States of Sentiment: The Cultural Politics of Emotions

States of Sentiment, a fascinating merger of cultural studies with philosophy, psychology and trauma studies, analyses how sentiments of care, passion, desire, pleasure, fear, sympathy or pity are discursively commodified (made a commodity) in the mass media, films, reportage and the other public culture forms. It demonstrates that cultures today are becoming emotion-driven, and that there are crucial social dimensions to our responses to various situations, events and representations. Organised around four sentiments well-being, suffering, aversion and hope and analysing contemporary cultural events and icons, the book unravels the representational strategies, cultural codes and discourses that inform, and even determine the appropriateness or inappropriateness of our emotional responses.