AustLit

'What is the relationship between the ideas that underlie narrative and the language used to convey those ideas? What modes of poiesis are involved? What are the dynamics of the conversion process? The concept of ideasthesia can be used to tackle these questions. This article investigates the concept of ideasthesia using Nikolić’s definition of the concept, which arises from the ‘Ancient Greek words idea (for concept) and aesthesis (for sensation). Hence […] the term ideasthesia [or] sensing concepts’ (Nikolić, D. 2016. ‘Ideasthesia and art.’ emphasis in original). Ideasthesia is a means for understanding writing process – a way of deconstructing the ways in which writers sense concepts (ideas) in metaphorical, associative and sensory ways. Narrative arises from everyday ideas that are subsequently transformed. This article reflects upon the process of writing the short story ‘Like Clay’, a story about a form of postpartum psychosis known as olfactory hallucination (Prendergast, J. 2015. ‘Like Clay.’ Island Literary Magazine. The article unpacks meta-level processes of association from a practice-based perspective. Tracking the use of connotative language, this article reflects upon the writing process: asking how an image might represent an idea that simmers beneath the surface.'  (Introduction)