This study aims to explore the emotional dimension through letters from three immigrants that left Sweden 1887, 1892 and 1901. The questions asked were the following: 1) which emotions are expressed in relation to the Swedish society, 2) which emotions are expressed to the American society and 3) what are the main differences between the emotions of Swedish and American society? With the use of Martha Nussbaum’s theory of emotion, Hugo Nordlands discontinuity perspective and Barbara Rosenwein’s emotional communities as theoretical framework, the results show that homesickness, nostalgia and concern are the prominent emotions in relation to Swedish society. They are related to the emotional objects of family, friends and the letter-writer’s place of origin. Hope and affinity are the prominent emotions in relation to American society, related to the emotional objects of friends, holiday seasons and language. The emotional differences between the Swedish society and the American society are individual, and constitutes from the letter-writers identification with, and adaption to, the American society in addition to their actions, future hopes and dreams.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hj-57291 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Johansson, Amanda |
| Publisher | Jönköping University, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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