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Atlante delle emozioni umane: 156 emozioni che hai provato, che non sai di aver provato, che non proverai mai
Siamo tutti in grado di riconoscere la differenza tra rabbia e paura, tra desiderio e invidia. Sappiamo anche che è meglio non confondere l’affetto con l’amore, il rimpianto con il rimorso, l’euforia con la felicità.
Quello di cui non ci rendiamo conto, però, è che lo spettro delle emozioni umane è ancora più sfumato di così: esistono sensazioni che tutti noi abbiamo provato, stati d’animo molto precisi e inconfondibili, e a cui però spesso non abbiamo saputo dare un nome.
Eppure in qualche angolo del mondo, in qualche lingua a noi ignota esiste una parola che li definisce: per esempio, solo gli inuit chiamano iktsuarpok il miscuglio di ansia, nervosismo, eccitazione e felicità che prova chi aspetta l’arrivo di ospiti a casa, o la risposta a una mail importante; per i finlandesi, kaukokaipuu è l’inspiegabile nostalgia per un posto dove non siamo mai stati; gli spagnoli chiamano vergüenza ajena l’imbarazzo empatico di chi assiste alle figuracce altrui.
Tiffany Watt Smith attraversa storia, antropologia, scienza, arte, letteratura e musica in cerca delle espressioni con cui le culture di tutto il mondo hanno imparato a definire le proprie emozioni, e nel frattempo ci rivela come siano complesse e sorprendenti anche quelle che credevamo di conoscere bene. Di parola in parola veniamo risucchiati nel caleidoscopio di questo libro divertente, colto e curioso, metà enciclopedia e metà atlante, che mentre mappa le differenze affettive tra i popoli ci ricorda che proprio nell’universalità di ciò che proviamo ci scopriamo uguali.
Quello di cui non ci rendiamo conto, però, è che lo spettro delle emozioni umane è ancora più sfumato di così: esistono sensazioni che tutti noi abbiamo provato, stati d’animo molto precisi e inconfondibili, e a cui però spesso non abbiamo saputo dare un nome.
Eppure in qualche angolo del mondo, in qualche lingua a noi ignota esiste una parola che li definisce: per esempio, solo gli inuit chiamano iktsuarpok il miscuglio di ansia, nervosismo, eccitazione e felicità che prova chi aspetta l’arrivo di ospiti a casa, o la risposta a una mail importante; per i finlandesi, kaukokaipuu è l’inspiegabile nostalgia per un posto dove non siamo mai stati; gli spagnoli chiamano vergüenza ajena l’imbarazzo empatico di chi assiste alle figuracce altrui.
Tiffany Watt Smith attraversa storia, antropologia, scienza, arte, letteratura e musica in cerca delle espressioni con cui le culture di tutto il mondo hanno imparato a definire le proprie emozioni, e nel frattempo ci rivela come siano complesse e sorprendenti anche quelle che credevamo di conoscere bene. Di parola in parola veniamo risucchiati nel caleidoscopio di questo libro divertente, colto e curioso, metà enciclopedia e metà atlante, che mentre mappa le differenze affettive tra i popoli ci ricorda che proprio nell’universalità di ciò che proviamo ci scopriamo uguali.
437 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 17, 2015
519 people are currently reading
6291 people want to read
About the author
Tiffany Watt Smith
6 books86 followersDr. Tiffany Watt Smith is a cultural historian and author of The Book of Human Emotions. In 2014, she was named a BBC New Generation Thinker, and her TED talk The History of Emotions has over 1.5 million views. She is currently a Wellcome Trust research fellow at the Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary University of London. In her previous career, she was a theater director.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
October 3, 2016
Emotions are funny things…some flit through us at the speed of light, barely registering on our face or consciousness, while others linger, hovering over us, coloring our perceptions of each new day. Descartes thought here were six basic emotions: wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy, and sadness, but most of us can name several more of which we have intimate knowledge.
There are emotions that we experience only once or twice in a lifetime and yet someone somewhere has probably identified and named that particular feeling. It is reassuring and something joyous, I think, to discover that some strong emotion is shared. Tiffany Watt Smith does not attempt a comprehensive catalog, but she makes the excellent point that we need more words for our feelings rather than trying to narrow the breadth and width of human experience into discrete and limited categories. It is a marvelous, revelatory read.
Watt Smith worked in theatre before beginning an academic career. Somehow that seems entirely appropriate to emotion-spotting. An actor with a range of experiences may need some prompting on how they should feel about a certain scene, and the words help to place them in a context. Or perhaps the actors are teaching us as audience an emotion we instinctively recognize but have never been able to put into words.
The book is filled with a sense of good humor. Even in definitions of those feelings we would be happy to do without, like disappointment and despair, Watt Smith does not leave us feeling bereft. She always puts in a little upswing at the end which shows us the way out, or makes us smile in relief and pleasure that we are not there now.
I particularly liked her discussion of compassion in which she recognizes that
Disgust is a prime candidate for a “universal” emotion as it is instantaneous and involuntary, though Watt Smith points out that often “something out of place” is often the culprit to feelings of involuntary disgust: a hair in one’s soup, soup on one’s beard or clothing, or simply a disagreeable smell where we don’t expect to find it.
There is a word which has no equivalent in English, though I have seen the emotion described in a novel by a woman of Bangladeshi descent, called maya-lage . Watt Smith calls it fago in this book, which is a type of love and pity felt for those in need, mixed with sadness, sorrow, and compassion. It is the feeling one gets contemplating the fate of those who experience an earthquake, or other natural disaster.
I can’t recommend this book more highly for all of us, but especially for those in the creative professions. It is filled with irresistible descriptions of feelings we may have experienced but for which we had no words, and may inspire attempts to capture those emotions as they cross the mind-body divide. The author goes around the world seeking words that express a human state. It is completely absorbing. One doesn’t have to read the entries in order—one is encouraged to skip around.
You will not want to miss those definitions which appear in countries we just visit—that a nationality has created a word for a sensation may mean the emotion is important in a certain culture, like han, a feeling of sadness and hope at the same time…a yearning for things to be different (Korea), or torschlusspanik, a German word for the agitated, fretful feeling that time is running out, or “gate-closing panic.” I am quite sure the Chinese must have similar expression somewhere, knowing what I do about their culture. I must mention the extraordinary capture of a national characteristic in the term greng jai: “the feeling of being reluctant to accept another’s offer of help because of the bother it would cause them.” Greng jai is a Thai phrase.
Buy this one. Watt Smith is a delightful companion, and many of the words you will want to find again. Tiffany Watt Smith gives a short talk on her work.
There are emotions that we experience only once or twice in a lifetime and yet someone somewhere has probably identified and named that particular feeling. It is reassuring and something joyous, I think, to discover that some strong emotion is shared. Tiffany Watt Smith does not attempt a comprehensive catalog, but she makes the excellent point that we need more words for our feelings rather than trying to narrow the breadth and width of human experience into discrete and limited categories. It is a marvelous, revelatory read.
Watt Smith worked in theatre before beginning an academic career. Somehow that seems entirely appropriate to emotion-spotting. An actor with a range of experiences may need some prompting on how they should feel about a certain scene, and the words help to place them in a context. Or perhaps the actors are teaching us as audience an emotion we instinctively recognize but have never been able to put into words.
The book is filled with a sense of good humor. Even in definitions of those feelings we would be happy to do without, like disappointment and despair, Watt Smith does not leave us feeling bereft. She always puts in a little upswing at the end which shows us the way out, or makes us smile in relief and pleasure that we are not there now.
I particularly liked her discussion of compassion in which she recognizes that
”For Tibetan Buddhists, the wish to free a person from suffering is ideally experienced in equanimity, with a quiet confidence. For many of us, however, compassion is considerably more anxious territory…requiring a person to discover very vulnerable parts of themselves…Only the wisest can bend themselves to another’s pain without being rendered numb and helpless themselves: the “compassion fatigue” we hear about in the caring professions today.”Her discussion of contempt puts me in mind of Donald Trump, as do many things these days. Contempt is a performative emotion in that it turns a spectator into a participant, inviting a conversation. One can watch a spectacle, but once one acts or speaks in contempt, one is provoking a response.
