Description
Matthew C. Watson considers the life and work of artist and Mayanist scholar Linda Schele (1942–1998) as an entry point to discuss the nature of cultural inquiry, decipherment in anthropology, and the social conditions of knowledge production.
“Afterlives of Affect is a remarkable and highly original work that pushes the boundaries of scholarly writing in creative and challenging ways. It speaks to science studies, the history of anthropology and anthropological theorizations of meaning, new materialist scholarship, the posthumanities, and the renewed interest in experimental anthropological writing. A work of outstanding importance, this book is an eminently accessible and hugely enjoyable read.”
“In this riveting and meticulously researched hybrid work of scholarship and shamanism, Matthew C. Watson raises the dead and conjures the spirits who animated a world upon whose edge I was raised, but never really knew or understood. With mind-bending intelligence, exuberance, and heart, Afterlives of Affect brings back to life the ancient power of Palenque and the passionate intellectual energy of the scholars and amateurs who fell under its spell. I have never read, or even imagined, anything quite like it.”
Matthew C. Watson is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Mount Holyoke College.