1. Narrating Emotion Through Time
Dozent: Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Lemke
Tutor: Christopher Young-Kramaric
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

2. The term narrative fiction suggests a succession of fictional events and a communication process… Thus, it always involves emotions…

3. The Short Story The Cambridge Introduction to the American Short Story (Martin Scofield, 2006)
“[…] the ‘modern’ short story has been identified with ‘epiphanic’ perceptions of reality, which focus on revelatory moments rather than plot or linear narrative and development….” (4)
“[…] more broadly it is a mode of story in which the overall idea, rather than character, plot or ‘themes’ in the usual sense, dominates the conception of the work and gives it its unity or deliberate disunity.
often motivated by a single idea or image (whereas the novel can incorporate several and chart the relation between them); dominated by a single guiding idea or mood and often achieving a perceptible overall aesthetic coherence.” (5)
the short story tries to convey a moment of understanding or cognition in which we grasp what the story may get at in its collaboration with the mind of the reader reading.” (6)

4. 3 Characteristic Features of the Short Story
Brevity: a format in which “every word counts”
Compression: focused around a single event, character, idea, or theme
Unity of effect! This foregrounds the role of the reader. The goal is to elicit a strong cognative or emotional response

5. Fiction and Emotions Affective Fallacy (W.K. Wimsat, 1946)
“Literary criticism that takes seriously literature‘s effects on readers leads to impressionism and relativism.”
Feelings and sensations, which are rooted in the body, occlude the operation of cognition.

6. Defining Emotion
Emotion: a strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others; instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.
Feeling: an emotional state or reaction.
(feelings) the emotional side of someone's character; emotional responses or tendencies to respond; strong emotion; an idea or belief, especially a vague or irrational one; an attitude or opinion
Passion: strong and barely controllable emotion; a state or outburst of strong emotion.

7. Affect vs. Effect
affect (verb) have an effect on; make a difference to; touch the feelings of; move emotionally.
pretend to have or feel (something).
use, wear, or assume (something) pretentiously or so as to make an impression on others.
effect (noun) a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause; the state of being or becoming operative; an impression produced in the mind of a person.
(verb) cause (something) to happen; bring about.

8. Emotions
An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Emotions are subjective experiences, or experienced from an individual point of view. Emotion is often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition.
Studied in:
Philosophy (emotions connected with ethics)
Social Sciences (the role of emotions in human culture/interaction)
Psychology (emotions as mental processes/behavior)
Neuroscience (the neural mechanisms of emotion)
Communication sciences (role of emotions in organizations)

9. Basic Emotions (Paul Ekman)
In Emotion and the Human Face (1972), Ekman set forth a psychological theory of emotions that saw them as not culturally determined, but common to all people. He distinguished between 7 basic emotions encoded in facial expressions:

10. joy, fear, sadness, anger, contempt, disgust, and surprise
He expanded his list of basic emotions in the 1990s to include positive and negative emotions not encoded in the face. The additions were: amusement, contempt, contentment, embarrassment, excitement, guilt, pride in achievement, relief, satisfaction, sensory pleasure, and shame.

11. The Nature of Emotion (Plutchik)
Vertical dimension relates to intensity.
Eight sectors indicate 8 primary emotion dimensions (arranged in four pairs of opposites [i.e. loathing vs. admiration])
Emotions in blank spaces (love, submission, etc.) are mixtures of two of the primary emotions

12. Identifying Basic Emotions
Theorist
Basic Emotions
Plutchik
Acceptance, anger, anticipation, disgust, joy, fear, sadness, surprise
Arnold
Anger, aversion, courage, dejection, desire, despair, fear, hate, hope, love, sadness
Ekman, Friesen, and Ellsworth
Anger, contempt, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise
Frijda
Desire, happiness, interest, surprise, wonder, sorrow
Gray
Rage and terror, anxiety, joy
Izard
Anger, contempt, disgust, distress, fear, guilt, interest, joy, shame, surprise
James
Fear, grief, love, rage
McDougall
Anger, disgust, elation, fear, subjection, tender-emotion, wonder
Mowrer
Pain, pleasure
Oatley and Johnson-Laird
Anger, disgust, anxiety, happiness, sadness
Panksepp
Expectancy, fear, rage, panic
Tomkins
Anger, interest, contempt, disgust, distress, fear, joy, shame, surprise
Watson
Fear, love, rage
Weiner and Graham
Happiness, sadness