Disgust is a prime candidate for a “universal” emotion as it is instantaneous and involuntary, though Watt Smith points out that often “something out of place” is often the culprit to feelings of involuntary disgust: a hair in one’s soup, soup on one’s beard or clothing, or simply a disagreeable smell where we don’t expect to find it.
There is a word which has no equivalent in English, though I have seen the emotion described in a novel by a woman of Bangladeshi descent, called maya-lage . Watt Smith calls it fago in this book, which is a type of love and pity felt for those in need, mixed with sadness, sorrow, and compassion. It is the feeling one gets contemplating the fate of those who experience an earthquake, or other natural disaster.
I can’t recommend this book more highly for all of us, but especially for those in the creative professions. It is filled with irresistible descriptions of feelings we may have experienced but for which we had no words, and may inspire attempts to capture those emotions as they cross the mind-body divide. The author goes around the world seeking words that express a human state. It is completely absorbing. One doesn’t have to read the entries in order—one is encouraged to skip around.
You will not want to miss those definitions which appear in countries we just visit—that a nationality has created a word for a sensation may mean the emotion is important in a certain culture, like han, a feeling of sadness and hope at the same time…a yearning for things to be different (Korea), or torschlusspanik, a German word for the agitated, fretful feeling that time is running out, or “gate-closing panic.” I am quite sure the Chinese must have similar expression somewhere, knowing what I do about their culture. I must mention the extraordinary capture of a national characteristic in the term greng jai: “the feeling of being reluctant to accept another’s offer of help because of the bother it would cause them.” Greng jai is a Thai phrase.
Buy this one. Watt Smith is a delightful companion, and many of the words you will want to find again. Tiffany Watt Smith gives a short talk on her work.
February 8, 2017
Tiffany Watt smith asks a big question at the beginning of this book, 'what are emotions' then tackles a series of possible answers with a combination of learning and humour that is irresistible.
The Introduction explores the invention of emotions as a concept, browsing from ancient Greece, via the emergence of C17 empirical science to Charles Darwin (who claimed that our emotions were not fixed responses but the result of millions of years of evolutionary processes which were still ongoing), to Sigmund Freud, C20 psychology, anthropology and literature.
She's interested in the ways that cultural values imprint themselves on our private experiences, noting that emotions are named and experienced differently between cultures, and over time, explores implications of the way emotions are described and ascribed; eg hatred, jealousy, melancholy - once fashionable, now rarely used .
'The influence of our ideas can be so powerful', she writes, 'that they can sometimes shape those biological responses we think of as the most natural. How else is it that in the eleventh century, knights could faint in dismay or yawn for love? Or that 400 years ago people could die of nostalgia'?
I share her view that the connections between emotions and the words we use to describe them are intriguing, and I've delighted in finding new words and new emotions I didn't know existed, and certainly didn't know they had names.
Probably deliberately, her first and last entries are from languages other than English. Entry number one is Abhiman, first mentioned in the Sanskrit Vedas, 'evokes the pain and anger caused when someone we love, or expect kind treatment from, hurts us. Sorrow and shock are at its root, but it quicckly flourishes into a fierce, bruised PRIDE.... See also: HUMILIATION; LITOST; RESENTMENT.
And so we are off and away. Just this one example takes us into a different world, and offers suggestions for cross-referencing.
The last, Zal (pronunced jahl) is melancholy felt at an irretrievable loss, and ranges from resignation to bitter anger.
Many entries are funny, most fascinating. I've enjoyed the mix of big ideas and glorious trivia. I've wondered for years about what a gruntle was, Disgruntle I know of course, but gruntle? Was there such a word? (Too lazy to look it up). Here is the answer: 'Gruntles are little snorts that pigs make while flicking flies from their snout'. Farm pigs pigs tend to gruntle 'from habitual dissatisfaction, and it's this which gives the idea that gruntling is rather petty and pointless. Humans gruntle in their sties too, whining at the coffee point, grumbling and griping on the way home'. And here comes the key: this is one of the rare words when' the 'dis' exaggerates rather than negates, like 'distend'. Well, I have never even begun to guess that.
Disgruntle is followed by DISGUST (see also AMBIGUPHOBIA); DISMAY (See also REMORSE; LOVE) and DOLCE FAR NIENTE, The pleasure of doing nothing (See also CAREFREE); DREAD, then into the E's with ECSTASY.
It's a delight.
Update several days later:
Prompted by friends' comments, I thought I should give some information about Tiffany Watt Smith, because she comes from an unusual corner in writing about emotion.
She describes herself as a cultural historian of emotions, worked in theatre for some time, wrote a PhD on wincing and flinching in the late C19.
Her website http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/staff/watts... links to a Guardian piece that has a lot more examples than I've give here.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Have fun!
The Introduction explores the invention of emotions as a concept, browsing from ancient Greece, via the emergence of C17 empirical science to Charles Darwin (who claimed that our emotions were not fixed responses but the result of millions of years of evolutionary processes which were still ongoing), to Sigmund Freud, C20 psychology, anthropology and literature.
She's interested in the ways that cultural values imprint themselves on our private experiences, noting that emotions are named and experienced differently between cultures, and over time, explores implications of the way emotions are described and ascribed; eg hatred, jealousy, melancholy - once fashionable, now rarely used .
'The influence of our ideas can be so powerful', she writes, 'that they can sometimes shape those biological responses we think of as the most natural. How else is it that in the eleventh century, knights could faint in dismay or yawn for love? Or that 400 years ago people could die of nostalgia'?
I share her view that the connections between emotions and the words we use to describe them are intriguing, and I've delighted in finding new words and new emotions I didn't know existed, and certainly didn't know they had names.
Probably deliberately, her first and last entries are from languages other than English. Entry number one is Abhiman, first mentioned in the Sanskrit Vedas, 'evokes the pain and anger caused when someone we love, or expect kind treatment from, hurts us. Sorrow and shock are at its root, but it quicckly flourishes into a fierce, bruised PRIDE.... See also: HUMILIATION; LITOST; RESENTMENT.
And so we are off and away. Just this one example takes us into a different world, and offers suggestions for cross-referencing.
The last, Zal (pronunced jahl) is melancholy felt at an irretrievable loss, and ranges from resignation to bitter anger.
Many entries are funny, most fascinating. I've enjoyed the mix of big ideas and glorious trivia. I've wondered for years about what a gruntle was, Disgruntle I know of course, but gruntle? Was there such a word? (Too lazy to look it up). Here is the answer: 'Gruntles are little snorts that pigs make while flicking flies from their snout'. Farm pigs pigs tend to gruntle 'from habitual dissatisfaction, and it's this which gives the idea that gruntling is rather petty and pointless. Humans gruntle in their sties too, whining at the coffee point, grumbling and griping on the way home'. And here comes the key: this is one of the rare words when' the 'dis' exaggerates rather than negates, like 'distend'. Well, I have never even begun to guess that.
Disgruntle is followed by DISGUST (see also AMBIGUPHOBIA); DISMAY (See also REMORSE; LOVE) and DOLCE FAR NIENTE, The pleasure of doing nothing (See also CAREFREE); DREAD, then into the E's with ECSTASY.
It's a delight.
Update several days later:
Prompted by friends' comments, I thought I should give some information about Tiffany Watt Smith, because she comes from an unusual corner in writing about emotion.
She describes herself as a cultural historian of emotions, worked in theatre for some time, wrote a PhD on wincing and flinching in the late C19.
Her website http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/staff/watts... links to a Guardian piece that has a lot more examples than I've give here.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Have fun!
