مغربی معاشروں میں اظہارِ جذبات و تاثرات: تاریخی ارتقا، فکری رویّے اور معاصر رجحانات

Expression of Emotions and Sentiments in Western Societies: Historical Evolution, Intellectual Approaches, and Contemporary Trends

Abstract

The expression of emotions and sentiments in Western societies has undergone a remarkable transformation across different historical periods, reflecting shifts in cultural, intellectual, and social paradigms. During the Middle Ages, the dominance of the Church restricted emotional expression, confining it to religious frameworks and moral boundaries. The Renaissance, however, widened this scope by integrating emotions into art, literature, and philosophy, making them central to aesthetic and intellectual discourse. The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century prioritized reason and rationality, which initially limited emotional emphasis but simultaneously laid the foundation for the scientific study of psychology. In reaction, Romanticism in the nineteenth century glorified emotions, individual feelings, and imagination, presenting them as essential to human identity. By the twentieth century, advancements in psychology, mass media, and democratic values promoted freedom of emotional expression as a social norm, allowing individuals to articulate their inner worlds more openly. In the twenty-first century, globalization, social media, and pop culture have revolutionized emotional communication, making it immediate, multidimensional, and globally accessible. This has led to both positive and negative consequences: while personal autonomy and emotional freedom have been enhanced, emotions are also commodified and exploited for entertainment and commercial purposes. Consequently, Western societies today stand as a model of emotional liberalism, where individual autonomy, courage of expression, and personal identity dominate—but simultaneously, these trends influence global cultures and reshape emotional behaviors across societies.