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cultural synesthesia

for example, that the letters of the alphabet or words of a language that figure as the inducing stimuli in the case of colourgrapheme synaesthesia are not raw sense data, rather they are learned within a particular linguistic culture

Marks also points to the example of the synaesthetic connection between temperature and colours, as evidenced by the widespread notion that blues and greens are “cool” colours, while reds, oranges and browns are relatively “warm.” These colour-temperature relations reflect associations that are acquired through experience, Marks says, based on his observation that “preadolescent children do not reliably perceive or judge the colors orange and brown to be warmer than blue and green unless the children have been explicitly taught this scheme”

low frequency sounds tend to be associated with dark colours like blue or brown while higher-frequency sounds suggest light or bright colours, like white or yellow.

in Melanesia as in Mali, auditory sensations do have olfactory properties. If one were to ask why this is so, an anthropologist responding might begin by noting that the cultures in question are “oral societies” as opposed to “literate” societies. In other words, they are societies in which the dominant mode of communication is “aural-oral” as opposed to “graphic,” whether chirographic (having to do with writing), typographic (having to do with print), or electronic (having to do with computing). In a literate society, words tend to be experienced as quiescent marks on paper or a computer screen. They are visual marks. In an oral society, words (being aural) are not visible: words may be felt or smelled as well as heard, but they cannot be seen. It could be hypothesized on this basis that the incidence of colour-grapheme synaesthesia would be higher in a literate society (where words – and letters -- are more susceptible to being visualized) than in an oral society. Conversely, proneness to audio-olfactory (or audio-tactile) synaesthesia would likely be higher in an oral society than in a literate society.

Social statuses are distinguished in terms of heat (a person’s heat varies with age and gender), and so too are the cardinal directions and different times of day (e.g. East is “Rising Heat”). The media used in Tzotzil ancestral and other rituals, such as candles, tortillas and cane liquor, are all involved with heat, too.

Significantly, much of the visual and other symbolism employed by the Tzotzil contains thermal references; colors, food, and even speech are classified as hot or cold. Red, for example, is used to signify heat, and black, to signify coldness. Corn, one of the staples of the Tzotzil diet, is believed to possess a high degree of heat, while the potato, another staple is classified as cold. Ordinary language is said to be cold because it is disorderly and unbounded. Ritual language, on the other hand, is classified as hot because it is fixed, stylized and repetitious [bearing the accumulated heat of all the ages] ... This system of correspondences enables the basic thermal schema of Tzotzil cosmology to be reinforced through all of the senses

The above examples of intermodal associations (colour-temperature, tastetemperature, etc.) among the Tzotzil would probably be categorized as instances of “weak synaesthesia” by Marks because they are conditioned responses, not congenital.

Earlier, the question was raised of what produces the perception of synaesthesia as being an abnormal or unique condition. It was suggested that this perception might be a peculiarity of modern Western culture. To flesh out that suggestion, it helps to proceed relationally once again – that is, by considering a civilization in which synaesthesia is normal. The example of ancient Chinese civilization and cosmology presents an interesting case study, though we could equally well have chosen from a range of other societies and periods, including the premodern West.

In the ancient Chinese “Theory of the Five Elements,” each of the principal elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water was associated with a different odour, taste, colour, musical tone, season and direction. Thus, the element of Fire was associated with a smoky scent, a bitter taste, a red colour, the musical tone chih, the season of summer and the direction of south; the element of Water was associated with a rotten smell, a salt taste, the colour black, the musical tone yu, the winter season and the direction north.