March 16, 2022
Este no es un diccionario de emociones. No esperéis definiciones escuetas y un listado de todas las habidas o importantes. No. De hecho, sólo se habla de 156 emociones y de forma, en su mayoría, muy detallada.
La autora no escatima en desarrollar la etimología del término utilizado para la palabra (de dónde viene y qué significa en el idioma "original"). Así como puede seguir la historia que ha tenido esta emoción y cómo ha evolucionado a lo largo del tiempo (en algunas).
Este tema esta muy ligado, como no puede ser de otra manera, a la psicología. Y se dan datos y teorías precisas (con mirar la bibliografía de 50 páginas nos hacemos una idea de todas las fuentes externas), como la evolucionista, que hacen de este libro uno más serio y verídico. Por otro lado también habla de filosofía y cultura, como describiendo escenas de películas, libros, cuadros o acontecimientos para ejemplificar la emoción.
Es cierto que había algunos aspectos (muy ocasionales) en los que no estaba de acuerdo o que no tenía entendidos de esta forma. Sin embargo, hay que tener en cuenta la procedencia de la autora y que las emociones pueden ser entendidas de forma diferentes en distintas culturas al igual que varía su significado a lo largo de la historia.
Tiene una edición muy currada, en tapa dura, con su división alfabética y tinta negra y rojiza. La introducción me pareció, por otro lado, muy acertada ya que prepara de forma eficaz lo que va a tratar a continuación. Además, casa emoción se puede relacionar con otra del libro y así aparece (ejemplo: para otras emociones militares ver x ).
En un libro de no ficción con el que he aprendido mucho, tal y como ya he dicho que es ideal para este género. Las definiciones no me han resultado pesadas, de hecho me han interesado mucho.
La autora no escatima en desarrollar la etimología del término utilizado para la palabra (de dónde viene y qué significa en el idioma "original"). Así como puede seguir la historia que ha tenido esta emoción y cómo ha evolucionado a lo largo del tiempo (en algunas).
Este tema esta muy ligado, como no puede ser de otra manera, a la psicología. Y se dan datos y teorías precisas (con mirar la bibliografía de 50 páginas nos hacemos una idea de todas las fuentes externas), como la evolucionista, que hacen de este libro uno más serio y verídico. Por otro lado también habla de filosofía y cultura, como describiendo escenas de películas, libros, cuadros o acontecimientos para ejemplificar la emoción.
Es cierto que había algunos aspectos (muy ocasionales) en los que no estaba de acuerdo o que no tenía entendidos de esta forma. Sin embargo, hay que tener en cuenta la procedencia de la autora y que las emociones pueden ser entendidas de forma diferentes en distintas culturas al igual que varía su significado a lo largo de la historia.
Tiene una edición muy currada, en tapa dura, con su división alfabética y tinta negra y rojiza. La introducción me pareció, por otro lado, muy acertada ya que prepara de forma eficaz lo que va a tratar a continuación. Además, casa emoción se puede relacionar con otra del libro y así aparece (ejemplo: para otras emociones militares ver x ).
En un libro de no ficción con el que he aprendido mucho, tal y como ya he dicho que es ideal para este género. Las definiciones no me han resultado pesadas, de hecho me han interesado mucho.
March 31, 2020
A book that does what it says, offers an encyclopaedia of human emotions, and one that balances intelligence with readability. Watt Smith is very good at teasing open linked emotions and showing their subtle differences. She also uses her choice of entries to highlight cultural attitudes to emotions. The book has many poetic moments that lead a reader to go, "Oh, yes, I see that exactly." A book to be read and re-read, like an encyclopaedia, but with an eye on something not quite grasped before.
September 10, 2016
I really enjoyed this book but it takes some reading. It opens with a chapter about the history of modern emotions which was completely gripping. But then after that it is simply an alphabetical list of emotions. The first chapter gives context to what you are reading but the alphabetical index doesn’t which is what made is so jarring to plod through.
But having said that I did plod through and found much to ponder over therein.
I have long known that other languages had emotions that in English we have no direct equivalent for, only approximations. A bit like saying a tulip is like a rose but different. No help to anyone really.
Also if you have read that bit in “The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Really Are” by Alan Watts you also know that there are emotions that we have no inkling of whatsoever and are so alien that we cannot even imagine them.
The real surprises in this book is just how modern many of our emotions are. We think that people have been feeling these things for ever but it just isn’t so. Also how many emotions that we now perceive as “negative” when for most of their lives they have been considered as positive emotions.
The hand of the big pharma companies also shows itself in the reversal, and plain old invention of some of this stuff. For example, the symptoms of depression are described in the DSM without context. so if you are feeling down, short on appetite and not sleeping too well, then you are suffering from depression and need these pills.
BUT, if you feel all those things and you have just: lost your job, or come to the end of a significant relationship, or lost someone dear to you, even a dog, or had your favourite bile stolen THEN those same symptoms are the response of a normal human being to such events and you are not suffering from depression and don’t need those pills. Chilling stuff huh?
And what about emotions that were once common but now we no longer have them? Hard to imagine but true nonetheless. It kinda makes the whole stage of our lives seem a bit shaky if you consider the wider implications of some of this. Like, if we cannot name it does that mean we cannot feel it? What are we missing out on? Does it also mean that we are experiencing some things unconsciously because we cannot name them?
Give this book to someone that you want to unsettle, including yourself.
But having said that I did plod through and found much to ponder over therein.
I have long known that other languages had emotions that in English we have no direct equivalent for, only approximations. A bit like saying a tulip is like a rose but different. No help to anyone really.
Also if you have read that bit in “The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Really Are” by Alan Watts you also know that there are emotions that we have no inkling of whatsoever and are so alien that we cannot even imagine them.
The real surprises in this book is just how modern many of our emotions are. We think that people have been feeling these things for ever but it just isn’t so. Also how many emotions that we now perceive as “negative” when for most of their lives they have been considered as positive emotions.
The hand of the big pharma companies also shows itself in the reversal, and plain old invention of some of this stuff. For example, the symptoms of depression are described in the DSM without context. so if you are feeling down, short on appetite and not sleeping too well, then you are suffering from depression and need these pills.
BUT, if you feel all those things and you have just: lost your job, or come to the end of a significant relationship, or lost someone dear to you, even a dog, or had your favourite bile stolen THEN those same symptoms are the response of a normal human being to such events and you are not suffering from depression and don’t need those pills. Chilling stuff huh?
And what about emotions that were once common but now we no longer have them? Hard to imagine but true nonetheless. It kinda makes the whole stage of our lives seem a bit shaky if you consider the wider implications of some of this. Like, if we cannot name it does that mean we cannot feel it? What are we missing out on? Does it also mean that we are experiencing some things unconsciously because we cannot name them?
Give this book to someone that you want to unsettle, including yourself.
January 15, 2016
Usually I'm one to devour a book as quickly as I fall in love with it. This however had me spending days on single pages enjoying the reflection of my own emotional life. Loved it!
November 17, 2016
Toska. That is why I LOVE the Russians.
August 18, 2019
A very enjoyable read—to be savoured bit by bit, preferably over long evenings with tea and biscuits. A collection of essays, somewhere between history, psychology, and linguistics (hence, totally untranslatable) describing an extensive collection of human emotions.
Starting with Indian "abhiman" and ending with Polish "żal" it gives emotional and cultural context to those many little feelings we have, but not always know how to name.
Starting with Indian "abhiman" and ending with Polish "żal" it gives emotional and cultural context to those many little feelings we have, but not always know how to name.
May 23, 2017
Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.This astonishing revelation could only have sprung—in the same way Athena sprung from Zeus—from the mind of one truly insane German man, insane because no one sane has any hope of approaching this close to reality, and German because, let’s face it, it’s obviously in German. With its trusty sidekick the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, this statement proves more or less that one who has control of language can control his very experience of reality. Thus it becomes imperative to amass as many words as possible.
