Modules

Feeling Bodies: Emotions in Early Modern Literature and Culture, 1500-1700 (EAS3416)

30 credits

This module studies the history and theory of emotions, combining cutting-edge theory with the analysis of Renaissance texts. It asks: Do emotions such as love, anger, pain, and shame remain universal constants in all times and places or do they have a history to tell? Do they have a gender? Do they have a race? Building on some basic familiarity with the Renaissance, you will explore representations of the passions in early modern literature and examine the role of culture (religious, political, scientific, philosophical, and theatrical) in their formation. Analysing individual and communal emotions in a range of texts you will undertake archival research, blog about your findings, and engage in dialogue with some of the most exciting areas of recent interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities (e.g. affect theory, history of emotions, medical humanities).