Semantic Potential of Tactile Metaphors (Based on Words Naming the Property of Softness)

This article describes the results of the study on the psychophysiological phenomenon of synaesthesia projected onto language and speech. Synaesthesia is considered on the basis of words with the root myagk- (myagky, myagko, myagkost’, smyagchit’), which in their original meaning name the tactile sensation of softness. The paper aimed to identify the potential of this vocabulary and the sensory impression behind it as a means of conceptualizing knowledge about the world as well as to study the mechanism for the development of metaphorical, primarily synaesthetic, semantics. It is important to assess the sequence of expression of synaesthetic semantics and meanings that go beyond synaesthetic meanings, as well as to study whether vocabulary with the original semantics of softness can figuratively conceptualize knowledge. The research revealed a universal ability of this kind of vocabulary to conceptualize all types of sensory impressions (visual, auditory, olfactory and gustatory) when used metaphorically. In addition to conveying a multimodal perception of the world, these words can express new sensory sensations, unusual for the speaker, for which there are no special names in the language. Along with the synaesthetic semantics itself, vocabulary with the meaning of softness is able to reflect the psychological impressions of comfort, pleasure and enjoyment, as well as the psychological characteristics of a person and the psychological aspect of interpersonal interaction, including speech. The next stage of abstraction of the tactile impression is the development on its basis of quantitative semantics, i.e. the meaning of low intensity of the manifestation of an attribute or an action in their psychological perception. The results obtained can be used to identify the mechanism for conceptualizing sensory impressions and forming synaesthetic metaphors, as well as applied in the practice of lexicographic description of cognitive metaphors.

With a Hint of Sudachi: Food Plating Can Facilitate the Fondness of Food

Among the senses of food, our subjective sense of taste is significantly influenced by our visual perception. In appetite science, previous research has reported that when we estimate quality in daily life, we rely considerably on visual information. This study focused on the multimodal mental imagery evoked by the visual information of food served on a plate and examined the effect of the peripheral visual information of garnish on the sensory impression of the main dish. A sensory evaluation experiment was conducted to evaluate the impressions of food photographs, and multivariate analysis was used to structure sensory values. It was found that the appearance of the garnish placed on the plates close to the main dish contributes to visual appetite stimulants. It is evident that color, moisture, and taste (sourness and spiciness) play a major role in the acceptability of food. To stimulate one’s appetite, it is important to make the main dish appear warm. These results can be used to modulate the eating experience and stimulate appetite. Applying these results to meals can improve the dining experience by superimposing visual information with augmented reality technology or by presenting real appropriate garnishes.

Brewing tests of new fine aroma hop varieties (Humulus lupulus L.) Saaz Brilliant, Saaz Comfort and Saaz Shine

Characterization of varietal profiles of hop secondary metabolites in beer is of considerable importance for hop growing and brewing. This three-year study focused on pilot brewing tests of three new Saaz derived hop varieties, namely Saaz Brilliant, Saaz Shine and Saaz Comfort. The sensory profiles of kettle and kettle+dry single hopped beers were monitored. At the same time, the impact of dry hopping technology on sensory perception of final beers and changes in volatile compounds was investigated. Pilot brews (200 l) of 12% pale lager were prepared in kettle and kettle+dry variants using the new Czech varieties and traditional Saaz as a control sample. Essential oils in beers were determined by GC/MS-MS method with the aim to clarify links to the beer sensory profile of both, kettle and dry hopping mode. The descriptive sensory method of hop-derived aromas and the triangle tests were employed to determine the sensory quality of beer. The overall sensory impression of beers from all tested varieties was at least comparable to traditional Saaz, and Saaz Comfort even reached better evaluation. The profile of essential oils and hop flavours in beer was partially different, however it was not rated worse than Saaz. The kettle+dry hopped beers of new varieties were significantly different from Saaz in the triangle test, Saaz Brilliant was preferred over the Saaz. The results showed considerable potential of new varieties for the production of interesting and taste-specific beers and the enrichment of the spectrum of fine aroma varieties of Czech hops.