All kidding aside, I’ve been fascinated by untranslatable expressions ever since I was a wee laddie, no doubt fueled by growing up bilingual. That members of a particular culture understood the world in certain ways inaccessible to those of another was, if anything, a finding of intense curiosity. Not that I ever bothered wondering why this was the case; more intriguing were the specific meanings lost in translation. To discover and understand the magic latent in these codewords became, then, somewhat of an obsession, only disappointed when I ran my parents out of their limited supply. So of course I was excited to discover that someone with the same instincts had anthologized a whole trove of affects, and of course I ordered it straight away.
The Book of Human Emotions is, make no mistake, a very pretty book, spine bound in woven crimson with embossed gold lettering, cover hard, white, and black bordered with reflective gold paper. These four colors certainly lend an air of, if not weight, then at least a certain majesty to Smith’s endeavor. They create both an expectation of hidden knowledge and the temptation to unlock it. Which is, I know, the typical line teachers use to sell the very idea of reading to their pupils, but that definitely isn’t how I feel with most books and is in this case effected entirely by the cover’s design. It is, yes, an emotion, one whose appearance is evoked by tomes and codices more than books, a particular shade of curiosity for which there is yet no word. Now does this work satisfy its promise?
Sadly, no. Trite though the saying is, “I wanted to love it, but couldn’t” accurately captures my elongated affair with this dictionary of essays, and doubly so once you take into account the fact that Smith is exactly the sort of person I am predisposed to admire: an etymologically-inclined intellectual historian, once a theater director, who is at ease quoting philosophers from Arendt to Zizek, equally comfortable distilling the latest findings from sciences social and physical, and who plays perfectly in tune with contemporary cultural sensibilities (sensitivities).
There are two primary faults, the first concerning philosophy and the second curation. On page 179:
Most of all, [feeling MIFFED] is blessed with what the French deconstructionists call jouissance, a playful ambiguity of meaning which leaves the reader plenty of room for interpretation.Given Smith’s propensity to name thinking figures by the schema “the British lawyer Jeremy Bentham [p.129] or “the novelist Park Kyung-ni [p.127]” or “the philosopher Max Scheler [p.233]” or “the Greek philosopher Aristotle [p.255]” or “the philosopher René Descartes [p.242]” or “the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre [p.234],” striking it is that Jacques Derrida alone escapes not only definition as such but proper quotation. Indeed the term Smith was looking for was not jouissance but différance, and though Derrida is all for creative misreadings I’m sure he would’ve taken issue at being conflated with Jacques Lacan (to whom the term jouissance actually belongs), who was decidedly not a deconstructionist, nor even a philosopher. Secondly, I find it rather inconceivable how Ludwig Wittgenstein (said insane mensch) received precisely zero mentions in a work whose content is the best demonstration of language games in action one could ask for; the same fate is suffered by Hume and his incredible dictum:
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.Much less forgivable, on the other hand, is Smith’s omission of my favorite Cerberus: ANGUISH, ENNUI, WELTSCHMERZ. Perhaps it is the case that such powerful liquors are not for the faint of heart, but to brush aside their existence in favor of such ephemera as ROAD RAGE (when RAGE already has an entry) and such non-emotions as RIVALRY (really?) is tantamount to heresy, a heresy hereby punished with the docking of a star.
Nevertheless I would highly recommend this to anyone in the 8th grade through high school because these are the ages which demand emotional intelligence like a parched man in the desert demands water, and having a better vocabulary for your feelings inevitably helps you better understand yourself (at ages when “self” is a thing that still, you lucky bastards, exists) and others around you. College students would also benefit, as would those insufferable people who brand themselves “lifelong learners.”
Favorite Quotes
“The collywobbles (from colic and wobble) is a feeling of anxiety and unease in the pit of the stomach, giving an oily, lurching sensation. In contrast to the prettier ‘butterflies’, the collywobbles are gelatinous, and quiver most violently in the sleepless hours, as we anticipate tomorrow’s deadline, or the conversation we must have with our mother, and everything around us starts to float.” [p.49]
“CYBERCHONDRIA: Anxiety about ‘symptoms’ of an ‘illness’ fuelled by internet ‘research’.” [p.67]
“Part of what makes desire so hard to tolerate is the FRUSTRATION and DISAPPOINTMENT which so often come with it. But perhaps more hidden is its SHAME: the way longing for someone exposes us, forcing us to admit we lack something that we don’t already have and can’t easily obtain.” [p.72]
“In Thailand, greng jai (sometimes transliterated kreng jai) is the feeling of being reluctant to accept another’s offer of help because of the bother it would cause them.” [p.119]
“[Virginia Woolf] gave this experience of a sudden, revelatory joy to Mrs Ramsay in her 1927 novel To the Lighthouse. Amid the banality of serving a family dinner, Mrs Ramsay is struck by a feeling that life is gloriously perfect. Everything seems possible and right:
She hovered like a hawk suspended, like a flag floating in an element of joy which filled every nerve of her body.” [p.162]
…‘This cannot last,’ she thought.
“Malu is all-too recognisable: the sudden experience of feeling constricted, inferior and awkward around people of higher status than us.” [p.173]
“Torschlusspanik describes the agitated, fretful feeling we get when we notice time is running out.” [p.173]
P.S. Actually, the other star is lost not because of my absolutely pretentious philosophical nitpicking (which applies only to the tiniest slice of the audience), but because reading even a few pages resulted, invariably, in sleep. Turns out describing emotions isn’t nearly as fun as feeling them.
P.P.S. If someone comes up with a word that captures the emotion kinda funny, kinda sad, I will be delighted beyond words. And no, “hilrcagiltseiu” or some random string of letters à la Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows does not suffice; it must be grounded in etymological wizardry.
December 4, 2022
The book of human emotions review
The greatest pleasure for me in learning languages is learning of different ways to express thoughts that simply don’t exist in my native language. It isn’t a way to express your accumulated knowledge or display your intelligence (ok sometimes it makes me feel smart ngl) but also certain languages have different tools that allow ideas to be expressed or encapsulated in a very elegant manner. It’s most evident in a book like this which will show emotion words from other languages that expresses sentiments that would have required multiple sentences to explain in English. Other languages ways to encapsulate these emotions that I imagined difficult to capture in English can be unified in a single word, that bewilders me really. Bro this book reallyyyyy makes me want to learn German LOL.
As well, even for emotions that I seem to know already in English, the author does an incredible job deepening my current knowledge of them, providing the history of certain emotions, such as explaining how certain of them are regarded differently depending on the times that we live in and how our view on them changes frequently. As well, I love the authors way of describing emotions using other emotions. For example, the description of wonder was so beautiful to me: “a combination of bewilderment and dazed submission, awe and fear”. An honestly amazing book.
The only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of Chinese characters in the book. I would have liked to see some of those because I swear there are so many Chinese words that I can understand in Chinese but not be able to translate.
My favourite sections in the book were about abhiman, amae, basorexia, compassion, pity, torschlusspanik, verüenza ajena and żal
The greatest pleasure for me in learning languages is learning of different ways to express thoughts that simply don’t exist in my native language. It isn’t a way to express your accumulated knowledge or display your intelligence (ok sometimes it makes me feel smart ngl) but also certain languages have different tools that allow ideas to be expressed or encapsulated in a very elegant manner. It’s most evident in a book like this which will show emotion words from other languages that expresses sentiments that would have required multiple sentences to explain in English. Other languages ways to encapsulate these emotions that I imagined difficult to capture in English can be unified in a single word, that bewilders me really. Bro this book reallyyyyy makes me want to learn German LOL.
As well, even for emotions that I seem to know already in English, the author does an incredible job deepening my current knowledge of them, providing the history of certain emotions, such as explaining how certain of them are regarded differently depending on the times that we live in and how our view on them changes frequently. As well, I love the authors way of describing emotions using other emotions. For example, the description of wonder was so beautiful to me: “a combination of bewilderment and dazed submission, awe and fear”. An honestly amazing book.
