ABSTRACT
The foundational elements permit the embodied metaphors of Ratatouille to work, within an embodied simulation account of perception. This chapter begins with moving image aesthetics, aligning film example with its forbears in the cinema, visual art and music, as a means of understanding how multisensory aesthetics have a natural relationship with metaphor. The power of art and metaphor to transcend the mundane and foster creativity is, in large part, contingent on cross-modal bodily experience. As the field becomes more exploratory and interdisciplinary, Gibbs and Teenie Matlock plead for theorists to give more consideration to embodiment, arguing that various forms of embodied simulation should be considered in a theory of metaphor understanding. Embodied metaphor theory hinges on various conceptions of mental and corporeal simulation of the world. These include foundational ideas like Mark Johnson's conception of image schemata, mirror neuron research, and other simulation-like activities in the brain during perception.
