By Ismail Hadj-Maamar 33738244

Week 2: Post Cinematic Affect and Sensation/Audiovisual Video Essays

Cinema today isn’t just about what we see; it’s about what we feel. Steven Shaviro’s concept of post-cinematic affect explores how digital technologies have transformed audiovisual media into something that impacts us viscerally, operating beyond traditional narrative or emotional frameworks. Beyoncé’s Lemonade (2016), a visual album, is a stunning example of this shift, using experimental aesthetics to provoke a sensory, almost embodied experience.

Shaviro draws a distinction between “emotion” and “affect,” with emotion being identifiable and narrative-driven, while affect operates on a pre-conscious, immediate level. Lemonade thrives in this space. Its fractured, nonlinear structure—moving between anger, grief, and empowerment—reflects a subjective sensibility shaped by digital media. The rapid editing and layered visuals, like the juxtaposition of antebellum aesthetics with modern Black culture, reject traditional cinematic coherence in favor of raw, affective immersion. It’s less about what the story is and more about how it feels.

Catherine Grant’s exploration of the audiovisual essay as performative research adds another layer of understanding. She notes that these works are “less about explaining than evoking.” Lemonade acts as a post-cinematic essay of its own, using its audiovisual elements—spoken word poetry, dreamlike sequences, and emotive soundscapes—to create a sensation of intimacy and cultural commentary. It’s performative research into Black womanhood, love, and survival, delivered through form as much as content.

Francesco Casetti’s concept of “relocation” also resonates here. He argues that cinema has shifted into new spaces, and Lemonade exemplifies this, living on streaming platforms and thriving through social media discourse. Its aesthetic power isn’t confined to the screen; it’s felt in the way it reverberates culturally, igniting conversations and redefining what cinematic art can be.

Ultimately, Lemonade embodies the post-cinematic by dissolving the boundaries between emotion and sensation, art and activism. It’s cinema that doesn’t just tell a story—it makes you feel its pulse.

Bibliography:

Casetti, F. (2015) The Lumiere Galaxy: Seven Keywords for the Cinema to Come. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Grant, C. (2016) ‘The Audiovisual Film Essay as Performative Research’, Necsus Journal, Autumn. Available at: https://necsus-ejms.org/the-audiovisual-essay-as-performative-research/ (Accessed: 27 November 2024).

Shaviro, S. (2010) ‘Post-Cinematic Affect: On Grace Jones, Boarding Gate and Southland Tales’, Film Philosophy, 14(1), pp. 92-111. Available at: https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/fps.2010.0006 (Accessed: 27 November 2024).