Revisiting the History of Emotions
A brand-new special issue maps the current field of historical emotion research.

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“Revisiting the History of Emotions”, edited by Ute Frevert and Kerstin Maria Pahl (Geschichte und Gesellschaft), brings together twelve scholars from such disciplines as history, cultural anthropology, sociology, and literary studies, to engage with the field’s directions and challenges in six co-written essays. The publication circles back to the very beginning of the Center, when a first special issue programmatically laid out what historical research into emotions could look like.
At that time, seven authors from the newly founded research center outlined the field of their research questions and projects in five articles. One of them was Jan Plamper (1970-2023), who worked as a Dilthey Fellow at the research area from 2008-2012 and then remained closely associated with it as an Associate Researcher. Through his book "Geschichte der Gefühle. Fundamentals of Emotion Research" (2012), he became a pioneer in our field. This issue is dedicated to him.
List of Content
Ute Frevert and Kerstin Pahl
Revisiting the History of Emotions. An Introduction
Ute Frevert and Laura Kounine
Institutions and Subjectivities
Kerstin Maria Pahl and Ville Kivimäki
Histories of Emotions and Experiences. Studying Soldiers’ Letters, Poems, and Memoirs
Karsten Lichau and Parand Danesh
Challenges to Univocal Scripts. Emotions in Visual and Acoustic Sources
Esra Sarıoğlu and Nancy Khalek
Embodied Emotions. Sociological and Social Historical Perspectives
Helen Ahner and Carla Freeman
“Working Out” Emotions. Analyzing Labor and the Difference Ethnography Makes
Frederik Schröer and Laura Otis
Feeling Environments. Emotions Beyond Human Interiority