Admiration and adoration

Abstract: We use the terms admiration and adoration to describe emotional and affective dynamics between communities (the admirers or adorers) and heroic figures (the admired or adored). In the act of adoring and admiring, a community positions itself in relation to a figure, expresses its esteem for the hero and/or his deeds and defends him against criticism or deheroization from outsiders. Beyond that, however, adoration and admiration also have a community-forming function because through the medium of the heroized figure the admirers or adorers define themselves as a group, they distinguish themselves from other communities and they compete with other communities for the appropriation and interpretation of the hero figure.

Although the terms admiration and adoration are often used almost synonymously in colloquial situations, we will think of them in this article as distinct phenomena. One of the aims of this article is to determine in some detail how they relate to each other and how they interplay. In general, we define admiration as the reference to specific imitable deeds, qualities or attitudes of a hero, whose imitability or exemplariness are emphasised. By contrast, adoration focuses on the hero figure in its entirety that is deemed exceptional and ‘inimitable’, as well as on the system of meaning associated with the hero figure (even though specific heroic deeds are generally also attributed to the figure, which are viewed as proof of its heroic nature).

This article presents heuristic approaches for understanding admiration and adoration in their significance for heroization processes. To that end, we first describe how hero adoration is a dynamic process of reciprocal affective relations between a heroic figure and its devotees. Then, the combined effect of individual admiration and collectively practiced adoration that is constitutive for heroization processes will be outlined. The respective functions of admiration and adoration in creating that combined effect are not static, however. Rather, they should be understood as elements of a variable and dynamic arrangement that can be configured and functionalised differently depending on the historical and cultural context

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Edition: Version 1.0, published 11 November 2022
• Language: Englisch

Classification and Topics

• Keyword: Heiligenverehrung ; Bewunderung ; Held ; Heldenverehrung ; Heroisierung ; Heroismus

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2023
• Contributor: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Sonderforschungsbereich 948 "Helden - Heroisierungen - Heroismen"

Further information

• DOI: 10.6094/heroicum/buve1.0.20221111
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2363427
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 25.03.2025, 1:52 PM CET