Feelings matter! Emotions in Medieval Arabic

Abstract

Abstract The history of emotions is an established field in European studies. It covers all periods and many disciplines. Its premise is that emotions are shaped by culture, and that their expression and effects should be contextualised in time and place. More than this, the history of emotions asserts that emotion and intellect are interconnected, and that understanding emotion is central to understanding historical motivations and actions. This talk argues that we need an Arabic history of emotions, for which the written materials are both abundant and challenging. Identifying and interpreting emotions in medieval Arabic writing — those that it depicts, and those that it arouses in the reader — makes us ask where the task leads us. I have used an example that throws light on how adab functions as an overarching mode of thinking, and in reading it have tried to address the fundamental problem in text-based emotions history, which is distinguishing between literary (imagined) and lived emotions.