Knowingly or unwittingly, the politics of emotion, or as literary theorist Sianne Ngai calls it, we are in a decidedly dark moment in history. ugly feelings, has become tremendously popular and degenerately seductive. Indeed, we have become overwhelmed by the age of Nietzscheian antipathy. This is a strangely poignant intimate politics of feelings and emotions unparalleled in the history of our civilization.
This pervades every corner of our most intimate spaces, not just the workplace, where even the slightest difference of opinion or slightly wrong political views can lead to mob lynchings of estrangement, isolation, and isolation. Fueling angry politics. ).
With Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it’s easier to embrace socially regressive emotions like fear, revenge, and distrust. In this virtual emoji world, a multitude of pathologically unstable, clinically problematic, and faceless ultra-radical right-wing and left-wing psychiatrists with possible generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder I suffer from a clinical syndrome.
Like it or not, this is what psychologists call “a dark triad of personalities: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy,” the root of all the evil we encounter in life and love. Are you still surprised when love turns sour and your lover chops you up? Unsurprisingly, this post-apocalyptic politics of sentiment, which is by definition ethnophobic and eco-destructive, is psychologically and politically doomed to It exploits us and makes us vulnerable to manipulation, especially by demagogues. At the Kala Gouda Lit Fest in Mumbai, my co-panelist and filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee stunned the audience when he said, “The world is now divided into those who hate it and those who don’t.” I can imagine why now.
We are therefore at the mercy of irrational and spiteful emotions that affect our moral, spiritual and political well-being. Fueled by post-truth rants, conspiracy theories, memes and internet trolls, the politics of emotion is also in the ultra-addictive “chills and thrills” of New Age euphoria that blurs the line between utopia and dystopia. With frustration from rising levels of unemployment, divorce and depression, and boredom arising from the narcissistic survival cubicles of wealth, the politics of emotions have a devastating effect on liberal democracies.
If you look over the shoulders of liberal democracies, you can see that they are slowly devouring themselves and creating the conditions for authoritarian rule. That is why fanatics in the liberal or non-liberal camp resemble each other. All that matters is their shared “disgust for personal misfortune” who cannot manage their hurt and hatred.In the words of poet Frank O’Hara, “Hurt and hate are two sides of the same coin, but don’t be afraid of hate. It’s just there.” In this vicious climate, there are no friends or foes— Only anonymous “madmans” — multicellular life forms (real or imaginary) homo sapiens). Emotions here are not necessarily “relational acts between people” as defined by Dutch social psychologist Bacha Mesquita. I know what you’re feeling right now Oh, how difficult it is to say that feelings are not universal. If they are culture-specific, person-centered, and outward illusions, why should we worry about them?
If you look over the shoulders of liberal democracies, you can see that they are slowly devouring themselves and creating the conditions for authoritarian rule.
Let go of the idea of living the “unparalleled risks of a shared existence,” as assessed by radical feminist critic Vivian Gornick. In other words, people are no longer bound together by sublime primal feelings such as love, sympathy and solidarity. From the flight attendants to her office colleagues, everyone smiles, but behind those smiles hides a lot of envy, irritation, resentment and animosity. Mocking the conventional distinction between Tocqueville’s “mind habits” and Freud’s “simulated terrors”, we are all aware of this paranormal phenomenon that sends false happiness virtue signals with facial prostheses. And face masks aren’t harmless. Not only is it protective, but it can be dangerous and self-alienating.
This New Age of Anxiety, or What Cultural Theorist Lauren Berland Has Called cruel optimismeveryone seems to constantly struggle to manage a wide range of socially scripted combinations of primary emotions such as love, fun, anger, fear, shame and disgust.Modern Casino Capitalism As a result of this emotional shift in .
Morally and philosophically embarrassing as it may seem, it is not surprising that the widely acclaimed sociologist of emotion, Early Russell Hochschild, sarcastically claims that: Thus, not only have the politics of hostility, anger, and jealousy polluted our existential politics, but they have also eroded our social lives, weakened our privacy, and weakened our civic cohesion in a way that undermines our dreams and fantasies. Believe it or not, it also affects our instincts and emotions, evokes life, expresses emotions, and is like selfless love. (agape) or friendship (Kalyana Mitta) in a personal and social context.
Amidst the growing political gains of the “fantastic extreme,” this era of scandalous and ethically false resentment and dissatisfaction has forced our identities (reality) into our tyrannical quest for superiority over others. or fictional) and changed moral paradigms as well.
In fact, we’ve actually invented a captivating form of enjoying deep psychological horror and confusion. This is how 456 desperately poor and hopelessly disillusioned people enter a classic children’s game with deadly stakes for a chance at a life-changing winner to win all the cash. It’s a dark social satire about politics that’s horrifyingly appealing in its emotions. award.
The emotional stakes are high and the corpse numbers are high in this macabre parade of human suffering.something that separates squid game from hunger game or a similar show where the player squid game It has a false sense of agency and a false emotional fulfillment. So the mastermind is at the end of the show at the end of a life where he finds himself very wealthy and in the mental limbo of boredom, or what Tolstoy calls “lust for lust.” make it clear. In the words of psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, “A state of suspended animation in which things begin and nothing begins.” Even though he had everything he wanted, he could not be happy enough in this idyllic state of restlessness. As such, he creates lethal games for the emotional and cognitive pleasure of “Entertainment and Recreation” to fill his life with the joys of traditional children’s games.
In other words, squid game Celebrates the politics of despair and envy with the clinical execution of such violent emotional flair that cruelty becomes an amusingly sadistic way to “eternal purgatory.” , in the midst of growing competitive animosity, “a public feeling rooted in love, a strong attachment to things beyond our control, promotes commitment to shared goals, disgust and envy.” Keep the power at bay, in the words of philosopher Martha Nussbaum.
As Sage Atori Rig Veda We need love (erotic and spiritual). Because without it, the world lacks emotional and physical luster. And love is what gives humanity its authenticity and enables us to enjoy the bounty of paradise. And it’s not impossible. Gandhi and Tagore reconstructed the categories of the home and the world, the private and the public, and the emotional register as a universal humanist allegory of love for the community and the individual. Can the politics of love and compassion save us?
(This appeared in print as “Purgatory or Paradise?”)
(Expressions are personal)
Ashwani Kumar is a poet and professor at TISS, Mumbai.