A Study Of Barbara H.rosenwein’s Theory Of Emotional Communities

Barbara H.Rosenwein is one of the leading figures in the field of emotional history.In the late 1990 s,Barbara H.Rosenwein,a medieval European historian,took an active part in the study of the history of emotions,based on her own academic experience and under the influence of the“Linguistic turn”,the author puts forward the theory of“Emotional communities”,which is a pioneer in the field of emotional history.In order to grasp the study of emotional history better,Rosenwein combined cognitive theory with social constructivism theory to put forward her own idea,that is,the theory of emotional community.Emotional community can be regarded as a social group that adheres to the same emotional judgment and expression.After briefly expounding his own views,Rosenwein further enriches his discourse in the early medieval emotional community,and uses the circle theory to expound the form of emotional community.After this,Rosenwein began to focus on how emotions change with the changes of history,and pointed out that the history of emotions can be seen as a series of changes and inheritance of emotional community.In the Generations of Feeling: A History of Emotions,600-1700,Rosenwein puts forward the theory of emotional heritage,which includes the concepts of vocabulary,emphasis,sequence,rhetoric and model.In her view,the later emotional community will inherit the legacy of predecessors,emotion is in this inheritance to achieve change.In addition,Rosenwein also pointed out the“Modernity” problem in the study of the history of emotion,arguing that the change of emotional norms can not be attributed to macro-narrative such as modernity,but through a series of emotional community changes and inheritance to achieve.After a comprehensive review of the emotional communities in Europe,Rosenwein turned to the study of single emotions,mainly anger and love.By labelling so many different emotions and behaviours as“Angry”,she points out,humans have simplified a very complex thing.Later,Rosenwein explores the five most enduring fantasies of love.The theory of emotional community provides a new perspective for the study of emotional history,and realizes a new perspective of emotional history,but it also has some shortcomings,the study of emotional history has been disintegrated into the study of various emotional communities,which is controversial.But on the whole,the theory of emotional community has undoubtedly injected new vitality into the study of emotional history.