Political Forms Reading Group: Melancholia

We meet virtually on Zoom and will hold our next meeting on Wednesday 24th November from 17:00 to 18:00 BST. During the meeting, we will discuss two texts: Chapter 4 ‚Melancholic Migrants’ from Sara Ahmed’s The Promise of Happiness (2010), and Chapter 3 ‚”Has it come to this?”’ from Paul Gilroy’s After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture? (2004).

We will consider the sociopolitical significance of melancholia: a feeling that may affect individuals as well as the whole nations. We will discuss how melancholia is experienced as an individual and collective affect, how Britain’s colonial past impacts the affective arrangements within society, and who, in contemporary Britain, is a subject to melancholic feelings. 

If you are interested in critical theory and political philosophy, the political dimensions of art and literature, or interdisciplinary reflections on politics, please do join us. The group aims to connect researchers working across different disciplines once a month to discuss readings in an informal and friendly atmosphere. 

For more information and access to these readings please contact Rebecca Bevington (rb1371@york.ac.uk) or Wiktoria Tunska (wmt504@york.ac.uk).