IF I NAME HOW I FEEL

“If I Name How I Feel” is a web-based interactive narrative project that explores the language of emotions within the context of culture. This project focuses on Korean emotion terms that do not have direct correspondence to English. By showing these differences through narrative and video, the project illustrates how language shapes individuals’ understanding of abstract concepts like emotions, highlighting the cultural nuances that exist across different societies.

We feel differently when using different languages because language is not just a tool for communication, but a symbolic system, a medium, a shared conceptualization, which reflects the cultures’ particular ways of organizing the world. Emotions are also shaped through language as they are sensory perceptions that interact with socially shared conceptualization.

The lexicon of emotions is significantly associated with culture, even resulting in the existence and nonexistence of certain concepts.

The website will start with an individual retracing memories that evoked strong emotions. The homepage will feature an introduction to the narrative alongside brief titles for each narrative related to specific Korean emotion. Each page will include a story, a video, and the definition of the emotion highlighted, providing a comprehensive view of the personal and cultural significance of each emotional experience.