Body of Vision: Northrop Frye and the Poetics of Mind

“In Body of Vision Michael Sinding has taken on a large intellectual assignment, involving a great deal of hard thinking, and he has succeeded splendidly. I know of no one else in Frye studies who has written so knowledgeably and non-tendentiously about Frye’s ideas in relation to cognitive poetics and poststructuralism. It is something of a marvel how much this tightly reasoned and beautifully organized book contains.”

Alvin Lee, General Editor, The Collected Works of Northrop Frye

“Timely, relevant, and insightful, Body of Vision is a thoughtful and revealing study of Northrop Frye’s important contribution to the field of cognitive poetics. There is a pan-historical continuity in the ‘metaphors we live by,’ Frye showed, a continuity that has at least as much to do with how the brain works as with where the brain finds itself.  The inference deserves a hearing and Sinding proves to be an ideal listener for such as these mindful patterns that continue to challenge and improve findings in cultural studies and the variety of social concern criticisms.”

Jeffery Donaldson, Department of English, McMaster University