The life course and emotions beyond fieldwork: affect as position and experience

Abstract

A key debate about emotions in the field of human geography exists between geographies of affect, emphasising the non-cognitive, and emotional geography, emphasising the cognitive. In this paper, I draw on life course theory to present a parallel between the two. By dividing affect into two entities, känsloläge and känsloupplevelse, referring to a ‘feeling position’ and a ‘feeling experience’, I argue that a unique life course position can be analysed through känsloläge, while the feelings that are actually expressed and felt can be analysed through feeling rules in känsloupplevelse. To exemplify this relationship, I draw on affects and emotions from my own fieldwork, illustrating the ways in which känsloläge and känsloupplevelse affect both the research process and the researcher. In the conclusion section, the need for further exploration of the juxtaposition between the feeling position and the feeling experience, where the subject is centred but is not the sole owner of affect, is emphasised.

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