“Foundations of Feeling reveals the connections between literature and philosophy, between gender, affect, ethics, and politics. In the sometimes-difficult space of incommensurability provided and constituted by literary works, readers may imagine possibilities and find resources for ethical and political change. Rosenfeld’s work is theoretically ambitious and imaginative, grounded in insightful and sensitive analyses of examples drawn from a wide range of texts, genres, periods, and sociolinguistic contexts.”

Daisy Delogu, The University of Chicago

“Foundations of Feeling is a welcome contribution to the history of emotions. Rosenfeld’s account attends to an impressive diversity of medieval writing on these topics. Her careful and conceptually rich method enables readers to recover a host of insights useful for affect theory and for rethinking certain periodizing assumptions.”

Patricia Clare Ingham, Indiana University, Bloomington

“In this powerful study, Rosenfeld analyzes how medieval literature articulates the structure of emotional experience by foregrounding the way humans process their emotions as they shape narratives and express responses to events. Foundations of Feeling bristles with intelligence and originality on every page. It is deeply learned in its understanding of medieval tradition, astute and enlivening in its readings of medieval texts, and written with engaging clarity.”

Stephanie Trigg, University of Melbourne