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Experimentations in Pandemic Boredom

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Methodologies of Affective Experimentation

Abstract

The lockdowns and quarantines within the global COVID-19 pandemic have been associated with an epidemic boredom resulting from shrunken life-spheres. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has been framed as an experiment in both experiencing boredom and studying it. Starting with the pandemic moment of affective flatness, this chapter explores continuities, discontinuities and paradoxes in zeitgeist diagnoses of boredom in cultural inquiry. It addresses the argued specificity of boredom as a modern mood and form experience, asking what methodological choices have contributed to broad consensus on the issue. Moving from cultural theory to contextual circumstance and back again, the chapter asks what kinds of worlds boredom is seen to build as it is presented as a problem, a solution and a more ambiguously positioned rhythm of experience. Finally, by addressing ambiguity in studies of affect, it argues against dualistic divides drawn between that which paralyses (boredom) and that which animates (excitement) bodies, tending towards seemingly irreconcilable yet coexisting dynamics of feeling instead.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Susanna Paasonen

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  1. Susanna Paasonen
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Correspondence to Susanna Paasonen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Britta Timm Knudsen

  2. School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Mads Krogh

  3. School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Carsten Stage

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Paasonen, S. (2022). Experimentations in Pandemic Boredom. In: Timm Knudsen, B., Krogh, M., Stage, C. (eds) Methodologies of Affective Experimentation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96272-2_7

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