One of the reasons why the area of language and emotion
attracts many of us lies in the continuing endeavor –
whether implicitly or explicitly conducted – to overcome
our own persistent assumptions concerning such dichotomies as
nature vs. culture, individuality vs. society, and emotion vs.
cognition. In other words, our focus on language and its
constitutive role in the creation of what seems to be so
“natural” and “individual” has led to
the deconstruction of our own epistemology, as well as contributing
to our better understanding of how people's emotive meanings
are situated in the midst of complex social relations and
interactions. Languages of sentiment can be located
within this long intellectual engagement. Although its contributors
particularly explore Asian languages of sentiment, illustrated
by Tamil, Bangla, Javanese, Japanese, and Tagalog cases, the
aim of the book is not to essentialize “the” Asian
sentiment. Instead, all the chapters try to capture the pragmatics
of language and emotion that interact with global politics as
well as with local social relations and interactions.