Emotions in History – Lost and Found

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Central European University Press Budapest – New York Sales and information: ceupress@ceu.hu Website: http://www.ceupress.com ISBN 978-615-5053-34-4 Empty human faces, without any sign of emotion, as the avant-lalettre constructivist Kazimir Malevich painted them, invite us to think about emotions in a similarly constructivist manner. Emotions, as argued in this book, are contingent on historical variables. Even though men and women may have always felt and shown emotions, those have differed in style, object, intensity, and valence. While certain emotions got lost in history, other ones rose to prominence, depending on political incentives, social challenges, and cultural choices. In European societies, honour and shame practices have fundamentally changed over the course of modernity, gradually losing their grip on people’s self -perception and attitude. At the same time, compassion and empathy have become crucial components of the modern “emotional self.” Although they have motivated a plethora of humanitarian activities and institutions, they have nevertheless been hampered by severe obstacles and seen periods of dramatic decline. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ute Frevert has been the Director of the Center for the History of Emotions at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin since 2008. From 2003 to 2007, she was Professor of History at Yale University. 053344 786155 9 ISBN 978-615-5053-34-4 90000 > ...