ABSTRACT
Narratives of the self have proven rich sources for the history of emotion. By providing a personal perspective into how individuals named, made sense of and communicated what they felt in connection to self and others, these narratives provide a window into the emotional experiences of the past. They also show how their understanding varied over time with changing historical periods and life circumstances, and with shifting conceptions of self in different cultural, socio-political and spatial contexts. This chapter explores the possibilities as well as the analytical challenges these sources offer by looking at the methodological implications of writing practices, form and materiality. The chapter focuses mostly on personal letters with some discussion of diary writing.
