Jeannette Littlemore’s new book, Metaphors in the Mind: Sources of Variation in Embodied Metaphor, is a marvelous new entry to the expanding world of metaphor scholarship. The book has been a great pleasure for me to read, particularly because it speaks to the heart of what is important to understand about metaphorical thinking and language. Ever since Aristotle first wrote about metaphor, almost 2,500 years ago, metaphor has primarily been viewed as a sign of individual ‘genius’ and creativity. We place much value on those wordsmiths who create wonderful new metaphors that help elevate our spirits and teach us to think about old ideas in new ways, ranging from scientific concepts and political beliefs to theories of mind and the intricacies of emotions (e.g., Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”).

Although we still primarily think of metaphors as an individual achievement, one that some people, but not others, are really good at spinning out into the world, the revolution in metaphor studies over the last 45 years has demonstrated the ubiquity of metaphor in everyday language, thought, and various expressive actions. Metaphors are not just entities “we live by”, but complex human performances that we routinely enact in various mundane and exquisite ways. Everyone uses metaphor in a wide variety of contexts. Much metaphorical thinking turns out to be closely tied to pervasive patterns of bodily action and experience (e.g., we think of our lives in terms of our physical journey experiences). Part of the reason why metaphor is so prominent across different people and cultures is the fact that human beings share physical bodies which constrain many of the ways we think and act in the world. Metaphors are embodied just in the manner in which minds are fundamentally embodied, as seen in contemporary research in cognitive science.

But the discovery that embodied metaphorical thinking and action are fundamental parts of how all of us live sometimes glosses over the unique variations in the ways people experience metaphor. A major question facing all metaphor scholars is: How do we reconcile the generality of metaphorical thinking within all of us with the specific individual differences in how metaphoricity is enacted and understood? If we all live by metaphor, to some degree, we may all do so in unique, highly personal ways. This conflict between the general (e.g., RELATIONSHIPS ARE JOURNEY) and the specific (e.g., “My marriage is a bumpy roller-coaster ride from hell”) is by no means peculiar to metaphor studies, as this contrast underlies theoretical debates and empirical research within all areas of science, including those that focus on understanding the contents and functioning of language and cognition.

I offer these introductory remarks to set the stage for my assessment of Jeannette Littlemore’s Metaphors in the Mind. Simply put, this book tackles the thorny problem of both acknowledging and reconciling the enduring contrast between generality and variation in embodied metaphorical experience. Littlemore highlights the empirical work, from different fields of study, that demonstrates the ubiquity of metaphor in thought and language, the grounding of metaphor in embodied experience, and the many sources of variation in embodied metaphorical thought, language, and action.

Chapter 1 tells the story of how embodiment is crucial for understanding the specific ways that metaphor emerges within everyday thinking and language. Chapter 2 describes some of the important empirical research from behavioral and neuroscience studies, as well as from natural-occurring discourse, which provides support for the idea of embodied metaphor. This chapter also introduces some of the sources of variation in people’s experiences of embodied metaphor. Chapter 3 tackles the questions of which metaphors are really embodied, and when this happens. Littlemore also considers different forms of variation in embodied metaphor according to their type, function, and the specific contexts in which they appear. She then explores some of the features that determine when metaphors evoke sensorimotor activation in the brain, a key aspect of embodied metaphorical use and understanding. These features include novelty, emotion, motion, and perspective, in addition to different contextual features, such as the influence of genre and register. Chapter 4 describes work on the developmental growth of embodied metaphors, from infancy onward, with special attention to corresponding research on maths and music by comparing the acquisition of metaphor to adults’ embodied understanding of metaphorical language.

Chapter 5 dives into some fascinating work on how bodily differences (e.g., body shape, handedness, gender) affect people’s production and understanding of metaphor. Chapter 6 discusses the role that bodily impairments (e.g., blindness, deafness, lack of smell, apraxia) influence people’s experiences of sensory metaphors. Chapter 7 continues to address how metaphorical thought and language use is altered during depression, pregnancy, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorders. Chapter 8 shows the ways differences in personality, thinking style, political stances, and religious beliefs shape metaphorical thinking and language. Chapter 9 touches on the many linguistic and cultural variations in how metaphor arises in thought and language.

Finally, Chapter 10 offers some general conclusions on the many sources of variation in embodied metaphor, and suggests some avenues for future research on variation within metaphor studies. In doing so, Littlemore outlines several practical and theoretical implications that arise given the recognition of variation in embodied metaphor. For example, the empirical evidence strongly suggests that embodied metaphorical understandings develop at different times and rates. Personal experience has a great affect on the ways that embodied metaphorical thinking develops and is used. Our perceptions of our bodies, and not just the body as a physical object, also shape embodied metaphorical thought and language use. Paying attention to variation in embodied metaphor use also reveals how many so-called dead metaphors may be awakened to convey complex metaphorical meanings in many circumstances. More generally, Littlemore urges metaphor scholars to always seek the specific within the general and the general within the specific. Adopting this approach to metaphor provides an opening to better understanding how generality and variation in metaphor are not opposing forces, but reflect different sides of the same coin. What are now typically considered to be basic conventional embodied metaphors (e.g., LIFE IS A JOURNEY) may really be idealized schematic representations of complex webs of very specific metaphorical concepts which are always quite particular and slightly novel in different contexts of use (e.g., “I am trying to climb Mount Everest in flip flops”).

Part of the pleasure in reading Metaphors in the Mind is that one can approach the book in two different, but complementary, ways. I started reading by sitting down on repeated occasions and almost randomly diving into different chapters or sections of the book. This was great fun as I enjoyed reading about specific topics and research on metaphor, as well as seeing Littlemore’s take on various theoretical ideas or debates. But the book also deserves a more traditional reading from beginning to end for people to experience the flow of Littlemore’s arguments and to fully appreciate the importance of these theoretical issues for the world of metaphor scholarship. She writes with a clarity and flair that make the book both informative and entertaining. I can’t recommend this volume strongly enough. If you read one book on metaphor this year, or ask your students to read a great overview of the field, please pick up and treasure Metaphors in the Mind: Sources of Variation in Embodied Metaphor.