Of language and emotions

Whether in the arts, in politics or in human relations, emotions define our lives. In order to better understand the complicated interplay of biological disposition, learned behaviour and societal constructions, researchers from more than 20 disciplines have joined forces in Berlin. Scholars in the arts are working with colleagues in the social sciences and natural sciences to devise a new approach to research on emotions. Methods and theoretical premises are discussed in an interdisciplinary manner, and research projects develop at the crossroads between many disciplines. The research is focussed on the connection between language and emotions. This aspect has received little attention in emotion research up to now; and, vice versa, linguistics often has dismissed the importance of emotions. But now this very attention to language – including all methods of communication, whether images, music or gesture – enables researchers to examine complex affective behavioural phenomena like shame, sadness, admiration or coolness.