The Poetics of Tourette Syndrome: Language, Neurobiology, and Poetry

Mesterséges határok: A természettudományok és humán tudományok viszonyáról, eredményeiről és módszereiről

“…Hamm és munkatársai nem diagnosztizálják az elbeszélőt, mivel nem magát a betegséget, csupán egyes tünetek szujbektív élményét veszik górcső alá. [28] Problémásabb lehet Ronald Schleifer vállalkozása, mely során a Tourette-szindróma és a költői nyelv összefüggéseit kutatja egy neuroregény, Jonathan Lethem [29] Árva Brooklynja segítségével ahelyett, hogy valódi Tourette-szindrómával élők beszédét vizsgálná (Schleifer 2001), így jogosan gyaníthatjuk, hogy Schleifer a regény elemzésével nem tesz mást, minthogy a költői nyelvet a költői nyelvvel veti össze.…”

The deconstruction of Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome

“…The research also suggests that Tourettic impulse may have a relationship with language. Schleifer (2001) discusses the connection between Tourettic tics and poetry. Like music, poetic discourse involves rules and governance, but these are outside of normal language, they have a more mythological and intrinsic base.…”

“…Brown and Kushner (2001) refer to a relationship between coprolalia and poetry, noting that cursing relies on innuendo and euphemism and therefore, like poetic words, their force can "exceed(s) their immediate context" (p. 550). Schleifer (2001) suggests "resources of language most starkly apprehensible in the extremity and dysfunction of Tourette's Syndrome are a source of much of poetry's power" (p. 568).…”

Storytelling and the Perceptions of the Embodied Mind

“…Hamm et al do not claim to have diagnosed the narrator, but the symptoms are definitely detectable and the psychologists are permissive 13 . Ronald Schleifer, who investigates the relationship of Tourette's syndrome and poetic language, is also permissive as he analyses Jonathan Lethem's 14 novel, Motherless Brooklyn instead of the speech of real patients with Tourette's syndrome (Schleifer 2001), risking the possibility of investigating the relationship of poetic language and poetic language. In the case of works such as Motherless Brooklyn, one can never be completely sure of how authentic the representation of a condition is in the work, how authentic the representation of the speech of these people is, let alone the representation of their consciousness altogether As Ron Padgett puts it, when arguing for the importance of the creative talent of artists "[i]t is one thing to have a nightmare, it is another to write like Kafka" (Padgett 1997, 54).…”

“…The most striking thing about Lionel's condition is his linguistic creativity. His linguistic tics, while they are unintentional, regarding their rhythm and associational logic, often take poetic forms (Schleifer 2001). The protagonist unexpectedly bursts into utterances such as the one below, often in the most embarrassing moments: I gritted my teeth while my brain went, Guy walks into the ambulance ramp stabs you in the goddamn emergency gut says I need an immediate stab in the garbage in the goddamn walk-in ambulance says just a minute looks in the back says I think I've got a stab in the goddman walk-in immediate ambuloaf octoloaf oafulpoe.…”