Emotions in Non-Fictional Representations of the Individual, 1600-1850

This book addresses the distinct representation of emotions in non-fictional texts of the long Eighteenth century (1600-1800), such as memoirs, autobiographies, correspondences or manuals of sociability. It argues that in personal writings passions and emotions may be differently expressed than in fiction. It is also comparatist in its approach, incorporating texts from cultures as diverse as English, French, Korean and Chinese, and themes through which various emotions are invoked, such as Buddhism, death, a re-imagined Hellenic antiquity or 18th century European “Orientalism”. This book is distinctive in its choice of genres (non-fictional), its period, and its cross-cultural approach. It will benefit those interested in exploring emotions as a historical and cultural product, and in enriching their knowledge of an emerging scholarly direction: studies in autobiography and memoirs, often insufficiently explored in earlier historical periods.