Loneliness As a Modern Emotion Cluster: a Historical Perspective

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Loneliness as a modern emotion cluster: a historical perspective Dr Fay Bound Alberti Queen Mary University of London and University of York Loneliness as an emotion cluster • The emotional turn: Queen Mary Centre for the History of Emotions; European and international perspectives • Loneliness as a neglected aspect of the history of emotions – exceptions include work on solitude and social demography. • Accessing meaning and the ‘basic emotions’ problem. • Loneliness as an ‘emotion cluster’: Fay Bound Alberti, ‘This “Modern Epidemic”: Loneliness as an Emotion Cluster and a Neglected Subject in the History of Emotions. Emotion Review 10 (3), 242-254 Loneliness and modernity • Linguistic approach to the study of loneliness reveals its emergence as philosophical concept and emotional state c. 1800 • Not always negative – creative and artistic dimensions. • Physical as well as psychological (in keeping with history of medicine approaches) • First book on the history of modern loneliness: Fay Bound Alberti, A Biography of Loneliness (in press, Oxford University Press) Benefits of historical approaches • Comparative dimension across times and cultures • Connecting the individual and the social: a note on sources • Temporal dimension expands the field as well as contributing to psychological, sociological, anthropological and clinical approaches • Helps to join up theoretical and clinical approaches by focusing on the shifting meanings of loneliness as concept and experience Collaborations • Spearheading joint History and Health Sciences project on the history and culture of loneliness in the elderly at the University of York • Interdisciplinary: University (sociology, history, psychology, health economics) and local practices (faith groups, social care, clinical practice, GP surgeries, hospitals and care homes) across York and the Humber • Archetypes, communities, psychological experience and praxis • Demographic complexities of York, compared to Bradford and Leeds Connections [email protected] www.fayboundalberti.com.

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