WOW ! Today’s reading was actually veeeeery very very insightful because it allowed me to go deeper in how to view things and understand people.

Resma Menakem’s Interview: , Notice the rage; Notice the silence was SUUUUPER insightful, I especially loved when he said:
“Trauma decontextualized in a person looks like personality
Trauma decontextualized in a family looks like family traits
Trauma decontextualized in a people looks like culture”

We have to engage with something more than nice. We need to peal things more and more like an onion.

Homi Bhabha, a postcolonial theorist, introduced the concept of “the third space” in his work, particularly in his influential book “The Location of Culture” (1994). Bhabha’s concept of the third space is complex and is often associated with postcolonial identity and cultural hybridity. Here are key points about Bhabha’s understanding of the third space:

1. Hybridity and Ambivalence: Bhabha argues that the encounter between colonizers and the colonized does not result in a simple assimilation or replication of either culture. Instead, it gives rise to a hybrid space where new cultural forms and identities emerge. This third space is marked by ambivalence and ambiguity.
2. Cultural In-Betweenness: The third space is seen as a site of negotiation and contestation, where cultural meanings are neither fixed nor stable. It represents the in-betweenness of cultures, challenging binary oppositions and offering a more nuanced understanding of identity formation.
3. Postcolonial Identity: Bhabha’s concept is particularly relevant in postcolonial contexts. He suggests that postcolonial subjects occupy this third space, where they negotiate between their own cultural backgrounds and the influences of the colonizing culture. It’s not a fixed or stable identity but a fluid and dynamic process.
4. Subversion of Binaries: Bhabha’s concept challenges fixed categories and binary oppositions such as colonizer/colonized, self/other. The third space disrupts these binaries, creating a space for alternative narratives and voices.
5. Cultural Translation: The third space involves a form of cultural translation where meanings are constantly in flux. Bhabha emphasizes the importance of recognizing the agency of those in the third space to negotiate and reconfigure cultural meanings.
6. Limitations and Critiques: While influential, Bhabha’s concept of the third space has faced criticism for its perceived abstractness and the challenges in operationalizing it in specific contexts. Some argue that it can be challenging to apply in practical terms or to specific cultural situations.

In summary, Homi Bhabha’s concept of the third space is a theoretical framework that explores the complexities and ambiguities of cultural interactions in postcolonial contexts, emphasizing the dynamic and fluid nature of identity formation.

What plays into culture? Subjectivity through the forces and structures of intersectionality. How the culture regards the sense in different ways.

ChatGPT:

“Affect” refers to the broad domain of subjective, emotional experiences and responses that individuals feel and express in response to stimuli or events. Affect encompasses a range of feelings, moods, and emotions that play a crucial role in shaping human experiences. Here are key components of affect:

1. Emotions: Emotions are specific, intense, and relatively short-lived responses to particular stimuli or situations. Examples of emotions include happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and surprise.
2. Moods: Moods are more general and enduring states of emotion that may not be tied to a specific event. Unlike emotions, moods are often less intense and can persist over a more extended period.
3. Feelings: Feelings are individual and subjective experiences of emotion. They are often more nuanced and can be influenced by personal experiences, beliefs, and cultural factors.
4. Affective States: Affective states refer to the overall emotional tone or quality of an individual’s experience at a particular moment. This includes both emotions and moods.
5. Affect in Psychology: In psychology, the study of affect involves understanding how emotions, moods, and feelings influence behavior, cognition, and overall well-being. Researchers explore the physiological, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of affect.
6. Affective Computing: Affect has also become relevant in the field of technology, particularly in the development of affective computing. This involves creating technology that can recognize, interpret, and respond to human emotions, enhancing human-computer interaction.

Understanding affect is crucial in various fields, including psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and education, as it plays a significant role in shaping human behavior, decision-making, social interactions, and overall mental health. Researchers and scholars use various methods, including surveys, physiological measurements, and behavioral observations, to study affect and its impact on individuals and societies.

Affect is when you going beyond the verbal and the non verbal – extra verbal beyond the verbal – intonation / gesture is the same but the “tone” is different. That is where you are actually affected and can be sensitive.

As a consequence of Black Lives Matter, we are seeing the artists of different classes engage in ways that take social issues and exploit them. Artists make systemic issues looks sexy. Idea of you might collect a sculpture thats very perverse and its commodified. Therefore the collision of contemporary arts with the idea political art that are produced for consumption instead of being a catalyst for social change.