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Creatures of Sorrow: Lay experiences of melancholy in early modern Scandinavia

Project description

Mental suffering in 16th- and 17th-century Scandinavia

Knowledge regarding how social status, gender, and age influenced experiences of mental states before the modern era is limited, thereby constraining our historical comprehension of mental suffering. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CROW project will investigate experiences of mental illness in 16th- and 17th-century Scandinavia. By analysing records from ecclesiastical courts, the project uncovers patterns in individual statements concerning embodiment. Furthermore, it examines patterns of melancholic descriptions in medical texts to offer a historical narrative of mental suffering. Using new sources and digital methodologies, the project aims to encompass a wider range of experiences. Ultimately, CROW enhances our understanding of mental illness in the early modern era and contributes to theoretical advancements in the history of experience.

Objective

CROW explores lay experiences of being mentally unwell in 16th- and 17th century Scandinavia. It asks how social status, gender and age affected experiences of mental states before the modern era. In doing so, it deepens our understanding of mental suffering historically and creates an inclusive and complex history of the phenomenon. The project uses new sources and new digital methods that combined can reach a wide variety of experiences. The objectives of CROW are: 1. Provide an examination of experiences of being mentally unwell in the early modern period that takes into account embodied experiences and emotions as well as early modern religious and medical frameworks; 2. Advance the scope for examining lay people’s experiences through the use of digital methods; 3. Provide a historical account of experiences of mental suffering that informs present-day debate about mental health.

CROW uses as a point of departure the understanding that experiences are created through embodied sensations in cultural contexts, and thus socially bound and historically significant, to argue that they can be researched through patterns in individual statements regarding embodiment, in tandem with reconstruction of cultural frameworks. The project examines ecclesiastical court records from the Scandinavian realms to find patterns in verbatim text concerning embodied sensations. These patterns are examined in relation to descriptions of melancholy in religious and medical vernacular texts aimed at a lay audience. Through the use of software in several steps, the examination moves from the concept of melancholy, which is key to understanding mental suffering in the early modern, learned debate, to the descriptions of embodiment, which means that experiences of mental suffering can be found even when the concept of melancholy is absent. In addition to advancing understanding of early modern mental suffering, this approach will contribute theoretically to the history of experience.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution
€ 230 774,40
Address
NORREGADE 10
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data