Studying at York
Bad Feelings: Negative Affect in Contemporary Literature - ENG00117M
- Department: English and Related Literature
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Module summary
What does it mean to feel envious? To feel panic, to feel afraid, ashamed, or hopeless? To be in the throes of agony? Have you ever felt this way? Has reading ever made you feel this way? Since the “affective turn” at the beginning of the 21st century, cultural studies has turned to more than just the many mutations of positive feelings, like happiness, to consider how collective feelings like shame, panic, envy, fear, anger, disgust, loneliness, sadness, and hopelessness penetrate literary works.
In this module, we will consider the many overlapping biopolitical constellations of negative affect with respect to a range of literary works (poetry, fiction, and memoir) concerned with feeling badly in contemporary society. By reading works by prominent contemporary writers like Paul Beatty, Maggie Nelson, and Hanya Yanigahara, and contemporary affect theorists like Sianne Ngai, Sara Ahmed, Leo Bersani, Lauren Berlant, and Eve Sedgwick, we will examine the structures and unstructures of affect theory by considering how vectors of inequality—gender, race, class, sexuality—demand fictional explication of negative affects and how the invocation of particular affects might open up or foreclose particular kinds of interpretation. Indeed, a core aspect of this module is the recent explosion of affective criticism—imbuing critical works with personal, emotional responses to texts. Together, we will grapple with the question: what are texts’ manifold feelings making you feel as you read?
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
This module aims to introduce you to the social, political, and aesthetic conditions of negative affect in the 21st century, by examining a range of key critical and theoretical writings regarding contemporary developments in the history of emotions. Methodologically, it looks to expose you to the benefits of reading cross-disciplinarily and comparatively, both between literary and non-literary texts, and between the fields of literature and psychology.
Module learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with a range of contemporary novelistic, poetic, and non-fictional texts;
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with negative affect theory;
- Produce confident and well-argued ideas in class and in writing, in such a way that engages with affective criticism;
- Carry out individual research in the fields in question, to present it in seminars, and to discuss it with seminar members;
- Evaluate key debates within the relevant critical fields.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on all assessed work within the University deadline, and will often receive it more quickly. The purpose of feedback is to inform your future work; it is designed to help you to improve your work, and the Department also offers you help in learning from your feedback. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further you can discuss it with your module tutor, the MA Convenor or your supervisor, during their Open Office Hours
Indicative reading
Texts by Claudia Rankine, Juliana Spahr, Joshua Clover, Hanya Yanigahara, Teju Cole, Ottessa Moshfegh, Maggie Nelson, Han Kang, Paul Beatty, Sianne Ngai, Sara Ahmed, Leo Bersani, Lauren Berlant, and Eve Sedgwick.