The only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of Chinese characters in the book. I would have liked to see some of those because I swear there are so many Chinese words that I can understand in Chinese but not be able to translate.
My favourite sections in the book were about abhiman, amae, basorexia, compassion, pity, torschlusspanik, verüenza ajena and żal
March 28, 2019
"Anticipation is a tiny theft of pleasure. A reckless spending of delights not yet owned."
"In France, the feeling of being an outsider is known as depaysement. Sometimes it is frustrsting, leaving us feeling unsettled and out of place. And then, just sometimes, it swirls up into a kind of giddiness, only ever felt when far away from home. When the unlikeliest of adventures seem possible. And the world becomes new again."
"Dolce far niente means the pleasure of doing nothing."
"Kaukokaipuu. Sometimes we feel homesick for a place, even though we've never been there. Somwtimes we just want to be anywhere but here. From kauko - farqway, and kaipuu - a yearning, the Finns know the craving for a distant land."
"Ruinenlust. Feeling irresisitbly dawn to crumbling buildings and abandoned places."
"In France, the feeling of being an outsider is known as depaysement. Sometimes it is frustrsting, leaving us feeling unsettled and out of place. And then, just sometimes, it swirls up into a kind of giddiness, only ever felt when far away from home. When the unlikeliest of adventures seem possible. And the world becomes new again."
"Dolce far niente means the pleasure of doing nothing."
"Kaukokaipuu. Sometimes we feel homesick for a place, even though we've never been there. Somwtimes we just want to be anywhere but here. From kauko - farqway, and kaipuu - a yearning, the Finns know the craving for a distant land."
"Ruinenlust. Feeling irresisitbly dawn to crumbling buildings and abandoned places."
August 1, 2017
"La risposta alla domanda "Che cos'è un'emozione?" non si può trovare soltanto nella biologia o nella storia personale di un individuo. Il modo in cui ci sentiamo si intreccia alle aspettative e alle idee portanti della cultura in cui viviamo. L'odio, la rabbia e il desiderio possono sembrare emozioni originate dalla parte di noi che è più selvaggia, più vicina al regno animale. Ma possono anche essere provocate dai fattori che più ci rendono umani: il nostro linguaggio e i concetti teorici che utilizziamo per cercare di capire i nostri corpi; le nostre convinzioni religiose e i nostri giudizi morali; le mode, la politica e l'economia dei periodi storici in cui ci capita di vivere.
Il nobile francese del Seicento François de La Rochefoucauld sosteneva che anche i nostri impulsi più urgenti possono nascere dal bisogno di rispettare le convenzioni esterne: «Alcune persone non si innamorerebbero mai», diceva, «se non avessero sentito parlare dell'amore». Allo stesso modo, attività come parlare, guardare e leggere possono suscitare emozioni precise nei nostri corpi, ma possono anche calmare i nostri sentimenti. I baining della Nuova Guinea posizionano una ciotola d'acqua nelle loro abitazioni per tutta la notte allo scopo di assorbire l' awumbuk, quell'insieme di tristezza e inerzia che rimane dopo la partenza di un ospite gradito. Questo rituale funziona ogni volta, o così pare. Le nostre idee possono esercitare un'influenza tale da dare forma anche alle reazioni biologiche che crediamo assolutamente naturali. Com'è possibile, altrimenti, che i cavalieri dell'anno Mille perdessero i sensi per lo sgomento, o sbadigliassero in segno d'amore? Com'è possibile che soltanto 400 anni fa le persone arrivassero a morire di nostalgia?
La cultura in cui viviamo, oltre ai nostri corpi e alla nostra mente, dà forma alle nostre emozioni: questa era l'idea prevalente negli anni sessanta e settanta del secolo scorso. Gli antropologi occidentali che facevano ricerca sul campo, abitando per periodi più o meno lunghi in posti molto distanti dalle proprie case, svilupparono un forte interesse per il vocabolario emotivo delle diverse lingue. Per esempio, la parola song — l'oltraggio che si prova quando si riceve una porzione insufficiente di qualcosa — viene tenuta in grande considerazione presso gli ifaluk, abitanti dell'omonima isola dell'Oceano Pacifico. Col tempo si chiarì che alcune culture prendono molto sul serio quegli stessi sentimenti che a un abitante di un altro paese potrebbero sembrare meschini. Cosa ancora più importante, in determinate culture esistevano emozioni a cui si dava un tale significato da rendere necessario distinguere ogni loro sfumatura, anche la più sottile, come i quindici diversi tipi di paura che sono in grado di provare i pintupi dell'Australia occidentale. Al contrario, emozioni che a un anglofono sembrano fondamentali, in altre lingue non hanno nemmeno un termine adatto per essere nominate: tra gli indios machiguenga del Perù, per esempio, non esiste una parola che restituisca il significato esatto del termine "preoccupazione". Tutto questo interesse per la componente emotiva del linguaggio aveva il suo fascino: se diverse persone hanno maniere diverse di intendere e concettualizzare le proprie emozioni, questo significa che forse hanno anche maniere diverse di provarle?...
Questo libro racconta le storie delle emozioni, e il modo in cui queste storie cambiano. Parleremo dei molti modi diversi in cui le emozioni sono state percepite e manifestate – dai giurati che scoppiavano a piangere durante i processi dell'antica Grecia alle coraggiose donne barbute del Rinascimento; dalle "corde del cuore" oggetto di studio per i medici del Settecento agli esperimenti che Darwin faceva su se stesso durante le visite allo zoo di Londra; dai soldati che tornavano a casa soffrendo di "shock da granata" durante la prima guerra mondiale alla nostra cultura contemporanea, con il suo interesse per la neuroscienza e le immagini cerebrali. Sono moltissimi – e molto diversi – i modi che hanno di stare al mondo i nostri corpi – dolenti, accigliati, sussultanti, pieni di gioia. E il mondo, a sua volta, con i suoi valori morali, le sue gerarchie politiche, le cose che dà per scontato riguardo al gender, alla sessualità, alla razza e alla classe sociale, i suoi punti di vista filosofici e le sue teorie scientifiche, ha molti modi di vivere dentro di noi...
Suona un telefono in un affollato scompartimento ferroviario, e voi cominciate a frugarvi in tasca per vedere se è il vostro. State facendo una passeggiata in campagna e di colpo sfoderate il cellulare come se fosse una pistola, convinti di averlo sentito vibrare, solo per scoprire uno schermo pateticamente muto. Stando allo psicologo David Laramie, che ha inventato questa parola, la ringxiety è un'ansia leggera ma sempre presente che ci fa credere di aver sentito suonare il nostro telefono, anche quando così non è. Una prova — come se ce ne fosse stato bisogno — che in un'epoca dove la comunicazione è immediata, l'essere sempre pronti al contatto umano sta diventando la nostra impostazione predefinita ..."
Il nobile francese del Seicento François de La Rochefoucauld sosteneva che anche i nostri impulsi più urgenti possono nascere dal bisogno di rispettare le convenzioni esterne: «Alcune persone non si innamorerebbero mai», diceva, «se non avessero sentito parlare dell'amore». Allo stesso modo, attività come parlare, guardare e leggere possono suscitare emozioni precise nei nostri corpi, ma possono anche calmare i nostri sentimenti. I baining della Nuova Guinea posizionano una ciotola d'acqua nelle loro abitazioni per tutta la notte allo scopo di assorbire l' awumbuk, quell'insieme di tristezza e inerzia che rimane dopo la partenza di un ospite gradito. Questo rituale funziona ogni volta, o così pare. Le nostre idee possono esercitare un'influenza tale da dare forma anche alle reazioni biologiche che crediamo assolutamente naturali. Com'è possibile, altrimenti, che i cavalieri dell'anno Mille perdessero i sensi per lo sgomento, o sbadigliassero in segno d'amore? Com'è possibile che soltanto 400 anni fa le persone arrivassero a morire di nostalgia?
