Synesthesia in literature
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which one or more sensory modalities become linked. However, the term synesthesia has also been used to refer to artistic and poetic devices which attempt to express a linkage between the senses for hundreds of years. In order to better understand the influence of synesthesia in popular culture, and how the condition is viewed by non-synesthetes, it is informative to examine books in which one of the main characters is portrayed as experiencing synesthesia. In addition to these fictional portralys, the way in which synesthesia is presented in non-fiction books to non-specialist audiences is instructive.
Please note that not all of the depictions of synesthesia in the fictional works are accurrate. Some are highly inaccurate and reflect more about the author's interpration of synesthesia than about the phenomenon itself. The scientific works are intended to be accurate depictions of synesthetic experiences. However, as research advances some of the specific details in those accounts may be superseded or corrected by subsequent studies.
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[edit] Synesthesia in Adult Fiction
- Aylett, Steve. (2005). Lint. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
- Berry, M. (2005). Blind Crescent. Toronto: Penguin
- Bester, Alfred (1956). The Stars My Destination. New York: Vintage
- Ford, Jeffrey. (2005). Nebula Awards Showcase 2005. New York: Penguin.
- Huysmans, J.-K. (1959). Against Nature. London: Penguin Books.
- Kernan, B. M. (2002). The Synesthete. Lincoln, NE: Writer's Showcase.
- Koontz, Dean. (1996). Intensity. New York: Bantam Dell Publishing Group
- Moore, J. (2004). The Memory Artists. Toronto: Penguin.
- Morall, C. (2004). Astonishing Splashes of Colour. Harper Collins.
- Nabokov, V. (1991/1938). The Gift. New York: Vintage.
- Nabokov, V. The Real Life of Sebastian Knight.
- Payne, H. (2005). The Sound of Blue. New York: Penguin Group.
- Parker, T. J. (2006). The Fallen. New York: William Morrow.
- Salzman, M. Lying Awake.
- Shelley, Mary. (1818). "Frankenstein." London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones.
- Vaz, K. (1994). Saudade New York: St. Martin’s Press.
- Vian, B. (2003). Foam of the Daze. Tam-Tam Books. (former translation: Mood Indigo.)
- Yardley, J. (2003). Painting Ruby Tuesday. London: Doubleday.
[edit] Synesthesia in Teenage/children’s Fiction
- Mass, W. (2003). A Mango-Shaped Space. London: Little Brown and Co.
- Morgan, N. (2003). Mondays are Red. New York: Delacorte.
[edit] Synesthesia in Graphic Novels & Comic Books
- Di Filippo, P., and Ordway, J. (2006). Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct. La Jolla, CA: America's Best Comics.
- Moore, A., Ha, G., and Cannon, Z. (2000). Top 10: Book 1. La Jolla, CA: America's Best Comics.
- Moore, A., Ha, G. and Cannon, Z. (2002). Top 10: Book 2. La Jolla, CA: America's Best Comics.
[edit] Non-fiction general audience books
- Ackerman, D. (1994). chapter on "Synesthesia" in A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage.
- Baron-Cohen, S. and Harrison, J. (1997). Synaesthesia: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0631197648.
- Benson, H. (1997). Timeless Healing New York: Fireside.
- Cytowic, R. (2003). The Man Who Tasted Shapes. New York: Tarcher/Putman. ISBN 0262532557.
- Dann, K. (1998). Bright Colors Falsely Seen. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0300066198.
- Duffy, P. L. (2001). Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens: How Synesthetes Color their Worlds. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0716740885.
- Harrison, J. (2001). Synaesthesia: the strangest thing, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192632450.
- Luria, A.R. (1968). The Mind of a Mnemonist. New York: Basic Books.
- Lvovich, N. (1997). Chapter 2, "Confessions of a Synesthete" in The Multilingual Self. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Sacks, O. (1995). "The Case of the Colorblind Painter" in An Anthropologist on Mars. New York: Vintage.
