Ressentiment

The term's Germanic origins make it compatible and contextually relevant to the thesis Norbert Elias later outlined in the Civilising Process ( Elias, 1978 , 1982), which covered both state monopolies of violence and the management of human manners and emotions. In Nietzsche's writings ressentiment refers to feelings of imaginary vengeance powerless groups project onto powerful (collective or individual) sociocultural agents. Highlighting (mis)communications between feeling, emotion, fantasy, and action, but also psychological analysis, political planning, and sociological interpretation of the world, the term was borne out of a Franco-German political conflict (1870–1871) that adumbrated later controversies over the alleged “clash of [Eastern-Western] civilisations” ( Huntington, 1993 ). Nietzsche's original thesis focused on a process within the weak group he termed the “transvaluation of values.” This cognitive-emotional process allows resentful subjects to convince themselves that the desired values of their opponent are worthless. He used as an example the Palestinian Jewish rabbis. Because their Roman conquerors challenged their religious status, they asserted moral superiority through transvaluation: the material power of their “masters” became worthless vis-à-vis their divine gifts. Transvaluation provided a safety valve where material power was absent, allowing the ...