La cultura in cui viviamo, oltre ai nostri corpi e alla nostra mente, dà forma alle nostre emozioni: questa era l'idea prevalente negli anni sessanta e settanta del secolo scorso. Gli antropologi occidentali che facevano ricerca sul campo, abitando per periodi più o meno lunghi in posti molto distanti dalle proprie case, svilupparono un forte interesse per il vocabolario emotivo delle diverse lingue. Per esempio, la parola song — l'oltraggio che si prova quando si riceve una porzione insufficiente di qualcosa — viene tenuta in grande considerazione presso gli ifaluk, abitanti dell'omonima isola dell'Oceano Pacifico. Col tempo si chiarì che alcune culture prendono molto sul serio quegli stessi sentimenti che a un abitante di un altro paese potrebbero sembrare meschini. Cosa ancora più importante, in determinate culture esistevano emozioni a cui si dava un tale significato da rendere necessario distinguere ogni loro sfumatura, anche la più sottile, come i quindici diversi tipi di paura che sono in grado di provare i pintupi dell'Australia occidentale. Al contrario, emozioni che a un anglofono sembrano fondamentali, in altre lingue non hanno nemmeno un termine adatto per essere nominate: tra gli indios machiguenga del Perù, per esempio, non esiste una parola che restituisca il significato esatto del termine "preoccupazione". Tutto questo interesse per la componente emotiva del linguaggio aveva il suo fascino: se diverse persone hanno maniere diverse di intendere e concettualizzare le proprie emozioni, questo significa che forse hanno anche maniere diverse di provarle?...
Questo libro racconta le storie delle emozioni, e il modo in cui queste storie cambiano. Parleremo dei molti modi diversi in cui le emozioni sono state percepite e manifestate – dai giurati che scoppiavano a piangere durante i processi dell'antica Grecia alle coraggiose donne barbute del Rinascimento; dalle "corde del cuore" oggetto di studio per i medici del Settecento agli esperimenti che Darwin faceva su se stesso durante le visite allo zoo di Londra; dai soldati che tornavano a casa soffrendo di "shock da granata" durante la prima guerra mondiale alla nostra cultura contemporanea, con il suo interesse per la neuroscienza e le immagini cerebrali. Sono moltissimi – e molto diversi – i modi che hanno di stare al mondo i nostri corpi – dolenti, accigliati, sussultanti, pieni di gioia. E il mondo, a sua volta, con i suoi valori morali, le sue gerarchie politiche, le cose che dà per scontato riguardo al gender, alla sessualità, alla razza e alla classe sociale, i suoi punti di vista filosofici e le sue teorie scientifiche, ha molti modi di vivere dentro di noi...
Suona un telefono in un affollato scompartimento ferroviario, e voi cominciate a frugarvi in tasca per vedere se è il vostro. State facendo una passeggiata in campagna e di colpo sfoderate il cellulare come se fosse una pistola, convinti di averlo sentito vibrare, solo per scoprire uno schermo pateticamente muto. Stando allo psicologo David Laramie, che ha inventato questa parola, la ringxiety è un'ansia leggera ma sempre presente che ci fa credere di aver sentito suonare il nostro telefono, anche quando così non è. Una prova — come se ce ne fosse stato bisogno — che in un'epoca dove la comunicazione è immediata, l'essere sempre pronti al contatto umano sta diventando la nostra impostazione predefinita ..."
July 2, 2023
İlginç duygularla ilgili keyifli bir çalışma. Tam tatil kitabı.
April 9, 2022
Este es un libro sorprendente, se trata de un ensayo magníficamente bien escrito sobre una amplia gama de emociones, en general aplicables a todas las culturas del mundo y algunas de ellas o particulares de algunas culturas o que se les ha ocurrido ponerles un nombre.
Tiffany Watt ha hecho un trabajo extraordinario a la hora de trazar las primeras manifestaciones que se hicieron sobre las distintas emociones a lo largo de la historia, el momento a partir del cual se comienza a mencionarlas (porque curiosamente no todas las emociones se las reconoce desde el inicio de la humanidad, o al menos no han dejado evidencias).
La descripción de cada una de estas emociones es tan exacta, con tantos matices que parece que te descubriera algo que ya sabías pero en lo que no habías reparado. Me parece un libro muy útil para escritores, tanto creativos como para aquellos que realicen escritura terapeútica o escriban diarios.
Tiffany Watt ha hecho un trabajo extraordinario a la hora de trazar las primeras manifestaciones que se hicieron sobre las distintas emociones a lo largo de la historia, el momento a partir del cual se comienza a mencionarlas (porque curiosamente no todas las emociones se las reconoce desde el inicio de la humanidad, o al menos no han dejado evidencias).
La descripción de cada una de estas emociones es tan exacta, con tantos matices que parece que te descubriera algo que ya sabías pero en lo que no habías reparado. Me parece un libro muy útil para escritores, tanto creativos como para aquellos que realicen escritura terapeútica o escriban diarios.
July 9, 2024
¿Habéis pensado nunca en la relación de los sentimientos con la historia y la sociedad? Por ejemplo, en la Edad Media, la respuesta a un elemento sorpresivo era el asombro, la curiosidad estaba mal vista porque eclipsaba lo divino. En cambio ahora quedarte parado con la boca abierta es ridículo.
Un muy buen libro que invita a la reflexión. Aunque muchas veces se centre en exceso en la lengua y culturas anglosajonas, merece la pena leerlo tranquilamente y en cómodas dosis.
Un muy buen libro que invita a la reflexión. Aunque muchas veces se centre en exceso en la lengua y culturas anglosajonas, merece la pena leerlo tranquilamente y en cómodas dosis.
Read
February 27, 2017A delicious romp across the rainbow of emotions. Makes me excited to be a human, feeling, all the good, bad, and in between. This is a keeper.
October 10, 2025
Bu kitabı bana sevgili Sevcan uzun bir otobüs yolculuğunda önermişti ve iyi ki de önermiş.
Okurken inanılmaz keyif almış, daha önce hiç duymadığım birçok şey öğrenmiştim. Gerçekten iyi bir non-fiction!
Kitap, varlığından bile haberiniz olmayan bir sürü duyguyu ele alıyor. Yetiştiğimiz kültür, hem dilimizin hem duygu dünyamızın çerçevesini belirliyor. Bu kitap da bunun en güzel örneği.
Eğer duygular hakkında bir ansiklopedi okumak ilginizi çekiyorsa buyrun lütfen.
Fakat şu üç hususu belirtmek isterim:
Birincisi, benim yaptığım hatayı yapmayınız ve kitabı kesinlikle PDF olarak okumayınız. Onlarca altı çizilecek cümle, post-it'lenecek sayfa var ki iPad'inizin derin arşivini değil, kitaplığınızın güzel bir köşesini hak ediyor. Kısa kısa bölümler olduğu için ara sıra elinize alıp sayfaları kurcalayacağınız, kimi zaman yazacağınız bir öyküye veya denemeye ilham olacak türden bir kitap.
İkinci husus ise şudur: Bu kitabı okuduğunuzda hem çok şey okumuş olacaksınız hem de hiçbir şey. Bir öyküye bağlı kalmadan, kısa kısa açıklamalardan oluştuğu için uzun vadede aklınızda yer edinen pek az şey olacaktır. Ne yazık ki bir bütünün parçası olmayan "yalnız" metinler, daha erken unutulmaya mahkumdur. Ben ki iki ay önce bitirmiş halimle size çok az detay verebiliyorum kitap hakkında, çünkü okuduklarım uçup gitti.
