The affective logic of race: A cultural psychological analysis of racial signifying practices

Abstract

In this article, we use the theoretical framework of affective logic to discuss the underlying cultural psychological aspects of racial signifying practices. We provide an analysis of the controversies around the music video “Vai Malandra,” by Brazilian pop singer Anitta, as a case study. Departing from the theoretical assumption that our primary relationship with the phenomenal world is affective (though culturally mediated), we argue that our personal trajectories and emotional reords provide our experiences with an affective dimension that both precedes and influences any logical assessment of reality and that makes our sense-making processes unique. Thus, we suggest that, in the arena of racial signifying practices, we must always look beyond the person’s ability to critically position themselves racially to consider the affective dimension of the relationship between the personal and the cultural as a fundamental element in the production of racial discourse.