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During the period of the Baroque and Enlightenment the word "emotion", denoting passions and feelings, came into usage, albeit in an irregular fashion. "Emotion" ultimately emerged as a term in its own right, and evolved in English from meaning physical agitation to describe mental feeling. However, the older terminology of "passions" and "affections" continued as the dominant discourse structuring thinking about feeling and its wider religious, political, social, economic, and moral imperatives. The emotional cultures described in these essays enable some comparative discussion about the history of emotions, and particularly the causes and consequences of emotional change in the larger cultural contexts of the Baroque and Enlightenment. Emotions research has enabled a rethinking of dominant narratives of the period-of histories of revolution, state-building, the rise of the public sphere, religious and scientific transformation, and more. As a new and dynamic field, the essays here are just the beginning of a much bigger history of emotions.

Between 1780 and 1920, modern conceptions of emotion-conceptions still very much present in the 21st century-first took shape. This book traces that history, charting the changing meaning and experience of feelings in an era shaped by political and market revolutions, romanticism, empiricism, the rise of psychology and psychoanalysis. During this period, the word emotion itself gained currency, gradually supplanting older vocabularies and visions of feeling. Terms to describe feelings changed; so too did conceptions of emotions' proper role in politics, economics, and culture. Political upheavals turned a spotlight on the role of feeling in public life; in domestic life, sentimental bonds gained new importance, as families were transformed from productive units to emotional ones. From the halls of parliaments to the familial hearth, from the art museum to the theatre, from the pulpit to the concert hall, lively debates over feelings raged across the 19th century.

The 20th century, with revolutionary and rapid developments in travel, communications and computerised technologies, offered new and seemingly limitless horizons which accompanied and amplified distinctive experiences of emotions. The birth of psychology and psychiatry revealed the importance of emotional life and that individuals could have control over their behaviour. Traditional religion was challenged and alternative forms of spiritualism emerged. Creative and performing arts continued to shape understandings and experiences of emotions, from realism to detachment, holistic to fragmented notions of self and society. The role of emotions in family life focused on how to deal with modern day freedom and anxiety. In the public sphere, people used emotion to oppress as well as liberate. Countering threats to national security, personal and cultural identity, a range of political motivated activities emerged embracing peace, humanitarian and environmental causes. This volume surveys the means by which modern experience shaped how, why and where emotions were expressed, monitored and controlled.