In this book, Karl G. Heider studies the cultural constructions of emotions, examining how different cultures shape ideas and talk about emotion. The main subjects of the study are the Minangkabau, a matrilineal Muslim culture of three million people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Comparative data come from the Central Javanese, also of Indonesia and reference is made to studies of American emotions. The Minangkabau have two different 'cultures of emotion', used depending on whether they are speaking their own regional language or the national language. And the Central Javanese have yet another culture of emotion when they are speaking the 'same' national language. Landscapes of Emotion will appeal to a range of readers in anthropology, psychology, sociology and Asian studies who want to understand how different cultures shape emotion.

"Pathbreaking in both its concerns and methodologies, this book is an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Indonesian culture. It also constitutes an important and exciting contribution to the study of the interplay of language, culture, and emotion." Nancy J. Smith-Hefner, Journal of Asian Studies

"...introduces a new method for studying vocabulary stuctures in the realm of emotions,,," Cliff Goddard, Semiotica