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 SensationPersistent 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
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Schoenhammer_FlyingBodies_NewYorkPaper_2000.pdfAdobe PDF - 102.59KBMD5: 246fe4dd7e323a3a876f4ea9297b440f
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Schönhammer, Rainer
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2022-11-21T13:54:59Z
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Made available on2005-09-08
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Made available on2016-07-14T06:09:53Z
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Made available on2022-11-21T13:54:59Z
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Date of first publication2000
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Abstract / DescriptionIn 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
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Publication statusunknown
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Review statusunknown
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Persistent Identifierhttps://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bsz:291-psydok-5505
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11780/3589
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.10067
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Language of contenteng
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Is part ofPaper presented at the 16th Congress of the international Association of Empirical Aesthetics, August 9-12, 2000, New York
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Keyword(s)Wahrnehmungde
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Keyword(s)Traumde
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Keyword(s)Tagtraumde
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Keyword(s)Fliegende
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Keyword(s)Empfindungde
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Keyword(s)Imaginationde
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Keyword(s)Qualitative Methodede
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Keyword(s)Bildende Kunstde
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Keyword(s)Einbildungde
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Keyword(s)Sinnesempfindungde
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Keyword(s)Dreamen
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Keyword(s)Fine Artsen
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Keyword(s)Flyingen
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Keyword(s)Imaginationen
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Keyword(s)Sensationen
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)700
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TitleFlying (human) bodies in the fine arts - dreams and daydreams of flyingen
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DRO typebookPart
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Visible tag(s)PsyDok