Emotion in Middle Dutch literature. A Script Theory Exploration
Abstract
Within academia, the paradigm shift towards a view of emotion as culturally contingent has given rise to the so-called 'affective turn', a trend of increasing attention to emotion and related affective phenomena across the humanities, including literary-historical studies. In the study of medieval literature, the genre of chivalric romance has attracted particular scholarly attention because of its 'strongly emotional' character. This interest is also reflected in Middle Dutch emotion studies, among others in Laurent Breeus-Loos's recent dissertation Emotion in Middle Dutch Chivalric Romance. A Script Theory Perspective (2026). Building on this previous work, the present project further valorises the results of this earlier research while broadening the scope from chivalric romance to Middle Dutch literature more generally by exploring (1) which other literary genres lend themselves to the study of emotion and (2) how these genres engage with emotion in different ways. To this end, the project draws on the concept of 'emotive scripts' (Rikhardsdottir 2017), which suggests that literary texts are governed by underlying, genre-specific scripts that structure the representation of emotion, inform narrative strategies, and reflect broader conceptions of emotion. In doing so, the project will identify promising avenues for future research and lay the foundations for a broader, comparative research agenda on emotion in Middle Dutch literature.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Sleiderink Remco
- Fellow: Breeus-Loos Laurent
Research team(s)
Funding
- BOF
Project type(s)
- Research Project
Fear. An Emotive Script in Middle Dutch Chivalric Romance (1250-1350).
Abstract
In today's society, we can observe a growing societal problem with the emotion 'fear' and a tendency of increased attention to emotions in general. Within academia, the 1980's paradigm shift towards a view on emotions as culturally contingent has sparked the 'affective turn' across the humanities, including literary historical studies. This project turns to the literary imagination in the medieval period, and seeks to examine how the emotion of fear is shaped within Middle Dutch chivalric romance (1250-1350). For this purpose, it will draw on the recently developed concept of 'emotive scripts.' This theoretical framework suggests that texts have an underlying script which functions as a literary blueprint for shaping emotionality, and which prescribes certain rules for emotional behaviour. To decipher the 'scripting' of fear, this project will focus on three aspects: (1) emotive staging and representations, (2) character-specific patterns, and (3) intra-textual social conceptions. Via cross-cultural comparisons, this project will investigate how the script of the Middle Dutch romances relates to that of other medieval literary traditions, but it will also investigate whether an overarching script emerges within the Middle Dutch tradition, or whether traces of divergence can be observed.Researcher(s)
- Promoter: Sleiderink Remco
- Fellow: Breeus-Loos Laurent
Research team(s)
Funding
- FWO
- FWO
Project type(s)
- Research Project