An emotion only made note of by a sliver (or slivers) of all society?
Most of these seem to be very real emotions, but they're what we'd consider an emotional blend. That said, we recognize 'bittersweetness', so I'm not sure why we wouldn't recognize these. Could be sheer lack of insight, or ability to spread that insight. Curiously, lots of German here. Either we have a lot of information about Germans and emotion, the Germans are exceptionally introspective, or we're lacking information about the rest of us and how we deal with emotion. Dunno. Anyway, here are a few:
Schadenfreude - I think we all know this one.
Weltschmerz - "The kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind." "Psychological pain caused by sadness that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and physical and social circumstances." "Can cause depression, resignation and escapism." Dear, dear...
Limerance - "An involuntary emotional state of intense romantic desire for another person. Used to describe the ultimate, near-obsessional form of romantic love." Covers a lot of ground - hypersensitivity/overanalysis of a loved one's words/actions, intense fear of rejection, the hope vs. uncertainty balance, that kind of thing. Very interesting stuff, and smart to piece it all together.
Mono no Aware - "Used to describe the transience of things and a bittersweet sadness at their passing." Seems like longing, sorrow... not necessarily nostalgia, but sadness that things have to change. The reality of inevitability. Seeing your old high-school sweetheart get married off, old friends drifting apart due to external obligations. This one rings true to me (but, inevitably, I'll look back upon this and think, "I was being such an idiot") - moving away from old and comfortable things, from friends, from 'home', in an attempt to create a positive life from whatever I have right now. And hoping for friends to fare well as well, although with sadness at their parting.
Sehnsucht - "Longing, or in a wider sense a kind of intensely missing. It is a close relationship (encapsulated in one word) between ardent longing or yearning (das Sehnen) and the addiction (die Sucht) that lurks beyond each longing, waiting to turn the feeling into a destructive, self-defeating force." "The key ingredient of the experience is that this longing - never fulfilled - is itself sweeter than the fulfillment of any other human desire. Another feature is that it is so deeply personal that it does not occur to the one feeling it that others would have similar experiences, and so is rarely communicated verbally. For most it is something which cannot be put into words."
Acedia - "A state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world." Mother to sloth, apathy, depression, ennui. This one also comes with some examination from a medical perspective.
Saudade - A bit similar to Sehnsucht up there, but not identical. "A feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return." "Saudade was once described as the love that remains after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure or well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again."
When writing all of this, I stumbled upon a link that reflects a bit on the speculations I had above regarding pieces of society and their connection to emotions or emotional blends. Not sure how much good it'll do, but here it is.
Bedtime - time to ignore whatever emotion studying the above evoked in me... and I'm sure there's a named emotion for that, too.
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