Infected/affected: Theorizing affective contagion with Deleuze

Abstract

Abstract Building on Deleuze’s materialist philosophical lineage, the article will seek to excavate different accounts of virality of affect. By focusing on the affective flows that are involuntarily transmitted between encountering bodies, thus breaking down their boundaries and compromising their supposed unity, our analysis will examine a variety of contagious affects ranging from compassion to paranoia. In addition to theorizing their contagious nature, these affective states will be considered from the perspective of Deleuzian ethics and politics.