Intersensorial translation of coughing-and-sneezing in an epidemic social context

Abstract

The British Ministry of Health’s poster campaign Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases brought World War II to the British home front by making it personal and served as a visual call to arms for civilians. Although involving visual materials, the campaign provides a case for examining how posters engage people’s extra-visual senses in responding to this call. By using the concepts of intersensoriality and synaesthetic metaphor, we discuss the possibility of enhancing the audience experience of print posters by associating verbal and visual language with the rest of the senses. Premised on the assumption that it is possible to establish an interrelation between the senses related to sneezing, we argue that, once synchronized, all associated senses may increase the perception of propaganda experienced in the poster campaign.