Emotions in History: Lost and Found (The Natalie Zemon Davis Annual Lecture Series at Central European University, Budapest)

Coming to terms with emotions and how they influence human behaviour, seems to be of the utmost importance to societies that are obsessed with everything "neuro." On the other hand, emotions have become an object of constant individual and social manipulation since "emotional intelligence" emerged as a buzzword of our times. Reflecting on this burgeoning interest in human emotions makes one think of how this interest developed and what fuelled it. From a historian's point of view, it can be traced back to classical antiquity. But it has undergone shifts and changes which can in turn shed light on social concepts of the self and its relation to other human beings (and nature). The volume focuses on the historicity of emotions and explores the processes that brought them to the fore of public interest and debate. La 4ème de couv. indique : "Empty human faces, without any sign of emotions, as the avant-la-lettre constructivist Kazimir Malevich painted them, invite us to think about emotions in a similarly constructivist manner. Emotions, as argued in this book, are contingent on historical variables. Even though men and women may ahve always felt and shown emotions, those have differed in style, object, intensity, and valence. While certain emotions got lost in history, other ones rose to prominence, depending on political incentives, social challenges, and cultural choices. In European societies, honour and shame practices have fundamentally changed over the course of modernity, gradually losing their grip on people's self-perception and attitude. At the same time, compassion and empathy have become crucial components of the modern "emotional self." Althrough they have motivated a plethora of humanitarian activities and institutions, they have nevertheless been hampered by severe obstacles and seen periods of dramatic decline." Coming to terms with emotions and how they influence human behaviour, seems to be of the utmost importance to societies that are obsessed with everything neuro . On the other hand, emotions have become an object of constant individual and social manipulation since emotional intelligence emerged as a buzzword of our times. Reflecting on this burgeoning interest in human emotions makes one think of how this interest developed and what fuelled it. From a historian s point of view, it can be traced back to classical antiquity. But it has undergone shifts and changes which can in turn shed light on social concepts of the self and its relation to other human beings (and nature). This book focuses on the historicity of emotions and explore the processes that brought them to the fore of public interest and debate. -- Book Description. "Dispersed in two continents, four countries and six collections; many of its pages were cropped, cut into four, or lost forever; its history, origin, commissioner and audience are obscure; still, in its fragmented state it presents fifty-eight legends in an abundant series of images, on folios fully covered by miniatures, richly gilded, using only one side of the fine parchment; a luxurious codex worthy of a ruler; a unique iconographic treasury of medieval legends; one of the most significant manuscripts of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom--these are all what we call the Hungarian Angevin Legendary"-- Provided by publisher Title Page, Copyright List of Illustrations Preface and acknowledgments The historical economy of emotions: Introduction Chapter 1. Losing emotions Chapter 2. Gendering emotions Chapter 3. Finding emotions Emotions lost and found: Conclusions and perspectives Notes Index of names Back Cover