Imagined somaesthetics and the analysis of embodied ideology

Bowman, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2264-7596 2025. Imagined somaesthetics and the analysis of embodied ideology. Martial Arts Studies

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Abstract

Richard Shusterman’s theory of somaesthetics offers a valuable way for scholars to understand the body in practice, one that is particularly valuable for martial arts studies. However, I suggest, Shusterman does not fully engage with the dimension of the imagination in bodily practices. This, I argue, means that the theory of somaesthetics is unfinished or incomplete in relation to analysing the practicing body in relation to external cultural influences and ideologies. To address this, I draw from Edward Said’s theory of ‘imagined geography’ and Benedict Anderson’s theory of ‘imagined communities’, plus Lauren Berlant’s affect-focused insights into the relationships between the body and ideology, in order to enrich the theory of somaesthetics for martial arts studies. I term this expanded concept ‘imagined somaesthetics’. After doing this, I draw from my own research into contemporary practices of ‘Indian club’ training, to propose a method for exploring imagined somaesthetics, that I call soma-semiotics.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Additional Information:	RRS applied 21/11/2025 AB
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2057-5696
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 November 2025
Date of Acceptance:	11 October 2025
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2025 14:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182488

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