With a hint of Sudachi: food plating can facilitate the fondness of food

Among the senses of food, our sense of taste is significantly influenced by our perception. In appetite science, previous research reported that when we make estimate the quality in daily life, we rely considerably on visual information (Carlos et al., 2012). In this study, we focused on the multimodal mental imagery (Nanay, 2018) evoked by the visual information of food served on a plate and examined the effect of the peripheral visual information: garnish, on the sensory impression of the main dish. We conducted a sensory evaluation experiment to evaluate the impressions of food photographs and structured the sensory values using multivariate analysis. We found that the appearance of the garnish placed on the plates close to the main meal contributes to appetite arousal. Here we show that color, moisture, and taste (sourness and spices) play a major role in the decision. In order to arouse one’s appetite, it is important to make the main dish appear warmer. Our results can be used to modulate eating experience and appetite arousal. Applying these results for meals can contribute toward making the dining experience more attractive by superimposing visual information on it with XR technology, or by presenting real appropriate garnishes.

Saaz Special – another hop variety recommended for Czech beer

The specification of varietal profiles of secondary metabolites of hops in beer is rather important for hop growing and beer brewing. Chemical and sensory profiles of beers hopped with the varieties of Saaz Special and the traditional Saaz semiearly red bine hops (Saaz) were compared in three-year pilot brews (200 L). Single kettle hopped beers and single kettle + dry hopped beers were prepared. The overall sensory impression of the Saaz Special beers was comparable to Saaz hops. The profile of essential oils and hop aromas/flavours in the beer was partially different, but the hop aroma did not receive a worse rating than Saaz. The Saaz Special dry hopped beers were clearly distinguished from Saaz in triangle tests, but no preference was given to either variety. Based on the achieved results, the Saaz Special variety was listed among varieties recommended for the production of the beer with the Protected Geographical Indication of Czech Beer thanks to the achieved results.

THE ROLE OF SINESTHESIA IN CREATIVE ACTIVITY OF COMPOSERS

The paper examines the problems of researching the scientific knowledge of synaesthesia and its role in creative compositional activity. An analysis of various approaches to the definition of the phenomenon of synaesthesia as a concept reflecting the form of perception, the connection between feelings in the psyche, the results of their manifestations in specific art fields: the art-aesthetic culture of the 20th century, reflects the culturological component of the phenomenon; the ratio of synaesthesia with a sensory impression having a certain color. The role of synaesthesia in creative musical activity is defined and the relationship with the general features of the style of the Romantic era and the individual psychological qualities of the composers is indicated. Consideration is given to belonging to a certain national musical culture, which bears one or another national style. An example of the manifestation of synaesthetic tendencies in the musical art in the direction of impressionism is given. V. Moskalenko distinguishes three versions of reconstruction by the performer of the composer's plan: real, conditionally real and hypothetical. One of the main distinguishing features of the composer's letter of the first half of the twentieth century is the submission to the general technocratic tendencies inherent in the culture as a whole. In the second half of the XX - beginning of the XXI centuries, the intuitive beginning in the creative process was updated. The ultimate manifestation of the intuitive and sensual principle in the process of composing practice is reflected in the ideas of the Russian composer D. Kurlyandsky, which testifies to the extreme actualization not only of the intuitive beginning, but also of the bodily, sensual experience in creating a musical work. A productive method of constructing the components of the composer's intention is the method proposed by N. Kolyadenko for establishing synesthetic models of the stages of the artistic process, where the synaesthetic model of the artistic process corresponds to the composer's intention. The role of timbre and harmony in the music of the twentieth century is noted. The texture reflects the many-sided changes in the musical paradigm of the twentieth century. The simplest example of fixing the composer's spatial thinking is the notation record. The tendencies of the graphic nature of the musical texture, which only became apparent in the works of K. Debussy, were transformed into an important component, and sometimes the predominance of textured graphics in the music of the twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries. T. Krasnikova points out such forms: a point, a line, a strip, a stream, a stain, a scattering, a cloud, a sound rain. The special research devoted to this phenomenon testifies to the potential of researching composer's remarks as an embodiment of the "semantic" palette of the "stylistics of the composer's musical speech", as well as the "artistic" picture of the world of the "composer" (by A. Sokol's definition). Thus, the remarks being the "key" to understanding the compositional sense of music, in this classification once again demonstrate the inclusion of both emotional and synesthetic components in the sensory image of the sound of a musical work. The synaesthetic analysis objectifies musical sounding with the help of synaesthetic markers, capable of directing an understanding of its meaning. However, the significance of the above mentioned components of the creative process increases when studying the composer's intention of a synesthetic character - the synesthetic concept laid down by the composer - and his performing realization.

