sensawunda
Posted on Nov 28th, 2008 by
Marmalade

Sensawunda is the sf genre term for sense of wonder. I’ve come across the term before, but I was just thinking about how its something I value highly in fiction. I was reminded of it because I came across a blog that was questioning if it was missing in contemporary fiction. I don’t feel like analyzing the concept, but one interesting idea stood out to me. The Wikipedia entry contrasted sense of wonder with the numinous in gothic horror. One blogger I came across thought the term awe covered both the sensawunda and the numinous. I agree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_wonder
http://futurismic.com/2008/11/22/has-science-fictions-sensawunda-lost-its-sense-of-wonder/
http://www.bookslut.com/science_fiction_skeptic/2007_12_012076.php
http://allumination.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/sensawunda-removal-machine/