The aesthetics and affects of cuteness / edited by Joshua Paul Dale, Joyce Goggin, Julia Leyda, Anthony P. McIntyre, and Diane Negra.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Dale, Joshua Paul, editor.

Goggin, Joyce, 1959- editor.

Leyda, Julia, editor.

McIntyre, Anthony P., editor.

Negra, Diane, 1966- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Charm.

Childishness.

Animals--Miscellanea.

Animals.

Human-animal relationships.

Aesthetics, Modern--21st century.

Aesthetics, Modern.

Physical Description:

ix, 299 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2017.

Summary:

Cuteness is one of the most culturally pervasive aesthetics of the new millennium and its rapid social proliferation suggests that the affective responses it provokes find particular purchase in a contemporary era marked by intensive media saturation and spreading economic precarity. Rejecting superficial assessments that would deem the ever-expanding plethora of cute texts trivial. The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness directs serious scholarly attention from a variety of academic disciplines to this ubiquitous phenomenon. The sheer plasticity of this minor aesthetic is vividly on display in this collection which draws together analyses from around the world, examining cuteness's fundamental role in cultural expressions stemming from such diverse sources as military cultures, high-end contemporary art worlds, and animal shelters. Pushing beyond prevailing understandings that associate cuteness solely with childhood or which posit an interpolated parental bond as its primary affective attachment, the essays in this collection variously draw connections between cuteness and the social, political, economic, and technological conditions of the early twenty-first century and in doing so generate fresh understandings of the central role cuteness plays in the recalibration of contemporary subjectivities Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness / Joshua Paul Dale Dale, Joshua Paul, Joyce Goggin Goggin, Joyce, Julia Leyda Leyda, Julia, Anthony P. McIntyre McIntyre, Anthony P., Diane Negra Negra, Diane 1

2 The Appeal of the Cute Object: Desire, Domestication, and Agency / Joshua Paul Dale Dale, Joshua Paul 35

3 Cuteness and Control in Portal / Megan Arkenberg Arkenberg, Megan 56

4 "This Baby Sloth Will Inspire You to Keep Going": Capital, Labor, and the Affective Power of Cute Animal Videos / Allison Page Page, Allison 75

5 "I'll be Dancin'": American Soldiers, Cute You Tube Performances, and the Deployment of Soft Power in the War on Terror / Maria Pramaggiore Pramaggiore, Maria 95

6 Live Cuteness 24/7: Performing Boredom on Animal Live Streams / Katy Peplin Peplin, Katy 112

7 When Awe Turns to Awwvv ...: Jeff Koons's Balloon Dog and the Cute Sublime / Elizabeth Legge Legge, Elizabeth 130

8 Cute Twenty-First-Century Post-Fembots / Julia Leyda Leyda, Julia 151

9 Designing Affection: On the Curious Case of Machine Cuteness / Joel Gn Gn, Joel 175

10 Soft and Hard: Accessible Masculinity, Celebrity, and Post-Millennial Cuteness / Michael DeAngelis DeAngelis, Michael 194

11 Affective Marketing and the Kuteness of Kiddles / Joyce Goggin Goggin, Joyce 216

12 Kittens, Farms, and Wild Pandas: The Impact of Cuteness in Adult Gamble-Play Media / César Albarrán-Torres Albarrán-Torres, César 235

13 Under the Yolk of Consumption: Re-Envisioning the Cute as Consumable / Nadia de Vries Vries, Nadia de 253

14 Ted, Wilfred, and the Guy: Twenty-First-Century Masculinities, Raunch Culture, and the Affective Ambivalences of Cuteness / Anthony P. McIntyre McIntyre, Anthony P. 274.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138998759

1138998753

9781138998766

1138998761

OCLC:

958469540