Alica u Zemlji Čudesa kao susretište književnosti i medicine i kao poticaj medicinskomu nazivlju
Alice in Wonderland at the Intersection of Literature and Medicine and as an Inspiration for Medical Terminology

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to show the interaction between two seemingly unrelated areas: literature and medicine. Although the above-mentioned connection is sometimes hard to notice, it is present in many literary texts, including Lewis Carroll’s fantasy story Alice in Wonderland. The first part of this paper focuses on the symptoms commonly referred to as the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. The story inspired scientists to name a specific group of medical symptoms after Carroll’s protagonist, thus pointing to the connection between certain medical conditions and Alice’s wondrous adventures. The second part of the paper considers the inscrutability of Carroll’s inspiration to create this type of fantasy story, as well as the possible influence of medical phenomena on some aspects of the novel. It is not quite clear whether Carroll drew some of the inspiration for his writing from his health condition (his struggles with migraines) or hallucinations caused by hallucinogenic drugs he allegedly consumed. One thing remains certain: Alice in Wonderland presents a meeting point between medicine and literature.

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