Affective Intensity and Children’s Embodiment

Abstract

This chapter establishes the theoretical framework, using Brian Massumi’s theory of affect to elaborate the differences between emotions and affect. This chapter also reviews some of the media studies literature on children to show how my argument is both indebted to and departs from this scholarship. It argues for attending to children’s physiological differences from adults, while at the same time not positing an essentialized category of children.