Are we still able to recognize the basic emotions? How do we recognize others?

Along with the preparation of the new theatre play dedicated to the theme of the expression of the emotions [which will be presented in Teatro da Cerca de S. Bernardo, from November 25th to 27th], Marionet will recreate an experiment by Charles Darwin, in a public session which will take place in Rómulo – Science Center of the University of Coimbra next October 30th, at 9 p.m. We will also discuss this theme with several researchers and artists who, in one way or another, usually work with the subject of emotions.

The work “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” published by Darwin in 1872 was one of the starting points for the new Marionet’s production. In it, he presented his research on the relation between facial expressions and emotional states in humans and animals. One of his research sources was the work of the French physician and physiologist Guillaume Duchenne who in his work “Mecanisme de la Physionomie Humaine” presents the results of his experiments where he applied electric shocks to certain areas of the patient’s face to identify the muscles involved in the facial expression of certain emotions. His work includes photographic images of the experiments, which Duchenne considered the best method to register his work. Some years later, Darwin used these pictures in a series of home evening experiments with a group of friends, asking them to identify the emotion behind the expressions of the patients in Duchenne’s pictures.