Abstract
Based on a close reading of The Female Complaint, this article details the larger theoretical and political stakes of Lauren Berlant's inquiry into the appeal of “the normal” as set forth in the genre of the sentimental. The article analyzes Berlant's complex account of how the sentimental works for its female audience and, by focusing on two of the key concepts she uses, “the nearly utopian” and “the not-something,” explores why Berlant places process, ceaseless movement, and change at the heart of her argument. The article argues that Berlant seeks to imagine a non-reified, dynamic, open-ended orientation to the world; one that would build on theoretical knowledge to intervene politically in the ordinary of daily living.
Notes
1. Lauren Berlant, “The Compulsion to Repeat Femininity,” in Giving Ground: The Politics of Propinquity, ed. Joan Copjec and Michael Sorkin (New York: Verso Press, 1999), 224.
2. Lauren Berlant, The Female Complaint: The Unfinished Business of Sentimentality in American Culture (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008), x. This is Berlant's description of the project of her three books, The Anatomy of National Fantasy: Hawthorne, Utopia, and Everyday Life (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991); The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997); and The Female Complaint.
3. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 5–13.
4. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, ix.
5. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 6.
6. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 10.
7. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 5.
8. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 266.
9. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 4.
10. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 207.
11. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 5.
12. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 169.
13. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 35.
14. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 255.
15. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 167.
16. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 269.
17. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 25.
18. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 292.
19. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 255.
20. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 261.
21. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 24.
22. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 266, my emphasis.
23. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 213.
24. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 272.
25. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 259.
26. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 261.
27. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 273.
28. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 262, my emphasis.
29. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 268.
30. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 272.
31. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 213.
32. Although she elaborates on the concept of the “intimate public” throughout her book, Berlant introduces it and situates it with respect to other discussions of the public sphere as well as counterpublics. See The Female Complaint, 268.