Quivering Hearts and Trembling Kidneys

By Laura Feldt, Principal Investigator

In addition to her work as the PI of RADHEART, Laura Feldt works on her individual subprojects. One empirical subproject contributes to WP1 on POETRY and another to WP2 on NARRATIVE. In a theoretical subproject, a contribution to WP 4 THEORY AND COMPARISON, she will contribute to theorizing on radical religion and extremism, drawing on insights from the case studies and subprojects.

For the POETRY WP, Feldt will study selected Hebrew Bible and Second Temple poetry, with a focus on 1) embedded expressions of the commitment of the speaking self, analysing the role of bodily expressions and emotionality in those, 2) the aesthetic mediality of the poetry, and 3) discussing the potential contexts of practice and the role of poetry in the formation of the self in ritualised contexts as well as in everyday lived religion.

For the NARRATIVE WP, Feldt’s main focus will be on selected Hebrew Bible and Second Temple narratives about idealised committed actors, but she will also contribute a case study of ancient Christian literature, specifically segments of the Historia monachorum in Aegypto. She will investigate 1) narrativized expressions of commitment of devoted actors and the role of body parts and emotions, 2) the narrative aesthetics of the stories, and 3) and discuss the contexts of practice, specifically the role of devotional forms of reading.

For the THEORETICAL and COMPARATIVE WP, Feldt will consolidate and refine the theoretical framework she developed for RADHEART to study radical habits of the heart across historical eras and cross-culturally, focusing on the role of embodiment, emotions and strong individual commitment in dialogue with experts on contemporary forms of extremism.