Sensory Communication and Descriptive Texts

Communicative Channels

Communicative channels include visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile modalities. The visual channel is often considered the most advantageous.

Auditory Channel

The auditory channel attempts to create an atmosphere with sounds and noises, such as pauses, suspense, music, jingles, and barrel organs.

Olfactory Channel

Olfaction refers to sensations perceived through the olfactory organ, such as perfume, smell, or scent. Adjectives applied to these sensations include keen and heavy.

Synesthesia and Intersensorial Transfer

Stephen Ullmann uses the term "intersensorial transfer" to refer to the combination of sensations, known as synesthesia. We can mix and combine different sensory modalities. Synesthesia is one of the most powerful linguistic elements in descriptive text, used to achieve vividness. Synesthesia is normally strong, allowing the reader to deeply imagine the scene with associated sentiments. Renaissance and Classical synesthesia often involve color and hearing, while Baroque and Romantic synesthesia are characterized by the vision of melody and timbre.

The Visual Experience in Descriptive Discourse

The visual experience is paramount in descriptive discourse. Visual elements can be classified as follows:

• Topographies: These provide the background of the description, representing places like a house, garden, valley, or church. They offer additional details related to the text's goal. Places often carry connotations, leading to diverse interpretations. Topographies can also serve as metaphors for mood or character.
• Chronologies: The representation of age or period is crucial and context-dependent. Time is a key element and significantly influences our interpretation.
• Prosopographies: These are physical descriptions of people. They can provide insights into aspects like social class, wealth, etc.
• Etopeias: These represent the moral qualities of a character, offering psychological information about their habits, vices, and virtues.
• Portraits: These commonly combine elements of prosopographies and etopeias.

Factors Influencing Visual Perception

All of these elements activate the reader's visual sense. While prominent features typically capture our attention, factors such as size, color, and contrast are influenced by culture, habits, education, and familiarity, which may not be immediately distinguished by our perceptive mechanisms.

Creating Effective Descriptions

A good description makes the reader feel comfortable and oriented, with information presented in a clear and chronologically fluent order. It maintains a consistent perspective, allowing the reader to perceive the visual experience. The reader's position should be clear and identifiable, though not necessarily static. Identifying key elements helps establish this position.