Some Contributions from Embodied Cognition to Psychonarratology

Abstract

Psychonarratology is a discipline that combines classic frameworks in narratology and psycholinguistics. The goal of this review article is to highlight the contributions that recentevidence from causality processing studies, conceptual metaphor theory and embodiedcognition can make to Psychonarratology, in order to promote a more comprehensive studyof narrative. We argue that, in order to increase its descriptive and explanatory power,Psychonarratology would beneft from a more strongly interdisciplinary approach. Thisapproach would integrate grounded theoretical cognition and recent methods from diferentdisciplines. With this aim, we review study evidence that highlights the fundamental linkbetween cognition and causal connections in narratives, as well as proposals from conceptualization theories. These approaches indicate that metaphorical mappings and discourseconnections play a crucial role in the establishment of narrative sequences. Moreover, weelaborate on the contributions that recent advances in research on embodied cognition,causality processing and Conceptual Metaphor Theory can make to the theoretical andmethodological framework of Psychonarratology, such as promoting the design of moreecologically valid tasks, and the study of narrative production and comprehension by nonneurotypical participants.