Music beneath the skin
An embodied perspective on the aesthetic experience of a Taylor Swift song
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/2176-4174.36.2025e72776Keywords:
Cognitive Poetics, Cognitive Linguistics, Conceptualisations, Aesthetic Experience, LyricsAbstract
In this paper, we analyze the lyrics of Taylor Swift's song "Ivy", investigating how cognitive structures are engaged in the aesthetic experience of the reader-listener. Grounded in Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Poetics, we adopt as theoretical-methodological frameworks the Theory of Conceptual Metaphors and Metonymies and the Theory of Image Schemas. Our analysis reveals a multifaceted and paradoxical construction of the concept LOVE, articulated through conceptualizations such as LOVE IS A PLANT, LOVE IS FIRE, and LOVE IS WAR, which embody the anguish of the forbidden love narrated in the song. We conclude that: (1) these cognitive mechanisms, in synergy with musical elements, enhance the vividness of the aesthetic experience; and (2) this research contributes to Cognitive Poetics by expanding its scope of analysis to the popular song genre, demonstrating how cognitive processes operate in meaning construction within song lyrics.
References
Referências bibliográficas
AMENDOEIRA, Fernanda; NASCIMENTO, Thiago. Literatura fantástica na pele: a leitura de O conto dos três irmãos à luz da compreensão corporificada. Contexto, Dossiê Cognição Incorporada e Literatura, n. 39, p. 34-60, 2021.
BARCELONA, António. A Metonímia conceptual. In: IBARRETXE-ANTUÑANO, Iraide; VALENZUELA, Javier (Org.). Lingüística Cognitiva. Barcelona: Anthropos, 2013.
BARSALOU, Lawrence. Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Cambridge, v. 22, n. 4, p. 637-660, jul. 1999.
BERGEN, Benjamin. Experimental methods for simulation semantics. In: GONZALEZ-MARQUEZ, Monica; MITTELBERG, Irene; COULSON, Seana; SPIVEY, Michael (Org.). Methods in cognitive linguistics. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007. p. 277-301.
BORTONI-RICARDO, Stella Maris. O professor pesquisador: introdução à pesquisa qualitativa. São Paulo: Parábola, 2008.
BÜHLER, Karl. Theory of language: the representational function of language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011.
COSENZA, Henrique. A poesia de Augusto de Campos sob a ótica da linguística cognitiva: a interpretação descritiva. 2019. 138 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Linguística Teórica e Descritiva) – Programa de Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 2019.
DAMASIO, Antonio. The feeling of what happens: body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999.
DEWEY, John. Art as Experience. In: BOYDSTON, Jo Ann (Org.). The Later Works, v. 10. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987 [1934].
DUARTE JR., João Francisco. O que é beleza. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1986.
DUQUE, Paulo Henrique; COSTA, Marcos Antônio. Gramática de construções e simulação mental: construindo sentidos e arquitetando contextos. In: MOURA, Heronides; GABRIEL, Rosângela (Org.). Cognição na linguagem. Florianópolis: Insular, 2012a. p. 115-143.
DUQUE, Paulo Henrique; COSTA, Marcus. Linguística cognitiva: em busca de uma arquitetura da linguagem compatível com modelos de armazenamento e categorização de experiências. Natal: EDUFRN, 2012b.
DUQUE, Paulo Henrique. Simulação semântica e compreensão de texto. Cadernos do CNFL (CiFEFil), v. XVI, p. 128-133, 2012.
EVANS, Vyvyan; GREEN, Melanie. Cognitive Linguistics: an introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006.
GERRIG, Richard J.; MUMPER, Micah. How readers’ lives affect narrative experiences. In: BURKE, Michael; TROSCIANKO, Emily (Org.). Cognitive literary science: dialogues between literature and cognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. p. 239-257.
GIBBS, Raymond. Embodiment and cognitive science. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
GIBBS, Raymond W. Jr. Metaphor wars: Conceptual metaphors in human life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107762350
GOOSSENS, Louis. Metaphtonymy: the interaction of metaphor and metonymy in expressions for linguistic action. Cognitive Linguistics, v. 1, n. 3, 1990.
GOOSSENS, Louis. Metaphtonymy: the interaction of metaphor and metonymy in expressions for linguistic action. In: DIRVEN, René; PÖRINGS, Ralf (Org.). Metaphor and metonymy in comparison and contrast. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003. p. 349-377.
GRADY, Joseph. Foundations of meaning: primary metaphors and primary scenes. 1997. Tese (Doutorado em Linguística) – University of California, Berkeley, 1997.
HAMPE, Beate (Org.). From perception to meaning: image schemas in cognitive linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2005.
HARRISON, Chloe; STOCKWELL, Peter. Cognitive Poetics. In: LITTLEMORE, Jeanette; TAYLOR, John R. (Org.). The Bloomsbury Companion to Cognitive Linguistics. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014. p. 218-233.
JOHNSON, Mark. The meaning of the body: aesthetics of human understanding. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
KÖVECSES, Zoltán. Metaphor and Poetic Creativity: A Cognitive Linguistic Account. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, v. 1, n. 2, p. 181-196, 2009.
LAKOFF, George; JOHNSON, Mark. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003 [1980].
LANGACKER, Ronald W. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar: Volume I: Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1987.
MACWHINNEY, Brian. The emergence of language from embodiment. In: The emergence of language. Mahwah: Erlbaum, 1998. p. 213-256.
NASCIMENTO, Thiago. Metáfora conceptual e relevância: a manutenção de efeitos cognitivos na tradução de O retrato ovalado de Edgar Allan Poe. Revista Interdisciplinar em Estudos da Linguagem, v. 2, n. 1, p. 106-127, 2020.
SAITO, Livia. Annabel Lee de Poe e de Pessoa: uma leitura comparada à luz da poética cognitiva. 2023. 50 f. Monografia (Linguística Teórica e Descritiva) – Departamento de Estudos da Linguagem, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, 2023.
SILVA, Augusto Soares. A linguística cognitiva – uma breve introdução a um novo paradigma em linguística. Revista Portuguesa de Humanidades, v. 1, n. 1-2, p. 59-101, 1997.
STEEN, Gerard; GAVINS, Joanna. Contextualising Cognitive Poetics. In: GAVINS, Joanna; STEEN, Gerard (Org.). Cognitive Poetics in Practice. London: Routledge, 2003. p. 1-12.
STOCKWELL, Peter. Cognitive poetics: an introduction. London: Routledge, 2002.
TSUR, Reuven. Towards a theory of cognitive poetics. 2. ed. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2008 [1992].
VARELA, Francisco; THOMPSON, Evan; ROSCH, Eleanor. The embodied mind: cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991.
VANDAELE, Jeroen; BRÔNE, Geert. Cognitive poetics: a critical introduction. In: BRÔNE, Geert; VANDAELE, Jeroen (Org.). Cognitive poetics: goals, gains and gaps. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009. p. 1-29.
VILAS BOAS, Isabelle Lino. Poética Cognitiva: uma análise de frames e espaços mentais em Amor, de Clarice Lispector. 2025. 34 f. Monografia (Linguística Teórica e Descritiva) – Departamento de Estudos da Linguagem, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, 2025.
ZWAAN, Rolf A.; MADDEN, Carol J. Embodied Sentence Comprehension. In: PECHER, Diane; ZWAAN, Rolf A. (Org.). Grounding Cognition: The Role of Perception and Action in Memory, Language, and Thinking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. p. 224-245.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Guilherme Odilon Costa, Thiago da Cunha Nascimento
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Os artigos são disponibilizados sob os termos da licença 