Ikigai and saudade, cultural meanings lived through the body

Bibliographic Data

ID2390512
AuthorsIgor De Almeida (0000-0003-4599-0442, Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, corresponding author), Joana Rodrigues (0000-0002-3113-4664, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume31
Issue2
Pages697-712
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-067X • E-ISSN: 1461-7056
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1354067x241263451
OpenAlexW4400884795
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited34

This study examines culture-specific emotions as embodied experience. Culturally based emotions are often linguistically and conceptually unique to particular groups, which may pose translation challenges. Despite most studies focusing on linguistic and cognitive aspects of emotions, this article posits that embodiment also plays a role in understanding culture-specific emotions. We examine two cultural concepts, saudade from Portuguese-speaking cultures and ikigai from the Japanese culture, and how they can be part of an embodied experience within each culture. This study sheds light on the idea that although these concepts mean different things for people in their cultural context, the manner in which saudade and ikigai is articulated is indeed an embodied experience, a body and mind relationship and, source of body knowledge

Aesthetics · Art · Sociology · Anthropology · Cultural, Media, and Literary Studies · Gender, Sexuality, and Education · Japanese History and Culture

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