You are what you read

In his article, “Notation and the Art of Reading,” Karl Young points to several different types of notation with relation to its historical origin, performance, and manifestation in their respective cultures. He uses the term “kinesthesia” to refer to how certain facets of notation and performance can elicit a reaction among an audience. For example, Young talks about how the Aztecs used scrolls made of animal skin to paint non-abstract symbols to represent myths, genealogies, histories, etc. These scrolls or “hanging books” from a kinesthetic sense gave its readers a feeling of unity and energy through performance which was shared throughout the culture.
The Chinese used calligraphy as a means of communicating poetry which Young uses the term “The Three Perfections” to describe its outstanding craftsmanship and creativity. In Calligraphy the writing itself is just as if not more beautiful than the poetry itself. The Calligrapher must be extremely talented and careful with his work because of the sheer amount of different symbols used in Chinese culture to represent different things. According to Young, the nature of the calligraphy would many times influence the nature of the poem. Kinesthetically, these poems would transpose a sort of magical feeling to its reader through the flow of verse structure and symbol usage. Essentially, I see the process as a cyclical one where all facets (poetic nature, calligraphy, symbol usage, lines) influence each other. Without one, the others cease to exist.
Finally, Young mentions the use of manuscripts by the English in the early 17th century. Young mentions how Donne, a master poet and early implementer of manuscripts wrote poems in a way that were meant to be memorized and vocalized. With this came an extreme challenge to the reader because Donne’s poems were often ambiguous and difficult to memorize. Young comments on the intricacies of Donne by stating, “Sometimes if you read what seems to be an uneven line with even stresses, the reading brings out meanings that would be muffled if normal speech rhythms were followed. A reader would have to spend considerable time sorting these options out.” Ultimately, it would be expected of the reader to contemplate the meaning of these manuscripts allowing the poem to serve kinesthetically to the reader by uplifting, entertaining, and consoling him or her after the poem was memorized.
I have found the correlation between notation and kinesthesia to a fascinating one. Something that was not mentioned in Young’s article that I saw appropriate to mention are the certain times where human beings may misrepresent the meaning of a poem, book, or other type of writing. There have been times where I have listened to a song or poem and taken away a meaning far different than others that have viewed it. Can this be a negative or positive aspect to notation? Can it be a combination of the both? Can certain writings be kinesthetically dangerous? This truly is an interesting subject.