Using affect theory for studying literature : Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar"

Abstract

This thesis examines how affect theory can be used for analysing literature on the example of Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar. The purpose of the thesis is to create a toolkit of affective themes and employ it on analysing The Bell Jar in order to show that affect theory might be a useful tool for analysing fiction as it potentially furthers our understanding of real-life affective problems. The toolkit is created by synthesising various scholarly accounts on affect theory. A secondary purpose of the thesis is to give an analytical overview of how affect has been theorised in the humanities and synthesise a definition of affect suitable for analysing literature.