13. Arousal, lust, passion, infatuation
Basic
emotion
Secondary emotion
Tertiary emotions
Love
Affection
Adoration, love, fondness, attraction, caring, tenderness, compassion, sentimentality
Desire
Arousal, lust, passion, infatuation
Joy
Cheerfulness
Bliss, glee, joviality, joy, delight, satisfaction, happiness, elation, ecstasy, euphoria
Zest / Rapture
Enthusiasm, zeal, excitement, thrill, exhilaration, enthrallment
Contentment
Pleasure, serenity, peace of mind, emotional balance
Pride
Triumph, satisfaction
Optimism
Eagerness, hope
Anger
Irritation
Aggravation, agitation, annoyance, grouchiness, grumpiness, exasperation, frustration, exhaustion
Rage
Anger, outrage, fury, hostility, ferocity, bitterness, hate, loathing, scorn, spite, resentment
Disgust
Revulsion, contempt
Envy
Jealousy
Sadness
Suffering
Agony, hurt, anguish
Depression, despair, gloom, unhappiness, grief, sorrow, woe, misery, melancholy
Disappointment
Dismay, displeasure
Shame
Guilt, regret, remorse
Neglect
Alienation, isolation, loneliness, rejection, defeat, insecurity, embarrassment, humiliation,
Fear
Horror
Alarm, shock, fear, fright, terror, panic, hysteria, mortification
Nervousness
Anxiety, tenseness, uneasiness, apprehension, worry, distress, dread

14. The Nature of Emotion (Plutchik)
Stimuli are experienced and humans/animals behave prototypically.
After this response, we return to an equilibrium state.
We often use the word emotion to describe “feeling states”, but emotion is in fact much more complex.

15. Defining Emotions: Looking at Antecedents
In The Cognitive Structure of Emotions (1990), Andrew Ortony defines 22 emotions in accordance to what brings them about:
Reactions to Events I
appraisal of an event – joy, distress
fortune of others – happy-for, sorry-for, resentment, gloating
Reactions to Events II
appraisal of a possible future event – hope, fear, satisfaction, relief, fears-confirmed, disappointment
Reactions to Agents
appraisal of an agent’s action – pride, shame, admiration, reproach
compound emotions – gratification (pride + joy), gratitude (admiration + joy), anger (reproach + distress), remorse (shame + distress)
Reactions to Objects
appraisal of an object – love, hate

16. Connecting Emotion and Thought
“Emotions and intelligence go hand in hand, which is why humans […] are such emotional animals.”
In Passion and Reason: Making Sense of Our Emotions (1996), Richard Lazarus claimed that culture and biology combine to shape emotions, but that their ultimate meaning depends heavily on personal history and attitudes. He categorized emotions as follows:
the nasty emotions (anger, envy, jealousy)
the existential emotions (anxiety-fright, guilt, shame)
emotions provoked by unfavorable life conditions (relief, hope, sadness, depression)
emotions provoked by favorable life conditions (happiness, pride, love)
empathetic emotions (gratitude, compassion, and those aroused by aesthetic experiences)

17. So…how many basic emotions are there?
Ekman
Plutchik
Lazarus
Ortony 7 8 15 22

18. Emotion and Literature
mind (imagination) and body (corporeality)
Described in the text:
telling versus showing
Experienced by the reader

19. Emotion and Literary Genres
Sentimentalism
Melodrama
Gothic novel
Realism

20. Interpreting “The Story of an Hour”

21. 4 + 3 of literary analysis:
character
narrator
setting
composition
plot / story
style / tone
theme / symbols

22. Course Assignments
Creative assignment (ungraded)
4 journal entries <1 page based on the 5 emotional clusters (Complete three prior to the retreat)
Forward one to Chris by Saturday, June 25, 2009 – 20.00
Research assignment
Short in-class presentation on one of the 5 emotional clusters
Write a 1-2 page review of an assigned emotion or theorist
Due: September 15, 2009
Critical assignment (can also be creative)
Ca. 15 page term paper on one of the short stories or authors discussed in the course