A Word: Synesthesia
Last summer, I was at the AATF conference in Montreal, and a colleague and friend was telling me about her dissertation on literature and synesthesia. I have to confess that I did not even know the word synesthesia until that conversation. There is research behind synesthesia.
I remember Dr. Salter telling us in one of his German courses about the Catholic mass's being synaesthetic. There are many things happening during the mass, and the following doesn't capture it all, but here are some of the factors: the music - sound, the candles - sight and smell, the wafer - taste, and the coldness of the cathedral - feel. That was a new idea to me, and your blog post has brought it back to mind. I just don't remember with what that bit of information was in connection. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I had not thought of synesthesia in regard to worship. I wonder if Dr. Salter also meant that people could combine/confuse some of the elements in the mass?
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