Book Part

Flying (human) bodies in the fine arts - dreams and daydreams of flying

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Schönhammer, Rainer

Abstract / Description

In a lecture given in the year 1882 the Vienna Physiologist Sigmund Exner considered "The physiology of flying and floating in the fine arts" (Exner, 1882). In this still fascinating paper Exner reflects in a phenomenological approach on the experiental foundation of the depiction of flying human (respectively superhuman) bodys in classic artworks (e.g. Giorgione, Giotto, Masaccio, Michelangelo, Rubens and Titoretto). Referring to Fechner Exner basically assumes that pictorial suggestions of flying and floating bodies correspond to the recollection of wake human perception. Once in the lecture he mentions his own experience of flying in dreams and ascribes his sensations during these dreams to the wake experience of swimming. My paper follows Exner's hint and analyses the role of dreams in the (artful depicted) imagination of flying and floating bodies. It is based on a qualitative content analysis of flying dreams (collected by interviews and by review of cases reported in the scientific and popular literature on dreams) and daydreams of flying (spontaneous or evoked during an interview). The results suggest that dreams of flying involve sensations in their own right even if mentation in dreams recurs to the recollection of wake perception. Further there is some evidence that certain stiles/aspects of depicting flying and floating bodys are rooted in flying dreams, whereas others are more common to typical aspects of daydreams of flying. In the paper I will discuss the phenomenological findings of my research in the context of recent results in the field of psychobiology of dreaming.

Keyword(s)

Wahrnehmung Traum Tagtraum Fliegen Empfindung Imagination Qualitative Methode Bildende Kunst Einbildung Sinnesempfindung Dream Fine Arts Flying Imagination Sensation

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2000

Is part of

Paper presented at the 16th Congress of the international Association of Empirical Aesthetics, August 9-12, 2000, New York

Citation

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Schönhammer, Rainer
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2022-11-21T13:54:59Z
  • Made available on
    2005-09-08
  • Made available on
    2016-07-14T06:09:53Z
  • Made available on
    2022-11-21T13:54:59Z
  • Date of first publication
    2000
  • Abstract / Description
    In a lecture given in the year 1882 the Vienna Physiologist Sigmund Exner considered "The physiology of flying and floating in the fine arts" (Exner, 1882). In this still fascinating paper Exner reflects in a phenomenological approach on the experiental foundation of the depiction of flying human (respectively superhuman) bodys in classic artworks (e.g. Giorgione, Giotto, Masaccio, Michelangelo, Rubens and Titoretto). Referring to Fechner Exner basically assumes that pictorial suggestions of flying and floating bodies correspond to the recollection of wake human perception. Once in the lecture he mentions his own experience of flying in dreams and ascribes his sensations during these dreams to the wake experience of swimming. My paper follows Exner's hint and analyses the role of dreams in the (artful depicted) imagination of flying and floating bodies. It is based on a qualitative content analysis of flying dreams (collected by interviews and by review of cases reported in the scientific and popular literature on dreams) and daydreams of flying (spontaneous or evoked during an interview). The results suggest that dreams of flying involve sensations in their own right even if mentation in dreams recurs to the recollection of wake perception. Further there is some evidence that certain stiles/aspects of depicting flying and floating bodys are rooted in flying dreams, whereas others are more common to typical aspects of daydreams of flying. In the paper I will discuss the phenomenological findings of my research in the context of recent results in the field of psychobiology of dreaming.
    en
  • Publication status
    unknown
  • Review status
    unknown
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bsz:291-psydok-5505
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11780/3589
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.10067
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Is part of
    Paper presented at the 16th Congress of the international Association of Empirical Aesthetics, August 9-12, 2000, New York
  • Keyword(s)
    Wahrnehmung
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Traum
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Tagtraum
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Fliegen
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Empfindung
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Imagination
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Qualitative Methode
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Bildende Kunst
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Einbildung
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Sinnesempfindung
    de
  • Keyword(s)
    Dream
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    Fine Arts
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    Flying
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    Imagination
    en
  • Keyword(s)
    Sensation
    en
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    700
  • Title
    Flying (human) bodies in the fine arts - dreams and daydreams of flying
    en
  • DRO type
    bookPart
  • Visible tag(s)
    PsyDok