The Promise of Happiness
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.66 (860 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0822347253 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 328 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-07-17 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
It asks what follows when we make our desires and even our own happiness conditional on the happiness of others: “I just want you to be happy”; “I’m happy if you’re happy.” Combining philosophy and feminist cultural studies, Sara Ahmed reveals the affective and moral work performed by the “happiness duty,” the expectation that we will be made happy by taking part in that which is deemed good, and that by being happy ourselves, we will make others happy. Dalloway, The Well of Loneliness, Bend It Like Beckham, and Children of Men, Ahmed considers the plight of the figures who challenge and are challenged by the attribution of happiness to particular objects or social ideals: the feminist killjoy, the unhappy queer, the angry black woman, and the melancholic migrant. Reading novels and films including Mrs. Through her readings
"Five Stars" according to SI. Was purchased as a gift and was as expected.. excellent An unsettling but also surprisingly comforting book about how happiness is used as a disciplinary strategy in modern western society. Ahmed writes beautifully and incorporates literary and film analysis into her cultural critique seamlessly. I often skip long sections of textual analysis if I haven't read/seen the work being critique. Wonderful critique of the "promise" of happiness Kelly Baker Excellent book for anyone interested in affect theory! Ahmed offers a genealogy of happiness that interrogates the common injunction to "be happy."
Ahmed’s analysis of this and other topics is unpredictable and engaging.” - Heather Seggel, The Gay & Lesbian Review. “Ahmed’s analyses are spot-on and provocative