Exploring the Translatability of Emotions: Cross-cultural and Transdisciplinary Encounters

This book offers an in-depth, cross-cultural and transdisciplinary discussion of the translatability of social emotions. The contributors are leading philosophers, semioticians, anthropologists, communication and translation theorists from Europe, America and Australia. Part I explores the translatability of emotions as a culturally embedded social behaviour that requires a contextualized interpretation of their origins and development in different social and cultural settings. These studies make useful preparations for the studies introduced in Part II that continue investigating the cultural and sociological influence of the development of social emotions with a special focus on the dialogical relation to the body and to others. Part III presses on delving into specific types of emotions which underscore social interactions at both the community and individual levels, such as dignity, (im-)politeness, self-regard and self-esteem. Finally, Part IV offers a further development on the preceding parts as it discusses problems of translation, expressibility and mass-medial communication of emotions. This book will engage translation scholars as well as those with a broader interest in the study and interpretation of emotions from different fields, perspectives and disciplines.

Susan Petrilli  is Professor of Philosophy and Theory of Languages at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy.

Meng Ji is Associate Professor of Translation Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia.