8 Spatialities of feeling
Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the
masses of life which people earth.
(Brontë 1993 [18 47 ]: 115)Introduction
Cities can be seen as roiling maelstroms of affect. Particular affects like anger,
fear, happiness and joy are continually on the boil, rising here, subsiding there,
and these affects continually manifest themselves in events which can take place
either at a grand scale or simply as a part of continuing everyday life.^1 So, on the
heroic side, we might point to the mass hysteria occasioned by the death of Princess
Diana or the deafening roar from a sports stadium as a crucial point is scored. On
the prosaic side we might think of the mundane emotional labour of the workplace,
the frustrated shouts and gestures of road rage, the delighted laughter of children
as they tour a theme park, or the tears of a suspected felon undergoing police
interrogation.^2
Given the utter ubiquity of affect as a vital element of cities, its shading of almost
every urban activity with different hues that we all recognize, you would think that
the affective register would form a large part of the study of cities – but you would
be wrong.^3 Though affect continually figures in many accounts it is usually off
to the side. There are a few honourable exceptions, of course. Walter Benjamin’s
identification of the emotional immediacy of Nazi rallies comes to mind. So does
Richard Sennett’s summoning of troubled urban bodies in Flesh and Stone(199 4 ).
But, generally speaking, to read about affect in cities it is necessary to resort to the
pages of novels, and the tracklines of poems.
Why this neglect of the affective register of cities? It is not as if there is no history
of the study of affect. There patently is, and over many centuries. For example,
philosophers have continually debated the place of affect. Plato’s discussion of the
role of artists comes to mind as an early instance: for Plato art was dangerous
because it gave an outlet for the expression of uncontrolled emotions and feelings.
In particular, drama is a threat to Reason because it appeals to Emotion.^4 No
doubt, one could track forwards through pivotal figures like Machiavelli, Rousseau,
Kant and Hegel, noting various rationalist and romantic reactions, depending