Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”

This paper explores the intersection of Affect Studies, Textual Criticism, and Phenomenology to broadly examine the affective responses contemporary literature evokes. Focusing on Rachel Seiffert’s short story “Field Study” (2004), it argues that the narrative’s spatial poetics of the ordinary activ...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Howes, Christina Angela
Tipo de recurso: capítulo de libro
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO)
Repositorio:RIO. Repositorio Institucional Olavide
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:rio.upo.es:10433/24438
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10433/24438
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cruel Optimism
Dwelling
Human and ecological relationality
Ordinary Affects
Rachel Seiffert
Spatial Poetics
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spelling Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”Howes, Christina AngelaCruel OptimismDwellingHuman and ecological relationalityOrdinary AffectsRachel SeiffertSpatial PoeticsThis paper explores the intersection of Affect Studies, Textual Criticism, and Phenomenology to broadly examine the affective responses contemporary literature evokes. Focusing on Rachel Seiffert’s short story “Field Study” (2004), it argues that the narrative’s spatial poetics of the ordinary activate an affective mode of reading that unsettles the distinction between textual representation and lived experience. Through its quiet yet insistent attention to relationality—both human and ecological—the narrative fosters an embodied awareness of interconnectedness, challenging assumptions about individual agency, historical accountability, and the socio-political conditions of the post-Cold War landscape. Drawing on Bachelard’s spatial poetics, Kathleen Stewart’s Ordinary Affects, and Lauren Berlant’s Cruel Optimism, the analysis reveals an urgent sense of socio-political and existential transformation. Heidegger’s concept of “dwelling” further exposes how the text questions Western modernity’s promises of well-being. Ultimately, “Field Study” discloses the paradoxes of optimism and loss while advocating for a relational understanding of existence.Enredars Publicaciones / UPO20252025-07-1220252025-07-1220252025-07-12book parthttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_3248VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPartapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10433/24438reponame:RIO. Repositorio Institucional Olavideinstname:Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:rio.upo.es:10433/244382026-06-13T12:46:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
title Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
spellingShingle Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
Howes, Christina Angela
Cruel Optimism
Dwelling
Human and ecological relationality
Ordinary Affects
Rachel Seiffert
Spatial Poetics
title_short Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
title_full Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
title_fullStr Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
title_full_unstemmed Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
title_sort Ordinary Affects and Cruel Optimism: A Phenomenological Study of Affective Responses in Rachel Seiffert’s “Field Study”
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Howes, Christina Angela
author Howes, Christina Angela
author_facet Howes, Christina Angela
author_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Cruel Optimism
Dwelling
Human and ecological relationality
Ordinary Affects
Rachel Seiffert
Spatial Poetics
topic Cruel Optimism
Dwelling
Human and ecological relationality
Ordinary Affects
Rachel Seiffert
Spatial Poetics
description This paper explores the intersection of Affect Studies, Textual Criticism, and Phenomenology to broadly examine the affective responses contemporary literature evokes. Focusing on Rachel Seiffert’s short story “Field Study” (2004), it argues that the narrative’s spatial poetics of the ordinary activate an affective mode of reading that unsettles the distinction between textual representation and lived experience. Through its quiet yet insistent attention to relationality—both human and ecological—the narrative fosters an embodied awareness of interconnectedness, challenging assumptions about individual agency, historical accountability, and the socio-political conditions of the post-Cold War landscape. Drawing on Bachelard’s spatial poetics, Kathleen Stewart’s Ordinary Affects, and Lauren Berlant’s Cruel Optimism, the analysis reveals an urgent sense of socio-political and existential transformation. Heidegger’s concept of “dwelling” further exposes how the text questions Western modernity’s promises of well-being. Ultimately, “Field Study” discloses the paradoxes of optimism and loss while advocating for a relational understanding of existence.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-07-12
2025
2025-07-12
2025
2025-07-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv book part
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_3248
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPart
format bookPart
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10433/24438
url https://hdl.handle.net/10433/24438
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Enredars Publicaciones / UPO
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Enredars Publicaciones / UPO
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RIO. Repositorio Institucional Olavide
instname:Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO)
instname_str Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO)
reponame_str RIO. Repositorio Institucional Olavide
collection RIO. Repositorio Institucional Olavide
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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