Overview
Affect theory, as an intellectual current, gained prominence in the mid-1990s. This development represented a conceptual divergence from prevailing theoretical frameworks that posited language as the foundational element in shaping human experience. Instead, affect theory redirected scholarly attention towards the significance of feeling and the body.
Research Context
Prior to the mid-1990s, certain theoretical perspectives emphasized the role of language in constructing individual and collective realities. Affect theory emerged in this intellectual landscape, offering an alternative explanatory model. The movement's proponents sought to re-evaluate the determinants of human experience by focusing on non-linguistic aspects.
Approach
The core conceptual shift embodied by affect theory involved a reorientation towards feeling and the body. This approach diverged from analyses that prioritized linguistic structures or discursive practices. Instead, it centered on corporeal and emotional states as fundamental to understanding human being. The movement represents a pushback against prior dominant ideas concerning human constitution.
Why This Matters
The emergence of affect theory in the mid-1990s marked a significant conceptual shift within humanities discourse. By foregrounding feeling and the body over language, it offered new avenues for understanding human experience, challenging established paradigms regarding construction of self and reality.