process. When we read a word, a visual pattern is perceived which is then decoded with reference to an internal representation of the language. This is analysed syntactically and semantically in the context of a phrase or sentence. In other words: Semioic signs are read and get a meaning to be transferred into sounds or other media. Since this is this automatic synesthetic media use of mankind, we do not care about this process. The word imagination is a direct derivative of ´imaginatio´, the Latin equivalent term for ´phantasia´.

What is this?                             Empiric area            Human mind

Esthetic phenomen

How is this?                              Sensual area          Human senses

Esthetic receiver

The esthetic receiver uses senses

How is this?                              Intellectual area      Human intellect       

Esthetic jugdement

The esthetic judgement is based on the ratio

How is this?                              Esthetical area  Human emotions          

Ethic judgement is based on the mind

Universal categories of esthetics can only be applicable to the esthetic side of human activity. They are different from other categories. The fundamental categories of plausibility, beauty and artistic truth also belong to objective esthetics. Synesthetic phenomena representing a physiological condition are as an output realized in quasi-artificial forms. But we must consider the difference between voluntarily made artificial products and the ‘ad-hoc’ built descriptions that refer to a certain synesthetic phenomenon. Subjective esthetics discusses the issues related to the origin and manifestations of esthetic creativity. Intellect is a cognitive faculty essentially different from sense and of a supra-organic order. ‘Artificial’ synesthesia must not relay on a state of consciousness; it also can relay on theoretical methods or concepts. This proposition is proved by psychological analysis and study of the chief functions of intellect. These are conception, judgment, reasoning, reflection, and self-consciousness. All these activities involve elements essentially different from sensuous consciousness. In opposition to esthetic phenomena synesthetic phenomena are not communicable; they tend to be part of an idiolect. Phenomena such as reading we called ´artificial synesthesia´ are conditionalized forms.