自上世紀九十年代以來,"情動"理論盛行于西方人文學術界,在批評理論中形成了"情動轉向"的范式轉型趨勢。這種范式以情感為理論焦點,側重于研究情緒歷史的復雜敘述,從而超越了基于修辭學和符號學的研究范式。"情動"概念源于斯賓諾莎,經由德勒茲而發展成為有關主體性生成的重要理論。在這種哲學背景下,情動理論演化出兩條理論路徑,一條是由馬蘇米繼承的斯賓諾莎到德勒茲的本體論路徑,另一條是塞奇維克開啟的情動理論的女性主義路徑。在女性主義理論中,由于"情動"概念的引入,酷兒理論和相關的女性主義研究發生轉型,尤其致力于探索欲望和感覺的變革潛能和烏托邦愿景。"情動"概念作為知識/話語,已經蔓延于當前人文社會科學的各個領域,尤其深刻地作用于文化政治領域的表意實踐。在這種理論挪用中,它已成為揭示情感之政治性的有效理論工具,表達出將情感的本體論承諾加以理論化的強烈訴求。

Affect theory emerged in the late twentieth century as a theoretical trend in the study of "affective turn"in Western humanities. Affect theory,focused on the complex narratives of affect history,is an alternative paradigm to the one which is based on the rhetoric and semiotics in the 1990 s. Research on affect theory began as Spinoza,and Deleuze developed it into an important concept of subjectivity generation. In this philosophical context,the theory of affect evolved along two theoretical paths.The ontological path from Spinoza to Deleuze continued with Masumi. The other path,which was the feminist path,was initiated by Sedgwick. Queer theory,and related feminist studies transformed with the introduction of the concept of affect. The change finds most obvious expressions in explorations of the transformative and utopian potential of desire and feeling. As knowledge/discourse,"affect"is ubiquitous in humanities and social sciences. With a strong claim to theorize the ontological commitment of affect,it is grasped as an effective theoretical tool for studying the political nature of affect,especially in the signifying practice of cultural politics.