Affect and the Response of Animals

In this paper, I explore the concept of affect based on Deleuze’s definition of affect as a new ‘mode of thought’ and examine its role in encounters with animals. To do so, I investigate the concepts of affect from Spinoza to Deleuze and Massumi, who are central figures in the prevailing theories of affect, and explore the possibilities that this concept opens up in encounters between animals and humans. The issue of animals is, without exaggeration, a problem of separation, as the long-established ‘separation between humans and animals’ continues to perpetuate the problem. In essence, the problem of separation is a problem of encounter. The history of separation between animals and humans raises the question of how they encounter each other, encompassing both the physical space-time of encounter and the manner of their encounter. ‘Affect’ is, therefore, the necessary mode of thought when attempting to discuss encounters that transcend the separation of animals and humans. For a long time, and still today, animals could not be seriously considered as a subject of ‘thought.’ Affective approaches to animals suggest the possibility of transcending our preconceived notions. This possibility will be explored through the scenes and actions of encounters with animals in Derrida and Haraway’s works, as well as their inquiry into the responses and responsibilities of animals and humans.