Bunu önlemek için de bol bol konuşun ve paylaşın mesela. Bir roman gibi hapur hupur okumayın bu kitabı. Ağır ağır okuyun, her 5-10 sayfada bir annenize anlatın mesela, "Anne biliyor musun falan toplumunda filan duyguya bu isim verilmiş!", "Yaa öyle mi kızım, niye böyle bir şeye isim takmışlar ki?"
Üçüncüsü de biraz İngilizce'niz varsa kesinlikle İngilizce'sini okuyun derim. Bazı bölümleri sırf meraktan ve tercümeye sinir olduğumdan gidip İngilizce okudum. Arada uçurum fark vardı. Ne yazık ki kitap (yani sözlük) alfabetik sıraya göre ilerlediği için kaldığınız yerden dil değiştirip devam edemiyorsunuz. Hangi dille başladıysanız onunla bitirmek durumunda kalıyorsunuz. Çünkü Türkçede "ş" ile başlayan duygu ismi başka dilde "b" ile başlayabiliyor.
**
Bu arada review'lerden birinde "Tam bir tatil kitabı" diye bir yorum gördüm. Çok isabetli bir tespit. Ya da aşırı yoğun döneminizde bir plot takip edecek mecaliniz yoksa hap gibi her gün bir chapter hüpletmelik.
Okurken inanılmaz keyif almış, daha önce hiç duymadığım birçok şey öğrenmiştim. Gerçekten iyi bir non-fiction!
Kitap, varlığından bile haberiniz olmayan bir sürü duyguyu ele alıyor. Yetiştiğimiz kültür, hem dilimizin hem duygu dünyamızın çerçevesini belirliyor. Bu kitap da bunun en güzel örneği.
Eğer duygular hakkında bir ansiklopedi okumak ilginizi çekiyorsa buyrun lütfen.
Fakat şu üç hususu belirtmek isterim:
Birincisi, benim yaptığım hatayı yapmayınız ve kitabı kesinlikle PDF olarak okumayınız. Onlarca altı çizilecek cümle, post-it'lenecek sayfa var ki iPad'inizin derin arşivini değil, kitaplığınızın güzel bir köşesini hak ediyor. Kısa kısa bölümler olduğu için ara sıra elinize alıp sayfaları kurcalayacağınız, kimi zaman yazacağınız bir öyküye veya denemeye ilham olacak türden bir kitap.
İkinci husus ise şudur: Bu kitabı okuduğunuzda hem çok şey okumuş olacaksınız hem de hiçbir şey. Bir öyküye bağlı kalmadan, kısa kısa açıklamalardan oluştuğu için uzun vadede aklınızda yer edinen pek az şey olacaktır. Ne yazık ki bir bütünün parçası olmayan "yalnız" metinler, daha erken unutulmaya mahkumdur. Ben ki iki ay önce bitirmiş halimle size çok az detay verebiliyorum kitap hakkında, çünkü okuduklarım uçup gitti.
Bunu önlemek için de bol bol konuşun ve paylaşın mesela. Bir roman gibi hapur hupur okumayın bu kitabı. Ağır ağır okuyun, her 5-10 sayfada bir annenize anlatın mesela, "Anne biliyor musun falan toplumunda filan duyguya bu isim verilmiş!", "Yaa öyle mi kızım, niye böyle bir şeye isim takmışlar ki?"
Üçüncüsü de biraz İngilizce'niz varsa kesinlikle İngilizce'sini okuyun derim. Bazı bölümleri sırf meraktan ve tercümeye sinir olduğumdan gidip İngilizce okudum. Arada uçurum fark vardı. Ne yazık ki kitap (yani sözlük) alfabetik sıraya göre ilerlediği için kaldığınız yerden dil değiştirip devam edemiyorsunuz. Hangi dille başladıysanız onunla bitirmek durumunda kalıyorsunuz. Çünkü Türkçede "ş" ile başlayan duygu ismi başka dilde "b" ile başlayabiliyor.
**
Bu arada review'lerden birinde "Tam bir tatil kitabı" diye bir yorum gördüm. Çok isabetli bir tespit. Ya da aşırı yoğun döneminizde bir plot takip edecek mecaliniz yoksa hap gibi her gün bir chapter hüpletmelik.
November 18, 2025
GÖNÜLSÜZLÜK
Yükümlülükler. Onları yerine getirmemiz söylenir. Dergiler ve kişisel gelişim kitapları bizi, riskleri göze alıp bir işe girişebilmeye teşvik eder. Kararlı olmaya. Ne istediğini bilmeye ve söylemeye.
Frene biraz olsun basmanızı söyleyen, çelik janta değen kauçuğun vınlamasını duymak isteyen o kısık sese yer yok. Ayaklarınızı sürümeye, pasaportunuzu unutmaya, o telefon konuşmasını ertelemeye yer yok. Gönülsüzlük gibi, bağlanmayı ve sorumluluk altına girmeyi reddeden bir duyguya yer yok.
Bu duygu karmaşası, pilot Amelia Earhart’ın, George Putnam’la evleneceği 7 Şubat 1931’in sabahında hissettiği şey. “Evlenmeye hiç de gönüllü olmadığımı bir kere daha hatırlamalısın,” diye yazıyordu. Sinirlerin son dakika gerilmesiyle açıklanacak bir şey değil bu. Çiftin tekrar tekrar, defalarca bir konuşmaydı. Onu jelatin bir ambalaj gibi saracak sorumluluk sahibi eş rolünü oynamayı çalışmak istemiyordu. O uçmak istiyordu.
Bugün baktığımızda eldeki kayıtlara göre onlarınki mutlu bir evlilikti. Kadının gönülsüzlüğü çifte yardım etti, erken bir uyarı sistemi oldu. “Ne eski kafalı mecburiyetlerden sorumlu tutacağımı ne de kendimi benzer bir şekilde sana bağlı sayacağımı bilmeni istiyorum,” diye yazmış ve acil çıkış için bir paraşüt ekleyerek de eşinden “eğer mutlu olmazsak beni bir yıl içinde serbest bırakacaksın,” sözünü almıştı. Bundan sadece altı yıl sonra öldü, Atlantik’i geçen ilk kadın olmayı başarmasından beş yıl sonra. Kemikleri Pasifik Okyanusu’nun dibinde bir yerlerde, evliliğiyse hâlâ sağlam.
Duygular Sözlüğü - Tiffany Watt Smith
( Book of Human Emotions: An Encyclopedia of Feeling from Anger to Wanderlust )
Yükümlülükler. Onları yerine getirmemiz söylenir. Dergiler ve kişisel gelişim kitapları bizi, riskleri göze alıp bir işe girişebilmeye teşvik eder. Kararlı olmaya. Ne istediğini bilmeye ve söylemeye.
Frene biraz olsun basmanızı söyleyen, çelik janta değen kauçuğun vınlamasını duymak isteyen o kısık sese yer yok. Ayaklarınızı sürümeye, pasaportunuzu unutmaya, o telefon konuşmasını ertelemeye yer yok. Gönülsüzlük gibi, bağlanmayı ve sorumluluk altına girmeyi reddeden bir duyguya yer yok.
Bu duygu karmaşası, pilot Amelia Earhart’ın, George Putnam’la evleneceği 7 Şubat 1931’in sabahında hissettiği şey. “Evlenmeye hiç de gönüllü olmadığımı bir kere daha hatırlamalısın,” diye yazıyordu. Sinirlerin son dakika gerilmesiyle açıklanacak bir şey değil bu. Çiftin tekrar tekrar, defalarca bir konuşmaydı. Onu jelatin bir ambalaj gibi saracak sorumluluk sahibi eş rolünü oynamayı çalışmak istemiyordu. O uçmak istiyordu.
