Objectives:
This course aims to introduce students to a selection of theoretical texts on affect theory and Black radical thought. By bringing these two fields into dialogue, the course seeks to understand how Black radical thought theorizes affect, taking Blackness and anti-Blackness as its starting point.
Rationale:
Since the 1990s, fields in the humanities and biological sciences, such as neuroscience, cognitive science, social psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, aesthetics, and narratology, have increasingly turned to affect, seeking alternative forms of theorization beyond structuralism. The affective turn is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach aimed at theorizing the multifaceted experiences of affect. With this in mind, through reading seminars planned and coordinated by the instructor, students will have the opportunity to read and discuss theoretical and literary texts. Taking the experiences of Blackness and anti-Blackness as its starting point, the course seeks to understand how Black radical thought theorizes affect.
Course Content:
- Introduction: Affect, Black Radical Thought, Representation
- The Two Strands of Affect Theory
- The Circulation of Affects
- Affect, Race, and Biopolitics
- Affective Aberration
- Affectability and the World
- The Limits of Empathy
- Affect and Its Uses
- Affect and Literature I
- Affect and Literature II
- Affect and Literature III
- Closing Session