New Books in Science, Technology, and Society Polina Dimova, "At the Crossroads of the Senses: The Synaesthetic Metaphor Across the Arts in European Modernism" (Penn State UP, 2024)
Feb 6, 2026
Polina Dimova, comparative literature scholar of Russian and European modernism, explores synaesthesia as a cultural phenomenon. She traces its rise in fin-de-siècle Europe, links Wagner and multimedia experiments to abstract art, and discusses Scriabin’s color-organ and modern neuroscience. Conversations range from archival research to a digital companion that mixes music, images, and sensory visualizations.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Synesthetic Metaphors Drive Multimedia Modernism
- Polina Dimova argues synesthetic metaphors drove multimedia experiments across modernist arts.
- She traces synesthesia's rise to concurrent scientific discovery and artistic interest around 19th-century inward perception.
Neuroscience Still Debates Synesthesia
- Modern neuroscience views synesthesia as cross-sensory responses with unclear mechanisms and diverse types.
- Dimova emphasizes persistent scientific uncertainty and debates over structural versus functional brain theories.
Conflicting 19th-Century Theories
- 19th–early 20th-century theories ranged from degeneration to mystical evolution of synesthesia.
- Artists and scientists offered competing views on whether synesthesia was pathological, universal, or a higher sensibility.
