The Emosphere: A Theoretical Approach to Human Emotional Communication in the Context of Journalism

Abstract

In journalistic work, emotions are crucial; they elicit our interest and curiosity, and we recognize incidents better when they encompass emotions. Emotions can cause physiological responses and conscious experiences. Emotions are also needed to regulate our behavior. This chapter introduces a theory of emotional communication, the emosphere, which is based on Lotman's concept of the semiosphere. This is an attempt to apply the emosphere (with a semiotic background) as a tool for analyzing the role of emotions in journalistic contexts. The emosphere aims to conceptualize basic communicational and social–emotional questions. The emosphere tries to describe changing situations where journalists try to adapt to new circumstances and understand emotions both of their interviewees and their own responses. What is personal understanding of prevailing circumstances, and how does that affect interpersonal communication? The emosphere aims to picture the underlying reasons behind emotions communicated and aims to enhance the understanding of journalistic processes and effects.