论劳伦·贝兰特的情动理论

A Study of Lauren Berlant’s Affect Theory

劳伦·贝兰特是当下西方“情动理论”的领军学者之一。贝兰特将情动置于历史、权力和规范中考察,将之视为构成主体、社会关系和政治的重要组成部分,尤其强调其在权力与身体之间构建联结的能力。通过审视国家、公共领域、公共文化以及公民身份和权利在日常生活中的运作机制,贝兰特再现了权力塑造和操纵情动的具体内容与实践形式。她细致地剖释了新自由主义下“残酷的乐观”的情动样态,揭露其所产生的情动和情感层面的暴力和压迫,试图为身处僵局和经历创伤的人们寻找消解情动危机的方法。贝兰特的情动理论为理解当下的情感文化和情感政治提供了有价值的新视角。

Lauren Berlant is regarded as one of the leading Western theorists of affect.Berlant positions affect in relation to history,power,and norms,and sees it as formative for subjects,social relations,and politics,emphasizing especially its capability to bind power with body.By inspecting the operating mechanisms of nation,public sphere,public culture,citizenship,and rights in ordinary life,Berlant shows how affect is shaped and manipulated by power.She also meticulously anatomizes the affective form of“cruel optimism”in neoliberalism,exposes the ways in which violence and oppression are carried out on affective and emotional levels,and attempts to offer ways of defusing affective crises for people trapped in impasses and trauma.Berlant’s affect theory provides a new and valuable perspective on understanding affective culture and politics today.