Insights on Affect Theory by Professor Sigwork

Nov 26, 2024

Lecture Notes: Professor Gregory Sigwork on Affect Theory

Introduction

  • Speaker: Dr. Gregory Sigwork, Professor of Communication Studies
  • Publications:
    • Journals: Cultural Studies, Architectural Design, Culture Machine
    • Books: Contributions to "Deleuze Key Concepts," "Animations of Deleuze and Guattari," "New Cultural Studies"
    • Recent Book: "The Affect Theory Reader"

Understanding Affect

  • Definition:
    • Affect is difficult to define and not a singular concept; it's a process or ongoingness.
    • Described as "the force of encounter or the encounter of forces."
    • Three simultaneous aspects:
      1. Encounter/Impingement: Moment of contact shifting understanding.
      2. Ongoingness: Part of a gradient of positive/negative intensities.
      3. Context/Field of Potential: Wider set of potentialities.

Example of Affect

  • Dog Walking Analogy:
    • Points of intensity for the dog (smells) and the owner (sights).
    • Composition of relationships and variation in encounters.
    • Potentialities within the environment.

Affect and Deleuze's Theory

  • Connection to Territorialization/Deterritorialization:
    • Affect involves bindings/unbindings, becomeings/unbecomings.
    • Similar to Deleuze's concept of shifts in territorial understanding.

Affect's Dual Nature

  • Misconceptions: Often seen as liberatory, but can also participate in regimes of domination.
  • Current Work: Exploring negative aspects and connections to critical race theory and rising authoritarianism.

Affect in Literary Criticism

  • Rita Felski's Work: Critique and Post-critique; focuses on text and sentimentality.
  • Political Engagement: Affect as a politically engaged theory.
  • Sarah Ahmed's Contributions: Emphasizes politics of emotions in social movements.

Affect vs. Emotion

  • Distinction: Often confused but affect includes more than emotion.
  • Spinoza's Terms: Affectio (affection/emotion) and Affectus (continuous variation).
  • Daniel Stern's Theory: Vitality affects (ongoing processes) vs. categorical affects (emotions).

Influential Thinkers

  • Freud's Early Work: Project for a Scientific Psychology; material basis for affect.
  • Brian Massumi: Emphasizes the bodily aspect of affect; distinction from emotion.
  • Bruno Latour: Distributed agency and the non-human, critiques Cartesian duality.

Conclusion

  • Affect is a complex, multi-layered concept that involves points of intensity, lines of variation, and planes of potential.
  • Its study spans various fields, including cultural studies, literature, and sciences.
  • Professor Sigwork is open to discussions and encourages engaging with young scholars and students.