I was interviewed about the sociology of awkwardness for a French futures magazine

It’s a shame I’m relying on Google Translate to read it because I suspect quite a bit is lost in the process, but here’s my contribution to the article:

To find out, a first detour through semantics is necessary. Formed from the Latin gehenna (which refers to the idea of ​​“  excruciating physical or moral suffering  ”), the word embarrassment is summarily defined by Le Larousse as an “  unpleasant impression  ”, a mixture of “  embarrassment, [of] trouble [and] moral uneasiness [experienced by] someone in the situation in which he is placed  .” Mark Carrigan, a sociologist based at the University of Manchester, confirms and elaborates: ”  Discomfort corresponds to a break in the flow of social interaction, either because the rules of interaction are violated, or because it are no longer clear rules to guide our interaction in a given situation.  »

https://usbeketrica.com/fr/article/pourquoi-tout-est-devenu-genant