Bugün baktığımızda eldeki kayıtlara göre onlarınki mutlu bir evlilikti. Kadının gönülsüzlüğü çifte yardım etti, erken bir uyarı sistemi oldu. “Ne eski kafalı mecburiyetlerden sorumlu tutacağımı ne de kendimi benzer bir şekilde sana bağlı sayacağımı bilmeni istiyorum,” diye yazmış ve acil çıkış için bir paraşüt ekleyerek de eşinden “eğer mutlu olmazsak beni bir yıl içinde serbest bırakacaksın,” sözünü almıştı. Bundan sadece altı yıl sonra öldü, Atlantik’i geçen ilk kadın olmayı başarmasından beş yıl sonra. Kemikleri Pasifik Okyanusu’nun dibinde bir yerlerde, evliliğiyse hâlâ sağlam.
Duygular Sözlüğü - Tiffany Watt Smith
( Book of Human Emotions: An Encyclopedia of Feeling from Anger to Wanderlust )
March 9, 2022
- Este es un libro distinto a lo que acostumbro a leer.
- Es un tipo de lectura en la que es difícil hacer una reseña extensa, ya que no es una novela.
- Atlas de las emociones humanas es un viaje por todas esas emociones que sentimos en algún momento de nuestras vidas. Haciendo un recorrido por todos esos sentimientos, desde la felicidad, el amor, el valor, a la pena, la humillación o la tristeza.
- Además, con este libro conocerás sentimientos que no sabías que existían como tal y ponerles nombres, aunque no siempre estos serán fáciles de pronunciar.
- Yo no lo he leído por orden de páginas, si no que pensé en cómo me sentía en ese momento, y me fui a ese sentimiento. En la mayoría de estos, te va enlazando con unos y otros, y la verdad que es una forma maravillosa de descubrir el libro, y ver la diferencia de cómo te sientes al iniciar la lectura, y cómo te sientes al finalizarla, y es una sensación muy guay.
- La verdad que no es como esperaba, ya que pensaba que iba a ser como un diccionario, por decirlo de alguna forma, pero para nada. La autora nos da un repaso a esa evolución de las emociones, dónde emergieron, en que época y porqué ese nombre, además de varias citas tanto a libros como películas, lo que hace que sea una delicia de libro.
- Además, a este repaso tan intenso y profundo a estas emociones, se le une una edición preciosa y llena de detalles que enamora.
- Este es un libro para tener a mano, e ir descubriendo poco a poco, e ir disfrutándolo.
8/10🌟
Nos vemos en www.instagram.com/leyendoentresabanas
- Es un tipo de lectura en la que es difícil hacer una reseña extensa, ya que no es una novela.
- Atlas de las emociones humanas es un viaje por todas esas emociones que sentimos en algún momento de nuestras vidas. Haciendo un recorrido por todos esos sentimientos, desde la felicidad, el amor, el valor, a la pena, la humillación o la tristeza.
- Además, con este libro conocerás sentimientos que no sabías que existían como tal y ponerles nombres, aunque no siempre estos serán fáciles de pronunciar.
- Yo no lo he leído por orden de páginas, si no que pensé en cómo me sentía en ese momento, y me fui a ese sentimiento. En la mayoría de estos, te va enlazando con unos y otros, y la verdad que es una forma maravillosa de descubrir el libro, y ver la diferencia de cómo te sientes al iniciar la lectura, y cómo te sientes al finalizarla, y es una sensación muy guay.
- La verdad que no es como esperaba, ya que pensaba que iba a ser como un diccionario, por decirlo de alguna forma, pero para nada. La autora nos da un repaso a esa evolución de las emociones, dónde emergieron, en que época y porqué ese nombre, además de varias citas tanto a libros como películas, lo que hace que sea una delicia de libro.
- Además, a este repaso tan intenso y profundo a estas emociones, se le une una edición preciosa y llena de detalles que enamora.
- Este es un libro para tener a mano, e ir descubriendo poco a poco, e ir disfrutándolo.
8/10🌟
Nos vemos en www.instagram.com/leyendoentresabanas
December 22, 2022
‘Żal (yahl diye okunuyor) geri gelmeyecek bir kayıp yüzünden hissedilen melankoli. Düz bir keder değil. Żal değişken, şekilden şekle giriyor, bir an uysal, bir an isyankâr.
Hayatımızın bir parçası sonsuza kadar bizden alındığında gelen hayal kırıklığı, pişmanlık ve hatta şiddet içeren öfkenin bir birleşimi. Liszt'e göre, Chopin'in Zal'i hepsinden öte bir tür öfkeydi, "sitem ve kasti şiddet dolu... kendini acı, belki de kısır bir nefretle hissettiren". Chopin'in Zal'i diye yazıyordu Liszt, en iyi ifadesini bestecinin son eserlerinde buldu. Çaresizliği anlatan, "bazen ironik", bazen her şeyin sonunu fark etmekten ötürü "horgörürcesine mağrur" etütlerinde ve scherzo'larında.’
Hayatımızın bir parçası sonsuza kadar bizden alındığında gelen hayal kırıklığı, pişmanlık ve hatta şiddet içeren öfkenin bir birleşimi. Liszt'e göre, Chopin'in Zal'i hepsinden öte bir tür öfkeydi, "sitem ve kasti şiddet dolu... kendini acı, belki de kısır bir nefretle hissettiren". Chopin'in Zal'i diye yazıyordu Liszt, en iyi ifadesini bestecinin son eserlerinde buldu. Çaresizliği anlatan, "bazen ironik", bazen her şeyin sonunu fark etmekten ötürü "horgörürcesine mağrur" etütlerinde ve scherzo'larında.’
November 9, 2022
3.75 stars :]
my 100th read book logged onto goodreads!!
I'm pretty sure this is my first non fic book that i ever finished reading, so i dont know how to rate this. i mean yeah it does its job, it gave me a list of 150+ emotions like it promised. it gave me the history of the emotion and sometimes the history of the word itself, it referenced other media a lot which was really nice. sometimes the author went into telling a story / trying to make a metaphor for the emotion and ended up never properly defining the emotion and that annoyed me sm.
my 100th read book logged onto goodreads!!
I'm pretty sure this is my first non fic book that i ever finished reading, so i dont know how to rate this. i mean yeah it does its job, it gave me a list of 150+ emotions like it promised. it gave me the history of the emotion and sometimes the history of the word itself, it referenced other media a lot which was really nice. sometimes the author went into telling a story / trying to make a metaphor for the emotion and ended up never properly defining the emotion and that annoyed me sm.
January 14, 2018
A beautifully written and thought provoking examination of the history of human emotions, told in dictionary form. The book delivers a fascinating insight into the way in which society's views on the relative importance, merits and appropriate displays of feelings which we might consider immutable have changed radically over time.
January 29, 2020
"All sentiment is right, because sentiment refers to nothing beyond itself and it is always real, whenever a man is conscious of it." - David Hume about being ghosted by people we barely even knew, probably.
July 1, 2020
Harika! Beklediğimden çok çok daha iyi bir eser. Sevdiğim edebiyatçılarından da gözünden bakabilme şansım olduğu için galiba. Dönüp dönüp karıştırmalık.
May 28, 2025
meh... un po' noioso e banale senza davvero un insight sulle cose
October 21, 2017
What a fascinating experience, learning to understand your emotions in a historical and cultural contet. An invaluable read for anyone aiming to be more self-aware.
March 28, 2018
Fascinating (and useful for writers of fiction).
March 5, 2023
100 books gang
February 15, 2019
Duygular ne zaman keşfedildi gibi provakatif sorularla işe başlayan yazar, farklı kültürlerden ve zamanlardan 154 farklı duyguyu anlatıyor. Çok sevilen bir misafiri yolcu ettikten sonra eve dolan kasvetten, soğuk bir havada arkadaşlarla evde oturmaya kadar pek çok duygu ve isimleri. Hem etimolojisi hem gelişimiyle anlatılıyor.
August 24, 2022
Un libro bellissimo per conoscere meglio le nostre emozioni e capire che tutte, anche quelle che solitamente consideriamo "negative", hanno in realtà un' importante funzione.
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