Sensory perception in prose

[aaron stark]

I'm taking Narratology this year and it's really a fascinating class. You'd think it doesn't seem like one, relying on the fact that Narratology is a very theoretical discipline, but our professor has decided to not give us too much theoretical texts -we only have to read some theories developped by Ryan and Prince- and has chosen a very interesting topic as well. We will tackle several short stories which are part of the Western Literary canon (such as texts from Joyce, Calvino and Woolf) and he wants us to examine in what way the sensory receptions play a role in the stories in question. How does a story feel, how does a text smell and how does it a taste? These are various questions we will be dealing with and the main point is to analyze how important the sensory perceptions (not necessarily of a human being) of the characters in that text are.
A typical text that automatically comes into my mind is Süskind's Perfume, where scent definitely plays a central part. I'm not planning on writing a paper about this text, since I find it's too cliché. I initially thought about discussing perhaps one of Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio-short stories ('Paper Pills' or 'Hands'). My question is, if you have a particular text in mind, do let me know. I'd appreciate it :)

Thanks in advance,

Aaron Stark

[partizandrew]

Proust's Swann's Way?

[aaron stark]

Proust's Swann's Way?

That might be an option, thanks! I even have it somewhere lying back at home, hadn't thought about that one. All suggestions are welcome, so don't hesitate to give me examples

[kelby_lake]

What about The Doors of Perception?

[aaron stark]

What about The Doors of Perception?

Very nice! Didn't know Huxley experienced with this kind of stuff :yikes:
Keep on going, people. Thanks a lot

[Genesis]

Some works by D.H.Lawrence may be? I think his sons and lovers is full of sensory perceptions.

[aaron stark]

Some works by D.H.Lawrence may be? I think his sons and lovers is full of sensory perceptions.

Are you sure about that? Could be, haven't read it yet. I did read some of his short stories, but didn't come across the topic in there. Thanks a lot

[kelby_lake]

Some parts of The Sound and Fury seem to be very sense-based.

[ChicagoReader]

I feel like a lot of DeLillo's work is full of sensory information. Cosmopolis comes to mind, but his prose in general is very terse and often reflects the surroundings or theme. Cormac McCarthy comes to mind, Blood Meridian is filled with visual details. A lot of Hermann Hesse's works deal with sensory exploration--Narcissus and Goldmund and Siddhartha.

[Ser Nevarc]

Nabokov of course corresponds closely with the senses in his descriptive prose. If you haven't, I'd get to reading him.

:)

[kelby_lake]

Are you sure about that? Could be, haven't read it yet. I did read some of his short stories, but didn't come across the topic in there. Thanks a lot

Sons and Lovers, Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover all have elements of sensory perception, normally in a sexual or spiritual sense.

[namenlose]

Dream of The Red Chamber, which I'm currently reading, presents a rich portray of sensory impressions expressed through a beautiful and poetic language. Although I haven't finished the whole book yet, I would strongly reccomend it. The nature of the work is extremely allegorical, but one could enjoy it even without understanding all the intertextual meaning it conveys. Moreover, the more interested readers like myself can look for commentary and other works which may be relevant to the understanding of the novel.