“情动”理论的谱系

The Genealogy of Affect Theory

自上世纪九十年代以来,"情动"理论盛行于西方人文学术界,在批评理论中形成了"情动转向"的范式转型趋势。这种范式以情感为理论焦点,侧重于研究情绪历史的复杂叙述,从而超越了基于修辞学和符号学的研究范式。"情动"概念源于斯宾诺莎,经由德勒兹而发展成为有关主体性生成的重要理论。在这种哲学背景下,情动理论演化出两条理论路径,一条是由马苏米继承的斯宾诺莎到德勒兹的本体论路径,另一条是塞奇维克开启的情动理论的女性主义路径。在女性主义理论中,由于"情动"概念的引入,酷儿理论和相关的女性主义研究发生转型,尤其致力于探索欲望和感觉的变革潜能和乌托邦愿景。"情动"概念作为知识/话语,已经蔓延于当前人文社会科学的各个领域,尤其深刻地作用于文化政治领域的表意实践。在这种理论挪用中,它已成为揭示情感之政治性的有效理论工具,表达出将情感的本体论承诺加以理论化的强烈诉求。

Affect theory emerged in the late twentieth century as a theoretical trend in the study of "affective turn"in Western humanities. Affect theory,focused on the complex narratives of affect history,is an alternative paradigm to the one which is based on the rhetoric and semiotics in the 1990 s. Research on affect theory began as Spinoza,and Deleuze developed it into an important concept of subjectivity generation. In this philosophical context,the theory of affect evolved along two theoretical paths.The ontological path from Spinoza to Deleuze continued with Masumi. The other path,which was the feminist path,was initiated by Sedgwick. Queer theory,and related feminist studies transformed with the introduction of the concept of affect. The change finds most obvious expressions in explorations of the transformative and utopian potential of desire and feeling. As knowledge/discourse,"affect"is ubiquitous in humanities and social sciences. With a strong claim to theorize the ontological commitment of affect,it is grasped as an effective theoretical tool for studying the political nature of affect,especially in the signifying practice of cultural politics.