Fourth dimension in literature

The idea of a fourth dimension has been a factor in the evolution of modern art, but use of concepts relating to higher dimensions has been little discussed by academics in the literary world.^[1] From the late 19th century onwards, many writers began to make use of possibilities opened up by the exploration of such concepts as hypercube geometry. Some writers took the fourth dimension to be one of time, which is consistent with the physical principle that space and time are fused into a single continuum known as spacetime. Others preferred to think of the fourth dimension in spatial terms, and some associated the new mathematics with wider changes in modern culture.

In science fiction, a higher "dimension" often refers to parallel or alternate universes or other imagined planes of existence. This usage is derived from the idea that to travel to parallel/alternate universes/planes of existence one must travel in a direction/dimension besides the standard ones. In effect, the other universes/planes are just a small distance away from our own, but the distance is in a fourth (or higher) spatial (or non-spatial) dimension, not the standard ones. Fifth and higher dimensions are used in the same way; for example; the Superman foe Mister Mxyzptlk comes from the fifth dimension.