Enthusiasm: Emotional Practices of Conviction in Modern Germany (Emotions in History)

"Enthusiasm seeks to contribute to a culturally and historically nuanced understanding of how emotions secure and ratify the truth of convictions. More than just pure affective intensity, enthusiasm is about something: a certainty, clarity, or truth. Neither as clearly negative as "fanaticism" nor as general as "passion," "enthusiasm" specifically entails belief. For this reason, Enthusiasm takes its starting point in religion, the social arena in which the concept was first debated and to which the term still gestures. Empirically based in modern German Protestantism, where religious emotion is intensely cultivated but also subject to vigorous scrutiny, this book combines historical and ethnographic methods to show how enthusiasm has been negotiated and honed as a practice in Protestant denominations ranging from liberal to charismatic. The nexus of religion and emotion and how it relates to central concepts of modernity such as rationality, knowledge, interiority, and sincerity are key to understanding why moderns are so ambivalent about enthusiasm. Grounded in practice theory, Enthusiasm assumes that emotions are not an affective state we "have" but mind-body activations we "do," having learned to perform them in culturally specific ways. This book shows that, when understood as an emotional practice, enthusiasm has different styles, inflected by historical traditions, social milieus, and knowledge (even ideologies) about emotions and how they work. Finally, Enthusiasm also provides insight into how this feeling works in secular humanism as well as in politics, and why it is so contested as a practice in any context"--Publisher's description Cover 1 Enthusiasm 4 Copyright 5 Preface 6 Contents 10 Introduction: Enthusiasm as an Emotional Practice 12 A Brief History of Enthusiasm 13 Protestantism, Emotion, and Modernity 15 The Ambivalence of Fervor 19 Aims, Methods, and Theories 23 Emotion as a Cultural Practice 30 The Turn to Emotion and Affect 35 Chapter Overview 42 1: Emotional Ideologies: A Brief Archeology of Terms and Theories 46 Knowledge About Emotion 47 Shifting Encodings of Inner and Outer, Body and Soul 50 The Invention of “Feeling” 54 The Victory of “Affect” Over “Passion” 59 Emotional Ideologies: “Enlightened” and “Romantic” 67 2: Safeguarding InteriorityDebates over Protestant Enthusiasm in Nineteenth-Century Germany 74 Enthusiasm as Schwärmerei: From False Inspiration to Inauthentic Feeling 78 The Situation of German Protestantism in the Late Nineteenth Century 82 Protestant Innerlichkeit 87 Evangelism’s Challenge to Protestant Innerlichkeit 96 Conclusion 112 3: Free to Follow the Feeling: Doubt as Material Practice 116 Emotions as Material, Mediating Practices 122 “Resonant Process”: Worship 127 Getting “Into It”: Prayer 134 Presence and Autonomy 137 Toward an Enthusiasm of Doubt 142 Religion and Emotion as Practices of Freedom 146 Conclusion 150 4: Styles of Sincerity: On the Morality of Performances of Enthusiasm 153 Approaching Sincerity 159 Styles of Sincerity: Prudent and Sentimental 164 Why Insincerity Happens: Local Knowledge 171 Controlled Joy as Liberal Sentimentalism 179 Secular Sincerity and the Enthusiasm Imperative 183 5: Awkward Enthusiasts: Emotionalizing Atheism in Berlin 185 Feeling Atheist in Berlin 189 The “Preference Gap” in Humanist Cultures 195 Secular Styles: Provinces of the Heart vs. Ethics 199 Emotion Out of Place: Awkwardness and Failed Enthusiasm 205 Conclusion 210 Conclusion: Enchanting Conviction: “Enthusiasm” as an Analytical Term 212 Back to Weber: Modern Emotionality 215 Enthusiasm as Enchanting Conviction 222 Analyzing Political Enthusiasm 225 Closing Thoughts 230 APPENDIX: List of Encyclopedias and Abbreviations 232 References 236 Index 254 Enthusiasm seeks to contribute to a culturally and historically nuanced understanding of how emotions secure and ratify the truth of convictions. More than just pure affective intensity, enthusiasm is about something: a certainty, clarity, or truth. Neither as clearly negative as fanaticism nor as general as passion, enthusiasm specifically entails belief. For this reason, the book takes its starting point in religion, the social arena in which the concept was first debated and to which the term still gestures. Empirically based in modern German Protestantism, where religious emotion is intensely cultivated but also subject to vigorous scrutiny, it combines historical and ethnographic methods to show how enthusiasm has been negotiated and honed as a practice in Protestant denominations ranging from liberal to charismatic. The nexus of religion and emotion and how it relates to central concepts of modernity such as rationality, knowledge, interiority, and sincerity are key to understanding why moderns are so ambivalent about enthusiasm. Grounded in practice theory, Enthusiasm assumes that emotions are not an affective state we 'have' but mind-body activations we 'do', having learned to perform them in culturally specific ways. When understood as an emotional practice, enthusiasm has different styles, inflected by historical traditions, social milieus, and knowledge (even ideologies) about emotions and how they work. Enthusiasm also provides insight into how this feeling works in secular humanism as well as in politics, and why it is so contested as a practice in any context. "Interest in the historical dimensions of emotional life has grown rapidly. Ranging from medieval to modern periods, the Emotions in History series reaches across regional and national boundaries, bringing together studies of human experience from all parts of the world. The series recognizes the multifaceted nature of emotions, exploring them through the histories of science, medicine, and psychology, as well as literature, art, religion, politics, and economics"-- Provided by publisher Enthusiasm is desirable, yet dangerous. More than just affective intensity, it entails belief. Combining historical and ethnographic methods, this book explores different styles of religious enthusiasm in Modern Germany, inflected by historical traditions and social milieus, in an effort to understand the modern ambivalence toward this feeling. Enthusiasm is desirable, yet dangerous. More than just affective intensity, it entails belief. Combining historical and ethnographic methods, this text explores different styles of religious enthusiasm in Modern Germany, inflected by historical traditions and social milieus, in an effort to understand the modern ambivalence toward this feeling