Ordinary Affects

"OrdinaryAffects"isasingularargumentforattentiontotheaffectivedimensionsofeverydaylifeandthepotentialthatanimatestheordinary.Knownforherfocusonthepoeticsandpoliticsoflanguageandlandscape,theanthropologistKathleenStewartpondershowordinaryimpactscreatethesubjectasacapacitytoaffectandbeaffected.Inaseriesofbriefvignettescombiningstorytelling,closeethnographicdetail,andcriticalanalysis,Stewartrelatestheintensitiesandbanalitiesofcommonexperiencesandstrangeencounters,half-spiedscenesandthelingeringresonanceofpassingevents.WhilemostoftheinstancesrenderedarefromStewart'sownlife,shewritesinthethirdpersoninordertoreflectonhowintimateexperiencesofemotion,thebody,otherpeople,andtimeinextricablylinkustotheoutsideworld.Stewartrefrainsfrompositingaoverarchingsystem-whetherit'scalledglobalizationorneoliberalismorcapitalism-todescribethewaysthateconomic,political,andsocialforcesshapeindividuallives.Instead,shebeginswiththedisparate,fragmented,andseeminglyinconsequentialexperiencesofeverydaylifetobringattentiontotheordinaryasanintegralsiteofculturalpolitics.Ordinaryaffect,sheinsists,isregisteredinitsparticularities,yetitconnectspeopleandcreatescommonexperiencesthatshapepublicfeeling.Throughthisanecdotalhistory-onethatpoeticallyponderstheextremesoftheordinaryandportraysthedensenetworkofsocialandpersonalconnectionsthatconstitutealife-Stewartassertsthenecessityofattendingtothefleetingandchangeableaspectsofexistenceinordertorecognizethecomplexpersonalandsocialdynamicsofthepoliticalworld.