Subject
Fwd: Re: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
From
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The wonderful thing about this image is that it serves as a metaphor for the
parasitical behavior
of the narrator/eavesdropper. There is a metonymy at work here, too -- the
heart has been
compared to a parasite earlier. Note, too, that to the extent Hamlet is
relevant this is an
inverted image of the aural poisoning of Hamlet's father.
Eric
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:48:18 -0700
"Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
> ----- Forwarded message from jansy@aetern.us -----
> Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:36:45 -0300
> From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
> Reply-To: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
> Subject: Re: Fwd: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (168 lines)
> ------------------
> There are other suggestions of a different kind of sensuous convergence in
> VN. If we select the sentence Carolyn Kunin has mailed to the list with her
> prefatory observations included:
>
> "All this discussion recalls a passage in Pnin in which a physician's ear
> applied to a young Pnin's ailing chest ambulates about in the manner of a
> sea-creature of some sort. A wonderful image combining attributes of sound
> and motion:
> 'Then Timofey's torso was bared, and to it Belochkin pressed the icy nudity
> of his ear and the sandpapery side of his head. Like the flat sole of some
> monopode, the ear ambulated all over Timofey's back and chest, gluing itself
> to this or that patch of skin and stomping on to the next' ."
>
> We find an aural peace while imagining an icy ear-shaped sea-creature, a
> monopode, ambulating and gluing itself on Timofey´s torso, soon enhanced by
> another suggestion, the fish ( a sole ) flattened at the bottom of a
> sandpapery sea. But then the fish becomes the base of a foot ( the foot
> sole) and the silence turns into a "stomping".
>
> As C.Kunin noted, while still reminiscing about an image "combining
> attributes of sound and motion", there are in the sentence she finally
> located in Pnin all sorts of sensuous elements blending and unfolding...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 4:07 PM
> Subject: Fwd: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
>
>
> EDNOTE. VN's synaesthesia is described in Chapter II of SPEAK, MEMORY.
> -----------------------------------
>
> ----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
> Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 22:40:09 -0400
> From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
> Subject: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
>
> http://www.health24.com/mind/Other/1284-1303,18442.asp[2] Red music
> and chocolate-flavoured textures
> Health24.com, South Africa - 13 hours ago
> ... Famous examples of synethetes include novelist Valdimir NABOKOV,
> composer Franz Liszt and artists David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky.
> ...
> [3] You are in: Health24[4] : Mind[5] : Other[6]
>
> Red music and chocolate-flavoured textures
> Imagine a world where you feel sounds, taste music or see letters
> and numbers in colour. This may sound strange to most of us, but for
> synesthetes these perceptions are part of everyday life.
>
> The word synesthesia (from the Greek words syn = together and
> aesthesis = perception) means "joined sensation". It is a condition
> in which different senses mingle into one. One sense modality
> reliably causes an additional perception in a different sense or
> senses.
>
> DIFFERENT TYPES
> It takes different forms. Nineteen different combinations have been
> identified. But the combinations are almost limitless because a
> synesthete may have more than one form of the condition.
>
> The most common form appears to be seeing colours in numbers and/or
> letters. This is called colour-language synesthesia. But other less
> common experiences are also possible. A synesthete may report that
> she feels piano music tickling her cheeks or that a person's voice
> tastes like chutney.
>
> In most cases, the sensation is triggered by external stimuli but in
> some cases it could be purely internal, such as associating the
> concept of a day or year with a sensory experience.
>
> The sensory association is usually projected outside of the body,
> such as seeing the letter in colour, rather than in the mind's eye.
>
> INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE
> Synesthesia is a highly subjective, individualised experience.
> Colour-language synesthetes, for example, don't agree on which colour
> goes with which number or letter. However, a remarkable number agree
> that the letter "o" is white.
>
> Intra-sensory associations remain constant throughout the person's
> life. For example, someone who sees a number in green will always see
> this number in the same colour. In a study in 1993, synesthetes were
> 92% consistent in linking certain colours with certain sounds after a
> year. Non-synesthetes on the other hand were only 32% accurate after
> only one week.
>
> The condition is involuntary and sensory associations cannot be
> suppressed. However, some people are able to ignore the associations.
>
> This condition starts in childhood - in fact, synesthetes usually
> say that they have had this condition since they can remember.
> Synesthetes typically think that everyone else perceives the world in
> the same way and only find out much later that their experience is
> unique. Because synesthesia is so unknown and misunderstood, many
> people keep quiet about their condition for fear of ridicule or being
> misdiagnosed as psychotic.
>
> BETTER MEMORIES
> Synesthesia is not a psychiatric disorder. Synesthetes are fully
> functional and psychologically stable, are usually highly intelligent
> and have excellent memories. The synesthetic associations help them to
> remember telephone numbers, appointments, names and the like. However,
> they may have minor difficulties with mathematics. Some also struggle
> with spacial navigation such as distinguishing left from right or
> following directions.
