Affective (mis)encounters in "The Doll´s House" (A discussion of Katherine Mansfield´s short story)

Abstract

Katherine mansfield's "The doll's house" (2000) constitutes the object of the present discussion, which aims at tracing the relations among the characters, focusing on their affective actions-both those linked to negative affects (coldness, arrogance, violence, cruelty) and those related to positive affects (gentleness, sharing, understanding, tolerance, sensibility). my hypothesis is that the most substantial meanings of the short story derive from (mis)affective encounters-on the one hand, exclusion, prejudice, humiliation and cruelty; on the other, complicity, respect, acceptance and inclusion. my analysis will be supported with literary theoretical principles and with social theory discussions on the "affective turn", so as to argue that this narrative dramatizes new possibilities of perception and action.