The autonomy of affect

(translated into Russian by Gleb G. Kolomiez)

Abstract

The essay by B. Massumi, also included in his book “Parables for the Virtual” as the first chapter, deals with the analysis of affect as a category of cultural theory. Building upon the results of several scientific experiments, the author analyzes the physiological manifes­tations of affect and shows that the mechanism of its functioning cannot be described within the framework of the semiotic approaches that dominate in cultural theory. There is an in­surmountable gap between the levels of affective reactions of a body and linguistic qualifi­cations of consciousness. Complementing the results with thematically similar concepts de­veloped by A. Bergson, J. Deleuze, J. Simondon and B. Spinoza, the author formulates the theory of affect, which characterizes it as a pre-individual, linguistically unqualified, vir­tual, and autonomous entity dwelling in the field of emergence and accompanying percep­tions and emotions. Such an interpretation of affect allows the author to analyze the political and media effects produced by R. Reagan and B. Clinton, marked as paradoxical by domi­nant cultural theories. By analyzing these cases in terms of the affect, the author demon­strates the paramount importance of the affective for postmodern politics and identifies ways to develop alternatives to the dominant methods of political mobilization of affect.