Heart and Soul: Navi gating Emotions aboard Dutch Ships, 1670 - 1800
This disse rtation investigates the emotion practices of seafarers who traveled through Dutch imperial networks between 1670 and 1800, using two unde rexploited bodies of archival evidence: (a) the so-called sailing let ters: personal correspondence seized by the British during the Third (1672–1674) and Fourth (1781–1784) Anglo-Dutch Wars and now held in the National Archives in Kew and (b) the criminal court records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), housed in the Dutch National Arc hives.
Together these sources open a rare window onto the emoti onal worlds of merchants, preachers, and working-class sailors as the y moved between the Dutch Republic and its maritime networks, allowin g the study to reconstruct not only what these individuals expressed emotionally, but how they were taught, expected, and sometimes compel led to express those feelings.
The study is organized around tw o central questions: what emotional habits can be traced among seafar ers aboard VOC and West India Company (WIC) ships through the sailing letters and criminal court records, and how did those habits transfo rm as seafarers moved through the Dutch imperial networks connecting the homeland to its colonies, forts, and outposts?
Rather than treating the ship as an isolated social world, the dissertation situa tes emotional expression within the broader "networks of empire" — the commercial, military, and administrative infrastructures that bou nd the Republic to its overseas possessions — and asks how the flui d, often improvised boundaries between ship, colony, and homeland sha ped the way people felt and communicated feeling.
More informat ion about the dissertati on
DESCRIPTION: Heart and Soul: Navigating Emotions aboard Dutch Ships, 1 670 - 1800 This dissertation investigates the emotion practices of se afarers who traveled through Dutch imperial networks between 1670 and 1800, using two underexploited bodies of archival evidence: (a) the so-called sailing letters: personal correspondence seized by the Brit ish during the Third (1672–1674) and Fourth (1781–1784) Anglo-Dut ch Wars and now held in the National Archives in Kew and (b) the crim inal court records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), housed in t he Dutch National Archives.Together these sources open a rare window onto the emotional worlds of merchants, preachers, and working-class sailors as they moved between the Dutch Republic and its maritime net works, allowing the study to reconstruct not only what these individu als expressed emotionally, but how they were taught, expected, and so metimes compelled to express those feelings.The study is organized ar ound two central questions: what emotional habits can be traced among seafarers aboard VOC and West India Company (WIC) ships through the sailing letters and criminal court records, and how did those habits transform as seafarers moved through the Dutch imperial networks conn ecting the homeland to its colonies, forts, and outposts?Rather than treating the ship as an isolated social world, the dissertation situa tes emotional expression within the broader "networks of empire" — the commercial, military, and administrative infrastructures that bou nd the Republic to its overseas possessions — and asks how the flui d, often improvised boundaries between ship, colony, and homeland sha ped the way people felt and communicated feeling.More information abo ut the dissertation END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR