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History of Emotions Research
Research Guide
What is History of Emotions Research?
History of Emotions Research is a field that examines the historical development, cultural variations, and societal roles of emotions, particularly in European contexts across practices, gender, medicine, politics, and childhood.
The field encompasses 10,623 works focused on emotions' societal impact in Europe. It addresses cultural practices, gender roles, medicine, politics, and childhood experiences. Research traces the evolution of emotional expressions and their effects on historical events and social structures.
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
Cultural History of Emotions
This sub-topic traces variations in emotional norms, expressions, and vocabularies across historical European cultures. Researchers analyze texts, art, and rituals to map emotion regimes and their societal functions.
Gender and Emotions in Historical Context
This sub-topic examines gendered emotional scripts, expectations, and power dynamics from medieval to modern Europe. Researchers study intersections with class, medicine, and politics in emotional labor and expression.
Emotions in Historical Political Practices
This sub-topic investigates how emotions like fear, anger, and enthusiasm influenced political mobilization, rhetoric, and governance. Researchers explore affective dimensions of revolutions, propaganda, and leadership.
History of Emotions in Medicine
This sub-topic charts the medicalization of emotions, from humoral theories to psychiatric categorizations in European history. Researchers trace diagnostic shifts and therapeutic interventions for emotional disorders.
Emotional Experiences in Historical Childhood
This sub-topic explores socialization of emotions in children through family, education, and play across historical periods. Researchers use diaries, literature, and artifacts to reconstruct affective childhoods.
Why It Matters
History of Emotions Research informs understandings of how emotions shaped political movements, as Goodwin, Jasper, and Polletta (2001) analyzed in "Passionate Politics," where emotions returned to political study after decades of neglect, influencing models of activism with 1,354 citations. Reddy (2001) in "The Navigation of Feeling" provided a framework linking emotion, cognition, and culture, applied in historical analysis of emotional norms, cited 1,335 times. Scheer (2012) in "ARE EMOTIONS A KIND OF PRACTICE (AND IS THAT WHAT MAKES THEM HAVE A HISTORY)? A BOURDIEUIAN APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING EMOTION" defined emotions as practices bridging dichotomies, enabling studies of emotional change over time with 1,103 citations. These approaches reveal emotions' roles in gender differences, as Simon and Nath (2004) found no significant self-reported differences between U.S. men and women using 1996 GSS data.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
"The Navigation of Feeling" by William M. Reddy (2001) provides an accessible foundational framework linking emotions to culture and cognition, ideal for newcomers before tackling critiques or specialized applications.
Key Papers Explained
Reddy (2001) in "The Navigation of Feeling" and its variant (2001) establish a core framework for emotion history, which Scheer (2012) in "ARE EMOTIONS A KIND OF PRACTICE (AND IS THAT WHAT MAKES THEM HAVE A HISTORY)? A BOURDIEUIAN APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING EMOTION" builds on via practice theory to address historical change. Goodwin, Jasper, and Polletta (2001) in "Passionate Politics" apply emotions to politics, extending Reddy's ideas, while Rosenwein (2002) in "Worrying about Emotions in History" critiques methodological worries. Leys (2011) in "The Turn to Affect: A Critique" challenges affect turns, connecting to Reddy and Scheer.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Fields connect emotions to gender (Simon and Nath, 2004), sociology (Thoits, 1989), and passion-to-emotion shifts (2005), but no recent preprints or news indicate ongoing debates in European societal impacts without new data.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passionate Politics | 2001 | — | 1.4K | ✕ |
| 2 | The Navigation of Feeling | 2001 | Cambridge University P... | 1.3K | ✕ |
| 3 | The navigation of feeling a framework for the history of emotions | 2001 | — | 1.3K | ✕ |
| 4 | ARE EMOTIONS A KIND OF PRACTICE (AND IS THAT WHAT MAKES THEM H... | 2012 | History and Theory | 1.1K | ✕ |
| 5 | The Turn to Affect: A Critique | 2011 | Critical Inquiry | 1.1K | ✕ |
| 6 | The Sociology of Emotions | 1989 | Annual Review of Socio... | 840 | ✕ |
| 7 | Worrying about Emotions in History | 2002 | The American Historica... | 774 | ✕ |
| 8 | Gender and Emotion in the United States: Do Men and Women Diff... | 2004 | American Journal of So... | 652 | ✕ |
| 9 | A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Romantic Love | 1992 | Ethnology | 613 | ✓ |
| 10 | From Passions to Emotions: The creation of a secular psycholog... | 2005 | History & Philosophy o... | 567 | ✕ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What framework does William M. Reddy propose for studying emotions historically?
Reddy (2001) in "The Navigation of Feeling" offers a theory critiquing and expanding anthropology and psychology research. It explores links between emotion and cognition, and between culture and emotional expression. The framework supports historical analysis of emotional norms.
How does Monique Scheer conceptualize emotions in historical research?
Scheer (2012) in "ARE EMOTIONS A KIND OF PRACTICE (AND IS THAT WHAT MAKES THEM HAVE A HISTORY)? A BOURDIEUIAN APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING EMOTION" defines emotions using practice theory. This approach bridges dichotomies in emotion studies. It explains why emotions have a history through cultural practices.
What concerns did Barbara H. Rosenwein raise about emotions in historical study?
Rosenwein (2002) in "Worrying about Emotions in History" addressed medieval emotions like joy, sorrow, anger, and fear. These had multiple meanings and effects similar to today. She worried about methodological approaches to past emotions as a medievalist.
Do men and women differ in self-reported emotions according to U.S. data?
Simon and Nath (2004) in "Gender and Emotion in the United States: Do Men and Women Differ in Self‐Reports of Feelings and Expressive Behavior?" used 1996 GSS data. They found U.S. emotion culture assumes women are more emotional, but self-reports showed no major differences. Specific emotions also lacked significant gender gaps.
What role do emotions play in political analysis per Goodwin et al.?
Goodwin, Jasper, and Polletta (2001) in "Passionate Politics" noted emotions receded from political study for three decades. Rationalistic models dominated, but emotions returned to center stage. The collection examines emotions in politics beyond structural views.
How has sociology treated emotions at micro and macro levels?
Thoits (1989) in "The Sociology of Emotions" reviewed work beyond concepts to theory and empirics. Micro-level analysis exceeds macro-level. Emotions are treated as social products at both levels.
Open Research Questions
- ? How do emotional practices vary across European historical periods in medicine and politics?
- ? What methodological dichotomies persist in analyzing the cultural history of specific emotions like fear or joy?
- ? In what ways did transitions from 'passions' to 'emotions' influence secular psychological categories?
- ? How do gender roles intersect with emotional expressions in pre-modern childhood experiences?
- ? What cross-cultural limits exist in applying Eurocentric emotion frameworks to non-European histories?
Recent Trends
The field holds 10,623 works with no specified 5-year growth rate; top papers from 1989-2012 dominate citations, such as "Passionate Politics" (1,354 citations, 2001) and "The Navigation of Feeling" (1,335 citations, 2001).
No recent preprints or news coverage in the last 12 months signals steady focus on established frameworks like Reddy and Scheer (2012).
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