Expressing Emotions in Medieval Latin Letters

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Barbara Newman

Organizer Affiliation

Northwestern Univ.

Presider Name

Joshua Byron Smith

Presider Affiliation

Univ. of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Paper Title 1

"With tears in my eyes I fall at your feet": Persuasion through Emotional Manipulation in the Letters of Peter Damian

Presenter 1 Name

Christopher Fletcher

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. of Chicago

Paper Title 2

Shame, Disgust, and Pity: The Emotional Repertoire of a Letter by Hugh of Fouilloy

Presenter 2 Name

Mary Agnes Edsall

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Independent Scholar

Paper Title 3

Felix Concertatio: Competitive Loving in the Epistolae duorum amantium

Presenter 3 Name

Barbara Newman

Start Date

14-5-2015 3:30 PM

Session Location

Valley III Stinson Lounge

Description

Latin letter collections provide a rich and underutilized resource for the history of emotions. This session examines letters by Peter Damian, Hugh of Fouilloy, and two anonymous lovers of the early twelfth century, who may or may not have been Abelard and Heloise. Because Latin letters are so highly stylized, they provide an excellent opportunity to study the relationship between the canons of rhetoric and the expression of such emotions as happiness, fear, anger, shame, pity, and passionate love. The panelists aim to go beyond the identification of "emotion words" to explore the ways that skilled manipulation of rhetoric can either mask or intensify the expression of feeling. We also examine the often indistinct boundary between "real" emotions and "what one ought to feel" in a given situation. --Barbara Newman