Emotions, language and identity on the margins of Europe
By: Kyra Giorgi
Series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Emotions
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 234
ISBN-13: 9781137403476
Subjects: Emotive (Linguistics); Language and culture; National characteristics; Historical linguistics; HISTORY / Europe / General; HISTORY / Modern / General; PSYCHOLOGY / Emotions
Description: "Nations usually define themselves in positive terms; they proclaim themselves strong and victorious, or developed and prosperous. But what does it mean when the opposite is true - when negative feelings like regret, nostalgia, melancholy and fatalism are said to be the true essence of a culture? And what does it mean when these feelings are encapsulated in a single, untranslatable word?Bringing together three such word-concepts from Europe's periphery - saudade in Portugal, the Czech litost of Milan Kundera and Orhan Pamuk's   of Istanbul - this book investigates claims that they embody the historical experiences and character of a people. In each case, it explores the historical, cultural and psychological mechanisms behind the invention of negative autostereotypes to offer new ways of thinking about individual and collective identities. This eclectic and broad-ranging study is not only a historical survey of emotions, but also a meditation on hope, belonging and the search for authenticity in the modern age"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 210-225) and index.