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What is History?
What is the History of Emotions?
What Is the History of Emotions? offers an accessible path through the thicket of approaches, debates, and past and current trends in the history of emotions. Although historians have always talked about how people felt in the past, it is only in the last two decades that they have found systematic and well-grounded ways to treat the topic.
Rosenwein and Cristiani begin with the science of emotion, explaining what contemporary psychologists and neuropsychologists think emotions are. They continue with the major early, foundational approaches to the history of emotions, and they treat in depth new work that emphasizes the role of the body and its gestures. Along the way, they discuss how ideas about emotions and their history have been incorporated into modern literature and technology, from children's books to videogames.
Students, teachers, and anyone else interested in emotions and how to think about them historically will find this book to be an indispensable and fascinating guide not only to the past but to what may lie ahead.
Rosenwein and Cristiani begin with the science of emotion, explaining what contemporary psychologists and neuropsychologists think emotions are. They continue with the major early, foundational approaches to the history of emotions, and they treat in depth new work that emphasizes the role of the body and its gestures. Along the way, they discuss how ideas about emotions and their history have been incorporated into modern literature and technology, from children's books to videogames.
Students, teachers, and anyone else interested in emotions and how to think about them historically will find this book to be an indispensable and fascinating guide not only to the past but to what may lie ahead.
180 pages, Paperback
Published January 16, 2018
8 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Barbara H. Rosenwein
291 books22 followersProf. Barbara Rosenwein was the Humanitas Visiting Professor in Historiography at the University of Oxford for the year 2014-2015.
Barbara H. Rosenwein (Ph.D. (1974), B.A. (1966), University of Chicago) is a professor at Loyola University Chicago. An internationally renowned historian, she has been a guest professor at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France; the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France; the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and most recently at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Since 2009, Rosenwein has been an affiliated research scholar at the Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary University in London. She was a scholar in residence at the American Academy in Rome in 2001-2002 and was elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America in 2003.
Barbara H. Rosenwein (Ph.D. (1974), B.A. (1966), University of Chicago) is a professor at Loyola University Chicago. An internationally renowned historian, she has been a guest professor at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France; the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France; the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and most recently at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Since 2009, Rosenwein has been an affiliated research scholar at the Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary University in London. She was a scholar in residence at the American Academy in Rome in 2001-2002 and was elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 14, 2021
Jan Plamper’s the History of Emotions may be the academic’s favourite, but Rosenwein’s book is undoubtedly the student’s choice. Relatively short, easy to read and covering all the major themes.
Starting with Aristotle, Seneca and the Stoics the book makes the useful distinction between the theory of emotions which is cognitively based and Affect Theory which it categorises as irrational or psychological (pre-conscious, pre-verbal, pre-emotional). Following on from this psychologists in the 1960’s defined emotion in terms of appraisal which produces an action, psychological response or subjective feeling. This meant different people could respond to the same stimulus in different ways depending on their judgement, goals and values.
Psychologists sought to put something before emotion and this was affect. Silvan Tomkins stated affect is stimulated by innate and learned stimuli. People’s motivation to breathe was the fear of having that breath cut off.
Social Constructivism emphasises culture and variation. For some this learned behaviour becomes a performance referring to the habitual language and gestures people use. As this theory depends on interaction, it also looks at the way behaviour impacts on others.
In terms of approaches the book looks at Peter and Carol Stearns view of how emotions change over time. William Reddy’s emotives which saw emotions as agents of change. Strict emotional control which prevents people from changing their goals causes emotional suffering. Reddy uses 18th century France as an example of control overthrown by the Revolution which was initially seen as a refuge. Barbara Rosenwein’s emotional communities are based on shared values and beliefs.
Looking at the physical body there are two approaches where emotions are contained within the physical boundaries – mind, brain, heart. The other is that it is porous and merges with its environment defined by space, architecture and the material world.
In the final chapter on futures the authors discuss the compartmentalisation of subjects – History, Literature, Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology, and the need to work from an interdisciplinary perspective. Equally the compartmentalisation of subjects dividing history into medieval, modern and colonial, prevents an overarching view of emotions.
