Academic Studies Press Film as Embodied Art: Bodily Meaning in the Cinema of Stanley Kubrick

Review “Maarten Coëgnarts has been writing about the importance of embodied cognition for the understanding of cinema for a decade now and this monograph, his first, is the most detailed articulation of his ideas to date. The starting problem for Coëgnarts is: how does film convey meaning if its images and sounds (minus the words) do not possess the symbolic structure of language―in the sense that the relationship between the signifier and the signified is not arbitrary? The answer he proposes is outlined over the course of his impressive book, Film as Embodied Art… Overall, this is a very strong book that excels on multiple fronts, including the clarity of expression, the lucidly laid out structure of the argument, the command of cognitive linguistics, the articulation of basic and complex film examples in terms of conceptual structures, the rare detailed formal analysis, the even rarer sustained discussion of musical features, the copious illustrations (of films and musical scores alike), the very helpful glossary and discography, and the fact that it is available in open access. It undeniably pushes forward our understanding of how film embodies conceptual metaphors and should be an obligatory read for anybody interested in the subject… Coëgnarts provides us with a novel application of second-generation cognitive science to film studies, and the clarity with which he demonstrates film may be seen as embodying conceptual structures is commendable.”―Mario Slugan, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Projections “Ever seen cognitivist film criticism? Look at Maarten Coëgnarts interpreting Stanley Kubrick’s oeuvre. The cognitive paradigm (in film studies) has fruitfully explored the what and why of film viewer perception, comprehension, and emotion. Maarten Coëgnarts in a daring forward move broaches the subject of film interpretation and author criticism. Skillfully applying his profound knowledge of embodied metaphor in film, he charts procedures for creating referential meaning typical for Kubrick’s work. Visuals-supported, versatile and accurate analyses reveal concrete patterns of cinematic style technology. Thus, it is shown how exactly the Kubrick touch resonates in the viewers’ construction of complex meanings.” ―Ed Tan, Emeritus Professor, University of Amsterdam and affiliate professor of Film, Media and Communication University of Copenhagen“Maarten Coëgnarts’s new book offers a fascinating look at the films of Stanley Kubrick and how these are representative of embodied art. He demonstrates the ways that cognitive semantics and inferential pragmatics help explain viewers’ cognitive and affective experiences of cinema, not only in terms of the words heard, but as importantly the sounds and moving images observed. Kubrick, was a master in designing distinctive films that relied on complex layers of embodied meanings, with linguistic, visual, and auditory metaphors playing a major role in people’s meaningful interpretations of film. This valuable book will surely be of great relevance to film scholars, and students of Kubrick, but should also be much appreciated by anyone with an interest in embodied cognition and art.” ―Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., author of Embodiment and Cognitive Science“Film as Embodied Art is a towering achievement of scholarly insight on the work of one of cinema’s greatest directors, Stanley Kubrick. Providing new insights on ideas of cognition and cinematic meaning, the case study serves to further our understanding of audience perception of Kubrick’s work and contributes new perspectives to the field of film studies, cultural studies and beyond. This is a thought-provoking book that reveals Stanley Kubrick’s films in an original light and comprehends the director’s ability to communicate complex ideas through a purely visual means. Essential reading and a triumph of Kubrick Studies." ―James Fenwick, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of the Wes