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Emotion in Language: Theory – research – application
Edited by Ulrike M. Lüdtke
[Consciousness & Emotion Book Series 10] 2015
► pp. 289–304

Giving horror a name

Verbal manifestations of despair, fear and anxiety in texts of Holocaust victims and survivors

In this paper, the relation between language and emotion is discussed by analyzing the language of Holocaust victims and survivors. Focusing on the role of language in the conceptualization of emotions, it is shown that specific verbal means and structures will reveal much about the nature of emotions in extreme situations. In particular, the metaphoric expressions used in order to express and describe personal feelings disclose characteristics of the underlying emotional structure. Texts of the private domain (diaries, memoirs and letters) of Holocaust literature show that language is the key point in trying to understand the relation between intense affective processing and the rest of the cognitive life. Confronted with degradation, humiliation and elimination, Holocaust victims had to cope with extreme emotions. It was extremely difficult to express such emotions. Only recently, research within linguistics has begun to analyze the “language of the victims” more thoroughly. In this paper, different stages and processes are described concerning the emotional state of Holocaust victims and their attempt to document it linguistically: the desperate attempt to cling to a normal life, shifting moments of despair and fear of death mingled with hope and optimism, and the effort to keep and express normal life feelings on the one hand, and on the other hand, the total emotional indifference in order to cope with the horror. It is shown that the distinction between emotions and feelings plays a crucial role in explaining the state of emotional turmoil in which Holocaust victims found themselves.

Keywords: cognition, coping with death, diaries, emotion, emotions in text, extreme situations, language, language of despair, language of Holocaust victims
Published online: 16 December 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ceb.10.15sch
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