false 1142476 2 <p> Envy, irritation, paranoia--in contrast to powerful and dynamic negative emotions like anger, these non-cathartic states of feeling are associated with situations in which action is blocked or suspended. In her examination of the cultural forms to which these affects give rise, Sianne Ngai suggests that these minor and more politically ambiguous feelings become all the more suited for diagnosing the character of late modernity. </p><p> Along with her inquiry into the aesthetics of unprestigious negative affects such as irritation, envy, and disgust, Ngai examines a racialized affect called "animatedness," and a paradoxical synthesis of shock and boredom called "stuplimity." She explores the politically equivocal work of these affective concepts in the cultural contexts where they seem most at stake, from academic feminist debates to the Harlem Renaissance, from late-twentieth-century American poetry to Hollywood film and network television. Through readings of Herman Melville, Nella Larsen, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Hitchcock, Gertrude Stein, Ralph Ellison, John Yau, and Bruce Andrews, among others, Ngai shows how art turns to ugly feelings as a site for interrogating its own suspended agency in the affirmative culture of a market society, where art is tolerated as essentially unthreatening. </p><p> Ngai mobilizes the aesthetics of ugly feelings to investigate not only ideological and representational dilemmas in literature--with a particular focus on those inflected by gender and race--but also blind spots in contemporary literary and cultural criticism. Her work maps a major intersection of literary studies, media and cultural studies, feminist studies, and aesthetic theory. </p> 1294305 2005 Ugly Feelings total:32|5:16|4:10|3:1|2:3|1:2| 32 131 78 4 1 0 false false Mon Oct 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 06:27:58 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 06:51:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 07:29:25 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 11:56:30 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 04 06:12:21 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 06:12:57 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jul 04 12:11:07 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 12:18:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Oct 26 19:24:38 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 19:24:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 15:53:29 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 15:53:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 11:21:04 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 11:21:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Oct 22 07:53:30 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 07:53:30 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 03:49:47 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 03:49:47 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Sep 29 12:32:21 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 12:32:21 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 21 06:58:24 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 05:59:48 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 06:58:24 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 04 19:34:14 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 19:34:14 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Aug 29 12:20:17 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 12:20:17 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Oct 16 13:11:36 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 06:43:02 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 06:43:02 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jul 15 18:27:12 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 01:39:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jul 02 17:08:03 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 17:08:08 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jun 28 22:05:41 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 22:05:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jun 11 22:41:26 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 22:41:26 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jun 03 16:58:59 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 17:00:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 20 16:53:11 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 16:53:11 -0700 2009