Universal emotions in fact and fiction

Are human emotions universal? Or do they vary from one place to the next and from one time period to the next? It's a big question, an old question. And every discipline that's grappled with it brings its own take, its own framings and forms of evidence. Some researchers appeal to cross-cultural experiments; others turn to neuroimaging studies or conceptual analysis. Some even look to fiction.

My guest today is Dr. Bradley Irish, an Associate Professor of English Literature at Arizona State University. Brad is the author of a new book, The Universality of Emotion: Perspectives from the Sciences and Humanities; in it he maps the landscape of debate around this long-contested topic. Brad is also the author of numerous articles and books on the emotions in Shakespeare's plays, as well as in the work of other early modern authors.

Here, Brad and I talk about both sides of his work—his writing as an observer of cross-disciplinary debates about the universality of emotion and his writing as a scholar of literature. We sketch four prominent theories of emotions—basic emotions theory, appraisal theories, psychological construction theories, and social construction theories. We weigh the idea that some emotions are more universal than others. We talk about the role that language might play in our emotional experience. And we consider why many literary scholars tend to be deeply suspicious of claims about human universality. Along the way, Brad and I also touch on: the theory of ur-emotions, the aims of literary analysis; disgust, anger, schadenfreude, anxiety; frogs and public dissections; Shakespeare as a supposedly universal poet; and Brad's latest project on neurodiversity in literature.

If you're enjoying the show, we would be most grateful if you could give us a rating or review, maybe even a shout-out on your social media platform of choice. For those who listen on Spotify, you can also now leave comments on individual episodes—which is a great way to let us know what you think.

Alright friends, on to my conversation with Brad Irish. Enjoy!

A transcript of this episode is available here. 

 

Notes and links

7:00 – For an example of an anti-universalist treatment from a literary scholar, see here. See also Dr. Irish’s brief essay on the idea of universality in literary studies.

12:00 – For Dr. Irish’s first book—on emotions in the early modern period—see here. 

15:00 – For a recent review/update of the “basic emotions theory” tradition, see here. 

21:00 – An influential early paper on facial expressions of emotion across cultures. A more recent, critical perspective on the relationship between facial expressions and emotions. 

23:00 – For a review of social constructionist approaches to emotion, see here.

24:00 – A recent review of the “appraisal theories” of emotion.

26:00 – Psychological constructionist theories of emotion are most strongly associated with the work of Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett and colleagues. For an articulation of these views, see here.

33:00 – For more on the relationship between language and emotion, see influential recent studies here, here, and here. 

39:00 – The paper introducing the concept of “ur-emotions.”

44:00 – Dr. Patrick Colm Hogan’s book, What Literature Teaches Us about Emotion.

49:00 – Dr. Irish’s book, Shakespeare & Disgust: The History and Science of Early Modern Revulsion.

58:00 – For an influential paper on disgust in general, see here. For more on moral disgust in particular, see here.

1:07:00 – For the idea that disgust evolved to help us avoid disease, see here.

1:15:00 – For more on the idea that fictions can be thought of as simulations of psychology and the social world, see our earlier episode on stories.

1:16:00 – For more about Dr. Irish’s latest research project, see his new book, Literary Neurodiversity Studies.

 

Recommendations

Emotion Theory: The Routledge Comprehensive Guide, edited by Andrea Scarantino

 

Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala.

Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here!

We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. 

For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ManyMindsPod) or Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social).