LECTURE

Feeling Lonely – Embodying Absence

What?

Lecture by Professor Katie Barclay (University of Adelaide)

When?

14 February 2024 at 17:00–18:30

What?

Loneliness is embodied, closely associated in modern western culture with health and wellbeing, or the need for physical comfort, such as that found in masturbation or casual sex. What loneliness feels like can be explored cross-culturally, attending to bodily sensations and descriptions, as well as the mechanisms that might offer relief, from massage therapy to anti-depressants to company and community. This paper explores loneliness as a physical experience and how that has been represented in various cultures and periods. It uses this exploration as an opportunity to consider questions about the relationship between culture, the body, and emotion.

Professor Katie Barclay is Head of Historical and Classical Studies and Co-Director of the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, University of Adelaide. She writes widely on the history of emotions, gender, and family life.