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Intersubjective Affect and Embodied Emotion: Feeling the Supernatural in Thailand
Author(s) -
Cassaniti Julia L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
anthropology of consciousness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1556-3537
pISSN - 1053-4202
DOI - 10.1111/anoc.12036
Subject(s) - embodied cognition , affect (linguistics) , feeling , psychology , intersubjectivity , interpersonal communication , social psychology , affect theory , quality (philosophy) , aesthetics , epistemology , communication , philosophy
In this article I argue for increased attention to the supernatural as a site for inquiry into, and elaboration of, affect. In attending to how and when people encounter ghosts in Thailand, affect is approached as a moving, interpersonal field of wishes and desires. These wishes and desires circulate within intersubjective spaces, and are sometimes experienced as coalesced, embodied emotions. In highlighting such an orientation, affect (at least in Thailand) can be understood as not just an intersubjective project but also a spiritual one. I suggest that we pay special attention to this quality of the supernatural as an affective force and to the intersubjective, affective currents of emotion.