Mixed Emotions Anthropological Studies of Feeling [Paperback]

Emotions are of increasing interest in all the human sciences. In the past two decades, a growing number of anthropologists have explored emotional dynamics in a variety of geographic and cultural settings, and have developed various, at times conflicting, theories of emotion. This book fills a major gap by providing a concise introduction to the anthropology of emotions that outlines some of the major themes and controversies. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken in Europe, Japan and Melanesia, the authors explore how consciousness, memory, identity and politics are intimately related to emotional processes. A broad range of case studies covers such topics as how fear is managed in Belfast, how Spanish gypsies grieve and why Japanese tourists are drawn to monkey parks. This book will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the formative impact emotions have on culture and society in an increasingly globalized world.

Introduction--Marushka Svasek * Meanings, Feelings and Human Ecology--Kay Milton * The eclipse of a research programme: Darwin on the expression of the emotions--Peter Bowler * Emotions and the co-present anthropologist--Elizabeth Tonkin * The hubbub of emotions--Lisette Josephides * Emotion, memory and religious rituals: an assessment of two theories--Harvey Whitehouse * Tropical Sadness--Simn Harrison * 'Catholics, Protestants and office workers from the town': reading the text of fear on the streets of Belfast--Karen Lysaght * 'As if someone dear to me had died': Intimate landscapes, political subjectivity and the problem of a park in Sardinia--Tracey Heatherington * The 'beloved deceased': love, grief and memory among Gitanos--Paloma Gay y Blasco * Bears, monkeys, wolves and deer: conflicting emotions towards animals in Japan--John Knight * The politics of emotion: longing for the Sudetenland Afterword--Kay Milton

Kay Milton is Head of the School of Anthropological Studies, Queens University Belfast.
Maruska Svasek is a researcher in thlC$