Thinking Affects

Why do we feel what we feel? What role do affects play in our lives? Are emotions a singular product of our own subjectivity or, rather, do they have a shared character? Recent years have seen a growing interest in the study of emotions and affects and their historical and political functions. The so-called “affective turn” radically challenges the idea that emotions are the property and expression of an authentic and sovereign “I” to conclude that they also have a public life and, therefore, historical, social and political implications. What is emotional is not something that brings us into opposition with what is external to ourselves but a product of contact with the world. Jo Labanyi will offer a critical overview of recent thinking about affects and how this relates with theories in the post-human domain.

This lecture is part of the symposium "Residuos emocionales: Regímenes y disidencias afectivas en el mundo moderno", organised by the Centre for Women and Literature (University of Barcelona) (http://www.ub.edu/cdona):