Emotions, Language and Identity on the Margins of Europe

ISBN-13: 9781137403476 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 234 str.

Kyra Giorgi

Opis

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 huzun 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.

Spis treści

Introduction 1. Emotions into History PART I: SAUDADE AND PORTUGUESENESS 2. Proudly Alone? 3. Modernity and Martyrdom PART II: LÍTOST AND CZECHNESS 4. The Evolution of a Fatalism 5. Culture as Identity PART III: HÜZÜN AND TURKISHNESS 6. Defining Memories 7. Occidental Tourism Conclusion

O autorze

Kyra Giorgi is a writer and cultural historian. She received her PhD in History from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia.