1. APA Media Tues., Feb. 24, 2015 “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” -William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun (1950)

2. “Structures of Feeling” Term coined by Raymond Williams (one of the founders of Cultural Studies) Describes what emotions, affects, thoughts, experiences, words, etc., are available in a (sub)culture, generation, or place, at a particular moment in time. Ex. Feeling “American” vs. “North American”

3. Conditions  structure of feeling  manifestation in culture & politics Conditions: Chinese migration into California + preconceived notions about race Leads to a structure of feeling: “Yellow Peril” / Asian Invasion Manifests in culture (cartoons, novels, poems, songs) and politics (killing Chinese people, enacting laws to keep them out, etc.)

4. How are they produced & sustained? This leads to new conditions: Chinese women banned from entering U.S. so Chinese men don’t start families. Chinese men look elsewhere, including to white women, for companionship. Leads to a structure of feeling: Chinese men are evil rapists, will drug your [white] daughters and force them into “white slavery” (code word for prostitution) Manifests in: culture (cartoons, novels, poems, songs) and politics (killing the Chinese, enacting laws to keep them out, etc.)

5. Basically: …people don’t do things because they are good or evil, or simply because they randomly choose to. “Structures of feeling” play a big role in what kinds of actions, thoughts, etc. are available in a culture. Structures of feeling like “Yellow Peril” show us what spaces are “allowed” to be white or Asian or black or whatever (schools, workplaces, prisons, factories, nail salons, Hollywood?).

6. “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” -William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun (1950)