Sounds of February, Smells of October: The Russian Revolution as Sensory Experience

Temporally speaking, the Russian Revolution of 1917 was not a news item, not even a rumor, but first and foremost a novel sensory impression—gunshots with live ammunition from unusual places, the smell of burnt police files. This article explores the sensory history of the revolution through ego-documents like diaries and memoirs. It tracks in detail how people of various backgrounds in Petrograd and Moscow lived the olfactory class struggles after February and the taste excesses of the post-October “wine pogroms,” how they expressed a new experience of time in a sensory idiom, and how they ultimately became habituated to the new sounds and sights of revolutionary Russia. Historiography is at a propitious moment to move beyond a dichotomy of discourse versus “raw” experience: conjoining the histories of experience, the senses, and the emotions, the article probes what is to be gained from interpreting a world-historical event with a concept of experience as an integrated, multimodal, simultaneous sensory-emotional-cognitive process. Avant-garde artists, contemporaries of the Russian Revolution, foreshadowed such a holistic concept of experience by a century.

Dazzle, Dangle, and Jangle: Sensory Effects of Scandinavian Gold Bracteates

Small pendant discs known as Scandinavian gold bracteates are visually impressive indicators of status and identity during the early medieval Migration Period (c. 450–550 CE). Much of the emphasis in bracteate studies has been on typological classification and iconographic interpretation of the pictures, along with decipherment of the inscriptions, yet the sensory impression made by bracteates has been neglected. For decades, archaeologists considered it futile to speculate on the experiential; however, recent research has begun to contend with the materiality of senses and emotions in the past. In this paper, I focus on the both sensory effect of experiencing the pendants and the emotional impact of the objects on those who wore and handled them. Since bracteates are often discovered in women’s graves and show evidence of wear on their suspension loops, it is assumed that these objects were actually used in life. A spotlight on agency turns the study of bracteates from an emphasis on typology, iconography, and runology to trace instead the agency and multisensory effects of these objects on people and the effects of people’s actions on these items. This allows an examination of how bracteates were entangled with the senses and emotions of those who made, wore, and gazed upon these small but important objects. I consider what it may have felt like to make, receive, wear, lose, or bequeath a bracteate – or to deposit it into a bog or a grave.

The Significance of Art Mediation in Bridging the Communication Gaps

The present article reports on a qualitative study of art mediation means to break communicative gaps that arise in the process of contemporary art comprehension. The art comprehension is a process involving inner feelings motion from a genuine sensory impression (on the surface) to the comprehension and development of an artistic message (depth). The communicative gap arises as a result of misunderstanding the code message by the recipient, due to the complexity of contemporary art. The gap in question is worsened by the features of visual perception formed under the influence of new media. The function of art mediator is of an intermediary nature and is designed to facilitate communication between the work of art and the viewer with the help of a dialogue in a group. The circular model of communication provides a description of the nonlinear and polycentric nature of this kind of interaction. The present article corresponds to a synthetic study based on the theories of communication as well as artistic and aesthetic appreciation in a post-literacy situation. As an example of mediation, the experience of discussing the sculptures of Ivan Gorshkov in the article of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art (UIBCA) is presented. Keywords: art mediation, contemporary art, communication, communication gaps, a dialogue, comprehension, perception

How to examine surface skin sensation - practical quidance

Sensations accompany us in our daily lives. They allow a man to gather information about the changes occurring in the external environment. Thanks to then, we can primarily feel pain, touch, temperature (heat, cold). Within a few years we developed different methods and measuring instruments. However, still the era of medicine and biotechnology scientists are still puzzled on finding the best way on measuring the slightest stimulus intensity, causing sensory impression and thus the sophistication of such a method that best shows the change this threshold.