The Transmission of Affect

by Teresa Brennan

The idea that one can soak up someone else's depression or anxiety or sense the tension in a room is familiar. Indeed, phrases that capture this notion abound in the popular "negative energy," "dumping," "you could cut the tension with a knife." The Transmission of Affect deals with the belief that the emotions and energies of one person or group can be absorbed by or can enter directly into another. The ability to borrow or share states of mind, once historically and culturally assumed, is now pathologized, as Teresa Brennan shows in relation to affective transfer in psychiatric clinics and the prevalence of psychogenic illness in contemporary life. To neglect the mechanism by which affect is transmitted, the author claims, has serious consequences for science and medical research. Brennan's theory of affect is based on constant communication between individuals and their physical and social environments. Her important book details the relationships among affect, energy, and "new maladies of the soul," including attention deficit disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, codependency, and fibromyalgia.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Theory, Nonfiction, Emotion, Science

248 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

In hmolscience, Teresa Brennan (1952-2003) was an Australian-born American feminist philosopher and social-political theorist noted for her psychodynamic theories on how energetics applies to social issues, such as relations between men and women, theorizing on concepts such as the physics of social pressure.

(from http://www.eoht.info/page/Teresa+Brennan)

Reviews

[Joe]

Fascinating intersection of feminist materialism, Kleinian psychoanalysis, and science to unpack the transmission and circulation of affect in crowds, between bodies (that are possibly unknown to each other). Particularly interested in olfaction here, the atmospheric, the diffuse, and Brennan positing that w/in group and societal divisions certain bodies (often other) are situated as dumps for negative affect.
////echogenic melancholy of the world burning hotter//////

[jessi lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is interesting to me.

she's talking, as one might guess, about affect and how feelings are transmitted between people. so it's all about physical bodies and feelings and relationships. and challenges to Freud. you can see why i picked it up. so far, it's been a provocative challenge to the idea of a naturally emotionally-bounded person (upon which psychoanalysis was founded). the author suggests that the construct of such is a defensive reaction to our discomfort with all of our emotional interdependence and intermingling.

the author is really interested in pheromones & takes a laypersons look at scientific literature that seems to support the idea that emotions are transmitted between people in non-learning/visual kinds of ways. i'm fascinated by her discussion of the tendency to attribute picking up other's feelings to visual cues (i.e. theories of modeling), rather than other senses that involve more of a physical internalization the other (through inhaling their scent, for example). it makes me think more critically & theoretically about the politics of sniffing people, and the smells of different emotions.

some critiques: i am surprised that she doesn't engage more with current relational psychoanalytic theory, or talk anything at all about what people have learned from family therapy. her combination of biological/affective research made me think about gottman's couples labs, where people get wired up to all of these monitors & then talk about difficult issues in their relationships. i'd also like to hear what a scientist thinks about her use of the scientific literature... to me, it seems compelling, but maybe i'm missing something.

[Steen Ledet · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting study of affects and their histories. Excellent in how Brennan blurs the subject-object division, slightly too generalizing on the body's role and function.

[Emma]

Didn’t even end up using it for my essay 😕

[Cassey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An attempt at moving and it's transmission out of the social sciences realm and into the physical sciences. All in all an interesting read.

[Cynthia Roses-Thema · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Teresa Brennan’s "Transmission of Affect" for a postmodern rhetorical theory class with Dr. Sharon Crowley in my doctoral studies and used Brennan’s concept of the foundational fallacy in my dissertation. Now, some two decades later I re-read this book to see where my thinking is after retiring as a professor emerita. Do I still find this book so important? What has changed?
Published in 2004 the book is now a seminal text in the study of affect theory. In this second reading I was able to be much more critical and thorough. My results are as follows:
What hasn’t changed that I still agree with and believe is accurate:
1. The human body is porous: As much as humanity likes to believe in the individual as separate and contained from the other there is some science to suggest otherwise. Hormonal substances like pheromones have been theorized to subtly influence human bodies below conscious notice.
2. This transmission of affect occurs before conscious attention: Science supports Brennan’s position that a substantial portion of one’s impulses and reactions arise not solely from one's isolated self, but are influenced by affective transmissions from others, often occurring prior to conscious awareness.

What changed for me:
The main issue I had with re-reading Brennan’s book was the writing style. As a doctoral student reading seven books during the semester my goal on the first read was to glean whatever I could from the text and use it. Now, as a retired professor having mentored many students in the art of academic writing I find Brennan’s style of inductive writing i.e. to lay out the evidence before stating the argument produced for me a lack of clarity in the meaning as well as it catered to an elite readership.
Brennan’s message about the body as knowing prior to conscious understanding, her critique of the subject as the site of meaning, her request for more consideration of context and social affects are so important. In my mind the significance of exploring these issues is especially relevant now when there are such divisions in our society. Her point about the need for some type of education for all of us that quells affect transmission is crucial to follow through on for self-care issues society currently is attempting to address.
Thus, for me the delivery of Brennan’s book, her rhetorical choices that yielded a completely academic dense text I find just another example of academic writing for academia’s sake. And as a former academic, I have no pleasure in writing that. I want her arguments to flourish. I would like more people to read her words, but I have to admit that by the end of the book I had reader fatigue in just trying to ascertain her point.

My suggestion if you wish to read this book is to start with chapter seven from the section “The interpretation of the Flesh.” Then her first chapter to get a sense of her interdisciplinary approach. And then select the chapters that you feel are most relevant to your area of study. I suggest the same order if you are reading for pleasure.

[Tolu · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of affects being transmitted is interesting and, I’d say, important, but the author clearly misinterprets a lot of the scientific literature in an attempt to be original. Yes, psychoanalysis got a lot of things wrong, but the insistence on relying on science one is clearly misusing to one-up Mr Freud is just as bad as Freud’s hot garbage takes.

Whole book could have been an email.

[Rachelle Wunderink · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read for my thesis work and to expand my knowledge on Affect theory. Generally, Some very interesting and relevant chapters and some chapters that dragged a bit. Overall all I enjoyed it while also frustrated at parts.

[Lawrence]

ht kenny bailey