This book is a great readable introduction to the History of Emotions with a good list of further reading for students and academic researchers.
Starting with Aristotle, Seneca and the Stoics the book makes the useful distinction between the theory of emotions which is cognitively based and Affect Theory which it categorises as irrational or psychological (pre-conscious, pre-verbal, pre-emotional). Following on from this psychologists in the 1960’s defined emotion in terms of appraisal which produces an action, psychological response or subjective feeling. This meant different people could respond to the same stimulus in different ways depending on their judgement, goals and values.
Psychologists sought to put something before emotion and this was affect. Silvan Tomkins stated affect is stimulated by innate and learned stimuli. People’s motivation to breathe was the fear of having that breath cut off.
Social Constructivism emphasises culture and variation. For some this learned behaviour becomes a performance referring to the habitual language and gestures people use. As this theory depends on interaction, it also looks at the way behaviour impacts on others.
In terms of approaches the book looks at Peter and Carol Stearns view of how emotions change over time. William Reddy’s emotives which saw emotions as agents of change. Strict emotional control which prevents people from changing their goals causes emotional suffering. Reddy uses 18th century France as an example of control overthrown by the Revolution which was initially seen as a refuge. Barbara Rosenwein’s emotional communities are based on shared values and beliefs.
Looking at the physical body there are two approaches where emotions are contained within the physical boundaries – mind, brain, heart. The other is that it is porous and merges with its environment defined by space, architecture and the material world.
In the final chapter on futures the authors discuss the compartmentalisation of subjects – History, Literature, Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology, and the need to work from an interdisciplinary perspective. Equally the compartmentalisation of subjects dividing history into medieval, modern and colonial, prevents an overarching view of emotions.
This book is a great readable introduction to the History of Emotions with a good list of further reading for students and academic researchers.
January 22, 2022
This is an overview of what the "history of emotions" is and how it is studied, by Rosenwein AND Cristiani (not just Rosenwein, as GoodReads seems to indicate). I read it looking for more angles on the study of emotions, which plays a significant portion of my dissertation proposal. Found a few things that look promising, so we'll see.
Since it is an overview, it doesn't really go into much detail, and I would have liked to see more history of the philosophy of emotions, history of the science of emotions, etc.
Since it is an overview, it doesn't really go into much detail, and I would have liked to see more history of the philosophy of emotions, history of the science of emotions, etc.
January 20, 2023
I am annoyed at how historians do not keep up to date with the newest science and then make it sound like scientists should learn about what historians are doing--is that what historians are like? can they not escape this? I have to say the authors did a pretty good job explaining the science though.
November 11, 2024
I have no excellent recollection of what this book really offered me. I remember reading it at Norwich Bus Station thinking it was rather pedestrian. You know, here's the science here's the application. Bit about the future of emotions in video games etc. making people feel what real life once could give them blah blah blah.
January 23, 2025
Duygu çalışan öğrenciler ve araştırmacılar için iyi bir giriş kitabı olmuş. Referansları için olsun bakılmalı en azından. Duygu okumalarına nereden başlayacağını bilmeyen araştırmacıların işine yarayacağını rahatlıkla söyleyebilirim. Güzel bir rehber kitap.
January 17, 2019
Required textbook. Enough said.
July 23, 2019
Solid, if a little dry, textbook on the history of emotions. Definitely a good entry point to explore some of the further issues surrounding the topic.
January 2, 2021
A good guide into the topic for a beginner. There is provision of historical examples that elucidates each theory/approach in discussion.
Read
May 8, 2021Difficult to give "stars" to a scientific work but, for what it's worth, I feel like I learned a lot. A very useful overview of the field.
December 26, 2021
succinct but expansive overview of an essential concern (to me)
September 11, 2022
Would recommend this book to anyone looking for an introduction to the history of emotions, the different ways in which it has been theorised and practiced and recent developments in the field.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews