Between meaning and mattering: on affect and porn studies

Abstract

Affect has recently become something of an academic buzzword and a ‘turn to affect’ has been posed as an alternative to the investigations of meaning, representation and identity that have dominated media studies for the past decades. This article explores the implications, motivations and possibilities of such a turn within the framework of porn studies. It asks what may be gained from accounting for affect in studies of pornography, what limitations such investigations may have and how all this may contribute to our understanding of the fleshy appeal and power of pornography.

Keywords:

• pornography
• affect
• representation