What happens before we name what we feel? How do bodies respond before language intervenes?
In this episode of Literary Rides, we explore affect theory—a contemporary framework that shifts attention from structured emotion to pre-conscious intensity, embodied relationality, and the circulation of feeling between bodies. Drawing on philosophical influences such as Spinoza and Deleuze, the discussion examines how subjectivity becomes fluid, processual, and materially embedded.
We consider how literature captures mood, atmosphere, narrative consciousness, and even “ugly feelings”—those subtle, often uncomfortable affects that shape everyday experience. Moving beyond purely linguistic analysis, affect theory reveals how texts generate sensation, vulnerability, and collective resonance.
Designed as a comprehensive study guide for postgraduate students, UGC NET aspirants, researchers, and teachers, this episode situates affect theory within contemporary critical debates while clarifying its application to literary interpretation.
An essential exploration of emotion, embodiment, and the unseen forces that move through narrative and society alike.