>
> There is no treatment for this condition. Even if there were, most
> synesthetes would not want to be treated as they see their condition
> as a gift and an aid which optimises their functioning. In fact, many
> describe non-synesthetes as seeing the world in black and white.
>
> WHAT CAUSES IT?
> The exact cause is not yet known. Synesthesia is a very difficult
> condition to study because research is anecdotal and has relied on
> self-report. What we know is that it is unlearned and involuntary. We
> also know that it has a genetic cause - many synesthetes have parents
> or siblings with the condition.
>
> Some believe that all people are born synesthetes and have many
> neural connections between different areas of the brain. In
> non-synesthetes, many of the cross-wiring dissapear and the areas of
> the brain become more separated. In people with synesthesia, these
> connections remain for the rest of their lives.
>
> Recently, researchers have begun to study this phenomenon by using
> magnetic resonance brain imaging (MRI). It has been reported that
> images of the brains of colour-language synesthetes or those who
> report coloured hearing, show increased activation of the
> colour-processing areas of the cortex in response to the triggering
> stimulus.
>
> A form of synesthesia can be acquired later in life. Acquired
> synesthesia is seen in temporal lobe epilepsy, head trauma, and mass
> lesions affecting the medial temporal lobe. It may also be induced
> temporarily by sensory deprivation, antiserotonergic hallucinogens
> such as LSD and peyote, or direct electrical stimulation of
> subcortical limbic structures.
>
> WHO HAS THIS CONDITION?
> No-one knows how prevalent this condition is. Estimates vary from
> between one in 2 000 and one in 25 000 people. It is more common in
> women than in men and left-handed people are more affected.
>
> Famous examples of synethetes include novelist Valdimir Nabokov,
> composer Franz Liszt and artists David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky.
> - (Ilse Pauw, health24 writer)
>
> Post a question to Cybershrink.
>
> [7]
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] http://www.health24.com/
> [2] http://www.health24.com/mind/Other/1284-1303,18442.asp
> [3] http://www.media24digital.com/
> [4] http://www.health24.com/default.asp
> [5] http://www.health24.com/mind/1284.asp
> [6] http://www.health24.com/mind/Other/1284-1303.asp
> [7] http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html?HONConduct564544
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----
parasitical behavior
of the narrator/eavesdropper. There is a metonymy at work here, too -- the
heart has been
compared to a parasite earlier. Note, too, that to the extent Hamlet is
relevant this is an
inverted image of the aural poisoning of Hamlet's father.
Eric
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:48:18 -0700
"Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
> ----- Forwarded message from jansy@aetern.us -----
> Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:36:45 -0300
> From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
> Reply-To: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
> Subject: Re: Fwd: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (168 lines)
> ------------------
> There are other suggestions of a different kind of sensuous convergence in
> VN. If we select the sentence Carolyn Kunin has mailed to the list with her
> prefatory observations included:
>
> "All this discussion recalls a passage in Pnin in which a physician's ear
> applied to a young Pnin's ailing chest ambulates about in the manner of a
> sea-creature of some sort. A wonderful image combining attributes of sound
> and motion:
> 'Then Timofey's torso was bared, and to it Belochkin pressed the icy nudity
> of his ear and the sandpapery side of his head. Like the flat sole of some
> monopode, the ear ambulated all over Timofey's back and chest, gluing itself
> to this or that patch of skin and stomping on to the next' ."
>
> We find an aural peace while imagining an icy ear-shaped sea-creature, a
> monopode, ambulating and gluing itself on Timofey´s torso, soon enhanced by
> another suggestion, the fish ( a sole ) flattened at the bottom of a
> sandpapery sea. But then the fish becomes the base of a foot ( the foot
> sole) and the silence turns into a "stomping".
>
> As C.Kunin noted, while still reminiscing about an image "combining
> attributes of sound and motion", there are in the sentence she finally
> located in Pnin all sorts of sensuous elements blending and unfolding...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 4:07 PM
> Subject: Fwd: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
>
>
> EDNOTE. VN's synaesthesia is described in Chapter II of SPEAK, MEMORY.
> -----------------------------------
>
> ----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
> Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 22:40:09 -0400
> From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
> Subject: synesthesia & Nabokov ...
>
> http://www.health24.com/mind/Other/1284-1303,18442.asp[2] Red music
> and chocolate-flavoured textures
> Health24.com, South Africa - 13 hours ago
> ... Famous examples of synethetes include novelist Valdimir NABOKOV,
> composer Franz Liszt and artists David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky.
> ...
