De Corporibus Humanis: Metaphor and Ideology in the Representation of the Human Body in Cinema

ABSTRACT

In this article, based on a critical metaphor analysis, we identify and describe multimodal metaphors involving the human body and its conceptualizations in five auteur films of the 2010s. Studies on the human body in cinema have documented how it changes according to underlying ideologies. Our research focuses on the role of image schemas and metaphors as they embody meanings and sociocultural paradigms. Metaphors also frame how the body is conceptualized according to dominating ideological practices such as (a) commodification, (b) the integration between artificial and organic, (c) dissatisfaction, (d) dynamics of beautification and idealization, and (e) politicization of the human body. We show how metaphors are creative tools to reframe meanings and representations of the body and how the body is a construct refashioned within the cinematic discourses of these films.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ As a convention in metaphor studies, the use of capital letters indicates that “the particular wording does not occur in language as such, but it underlies conceptually all the metaphorical expressions listed underneath it” (Kövecses, 2002/2010, p. 4).

² This metaphor is partly suggested by studies such as Yu (2008) and Urios-Aparisi (2010).

³ For the definition of “auteur film” (or “art film”) we follow Hick (2010, pp. 32–33) who claimed that “Art films are aimed at small niche market audiences, which means they can rarely get the financial backing which will permit large production budgets, expensive special effects, costly celebrity actors, or huge advertising campaigns, as are used in widely-released mainstream blockbuster films. Art film directors make up for these constraints by creating a different type of film, which typically uses lesser-known film actors (or even amateur actors) and modest sets to make films which focus much more on the main thesis, which in the case of more ambitious (especially European or Asian) films means that the author (screenwriter and director) actually has something to say. […]”

⁴ For other representations of MALE SEXUAL ORGAN IS A METAL INSTRUMENT see Poppi (2018).

⁵ For a discussion on the notion of sexuality in Moebius, see Young (2014).

⁶ For a discussion about women and patriarchy in South Korea, see Kim (2006).