Melancholia as a Sense of Loss: An Introduction

Abstract

Why is it that all men who have become outstai).ding in philosophy, statesmanship, poetry or the arts are melancholic?' This statement, whieh had been ascribed to Aristotle for a long time, can be regarded as the fou ndation of the long-standing cultural history of melancholia. 1 It shows that the phenomenon was regarded as more than an illness already in ancient times. In 350 BC, melancholia is understood as an epiphenomenon of, or even as a prerequisite for, outstanding cultural and political achiev. ements and deep philosophical insight, although Pseudo-Aristotle at the same time acknowledges the pain caused by melancholia. In its interrelated medical and cultural histories, melancholia has maintained such a complex denotation: it has frequently been understood as a painful condition which opens up an avenue to deeper insight, to judiciousness and to creativity. Such a 'nobilitation' constitutes the main difference between melancholia and today's category of depression. Despite the fact that traces of melancholia's history can be found in the current psychiatric definition of depression, the cultural status of the phenomena differ decisively. 2 The 'nobilitation' of melancholia and its association with philosophy, sc1ence and art is emblematically captured in Albrecht Durer's engraving Melencolia I, an image with an immense iconographic influence on later visual representations of melancholia (Fig. 1.1), including Alberto Giacometti's cube that is reproduced on the cover of this book. Here, as elsewhere in the visual arts, the representation of the melancholic makes a psychological state of mind correspond with the outside world; the personification of melancholia is situated in allegorical or symbolic spaces. When studying the history of melancholia from ancient times to today, one is dazzled by the chameleonic changes of melancholia, whose definitions vary decisively in different epochs and cultural contexts. Many epochs have been described as particularly prone to melancholia, including our present day-a diagnosis which concerns literature and the arts as well as literary and cultural theory. Andrew Gibson, for instance, sees the 'contemporary aesthetic realm ... [as] a melancholy space' (136), Juliana Schiesari 1

Bittersweet Symphony: Nostalgia and Melancholia in Music Reception

“…What causes nostalgia and melancholia? Media play an important role in a person's development (Loveland et al, 2010) and music is able to evoke autobiographic memories (Middeke & Wald, 2011), which suggests that music should be able to evoke nostalgia and melancholia. Indeed, common triggers of nostalgia include negative mood and emotions like sadness and loneliness, sensory inputs, and media content (Barrett et al, 2010;Botstein, 2000;Chung, 2016;Holak & Havlena, 1992;Wildschut et al, 2006;Wildschut, 2017;Wulf et al, 2019).…”

“…What causes nostalgia and melancholia? Media play an important role in a person's development (Loveland et al, 2010) and music is able to evoke autobiographic memories (Middeke & Wald, 2011), which suggests that music should be able to evoke nostalgia and melancholia.…”

Mood Disorder in the Personal Correspondence of Robert Burns: Testing a Novel Interdisciplinary Approach

“…The Romantic shift from objective observation to subjective experience is intimately associated with ideas of the 'tortured genius'; melancholy becomes fashionable and, at times, is feigned as a signal of intelligence, sensitivity and creativity. 17,25 This detracts from the very real effects of a true mood disorder on the life of an affected individual. Thus, while future work will explore Burns's mental health within the 18th century context of his life, the initial phase must seek to establish the degree of confi dence with which Jamison's label of a modern mood disorder can be used as a frame of reference.…”

“…The sample included 25 This was a period dominated by normal mood, punctuated by two letters -600A and 605 -which demonstrate a suffi cient number of depressive symptoms to meet the criteria of mild depression (Appendix 2). Two of the four letters which lie between these points -Letters 602 and 603 -are symptomatic for a sub-threshold lowering of mood.…”