> [3] You are in: Health24[4] : Mind[5] : Other[6]
>
> Red music and chocolate-flavoured textures
> Imagine a world where you feel sounds, taste music or see letters
> and numbers in colour. This may sound strange to most of us, but for
> synesthetes these perceptions are part of everyday life.
>
> The word synesthesia (from the Greek words syn = together and
> aesthesis = perception) means "joined sensation". It is a condition
> in which different senses mingle into one. One sense modality
> reliably causes an additional perception in a different sense or
> senses.
>
> DIFFERENT TYPES
> It takes different forms. Nineteen different combinations have been
> identified. But the combinations are almost limitless because a
> synesthete may have more than one form of the condition.
>
> The most common form appears to be seeing colours in numbers and/or
> letters. This is called colour-language synesthesia. But other less
> common experiences are also possible. A synesthete may report that
> she feels piano music tickling her cheeks or that a person's voice
> tastes like chutney.
>
> In most cases, the sensation is triggered by external stimuli but in
> some cases it could be purely internal, such as associating the
> concept of a day or year with a sensory experience.
>
> The sensory association is usually projected outside of the body,
> such as seeing the letter in colour, rather than in the mind's eye.
>
> INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE
> Synesthesia is a highly subjective, individualised experience.
> Colour-language synesthetes, for example, don't agree on which colour
> goes with which number or letter. However, a remarkable number agree
> that the letter "o" is white.
>
> Intra-sensory associations remain constant throughout the person's
> life. For example, someone who sees a number in green will always see
> this number in the same colour. In a study in 1993, synesthetes were
> 92% consistent in linking certain colours with certain sounds after a
> year. Non-synesthetes on the other hand were only 32% accurate after
> only one week.
>
> The condition is involuntary and sensory associations cannot be
> suppressed. However, some people are able to ignore the associations.
>
> This condition starts in childhood - in fact, synesthetes usually
> say that they have had this condition since they can remember.
> Synesthetes typically think that everyone else perceives the world in
> the same way and only find out much later that their experience is
> unique. Because synesthesia is so unknown and misunderstood, many
> people keep quiet about their condition for fear of ridicule or being
> misdiagnosed as psychotic.
>
> BETTER MEMORIES
> Synesthesia is not a psychiatric disorder. Synesthetes are fully
> functional and psychologically stable, are usually highly intelligent
> and have excellent memories. The synesthetic associations help them to
> remember telephone numbers, appointments, names and the like. However,
> they may have minor difficulties with mathematics. Some also struggle
> with spacial navigation such as distinguishing left from right or
> following directions.
>
> There is no treatment for this condition. Even if there were, most
> synesthetes would not want to be treated as they see their condition
> as a gift and an aid which optimises their functioning. In fact, many
> describe non-synesthetes as seeing the world in black and white.
>
> WHAT CAUSES IT?
> The exact cause is not yet known. Synesthesia is a very difficult
> condition to study because research is anecdotal and has relied on
> self-report. What we know is that it is unlearned and involuntary. We
> also know that it has a genetic cause - many synesthetes have parents
> or siblings with the condition.
>
> Some believe that all people are born synesthetes and have many
> neural connections between different areas of the brain. In
> non-synesthetes, many of the cross-wiring dissapear and the areas of
> the brain become more separated. In people with synesthesia, these
> connections remain for the rest of their lives.
>
> Recently, researchers have begun to study this phenomenon by using
> magnetic resonance brain imaging (MRI). It has been reported that
> images of the brains of colour-language synesthetes or those who
> report coloured hearing, show increased activation of the
> colour-processing areas of the cortex in response to the triggering
> stimulus.
>
> A form of synesthesia can be acquired later in life. Acquired
> synesthesia is seen in temporal lobe epilepsy, head trauma, and mass
> lesions affecting the medial temporal lobe. It may also be induced
> temporarily by sensory deprivation, antiserotonergic hallucinogens
> such as LSD and peyote, or direct electrical stimulation of
> subcortical limbic structures.
>
> WHO HAS THIS CONDITION?
> No-one knows how prevalent this condition is. Estimates vary from
> between one in 2 000 and one in 25 000 people. It is more common in
> women than in men and left-handed people are more affected.
>
> Famous examples of synethetes include novelist Valdimir Nabokov,
> composer Franz Liszt and artists David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky.
> - (Ilse Pauw, health24 writer)
>
> Post a question to Cybershrink.
>
> [7]
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] http://www.health24.com/
> [2] http://www.health24.com/mind/Other/1284-1303,18442.asp
> [3] http://www.media24digital.com/
> [4] http://www.health24.com/default.asp
> [5] http://www.health24.com/mind/1284.asp
> [6] http://www.health24.com/mind/Other/1284-1303.asp
> [7] http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html?HONConduct564544
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----