Who's Afraid.pdf (591.18 kB)
Who’s afraid of birth? Exploring mundane and existential affects with Heidegger
While certain levels of fear and anxiety seem quite appropriate to the experience of birth, it is detrimental if they become overwhelming. This article strives to understand birth-related affects more thoroughly by asking which affects are commonly involved, and how they come about. Martin Heidegger provides the most developed phenomenology of affects available to us. A phenomenological perspective proves useful because its close description allows categorising affects into mundane ones like fears (evoked by specific entities and circumstances) and existential ones like anxiety. Anxiety concerns our existence in its entirety and brings us face to face with the fact that we are finite beings in a groundless existence. Giving birth means needing to negotiate existential affects in a mundane situation. The birth-giving woman is dependent on others to take her seriously in her experience of affective turmoil in which anxiety and wonder, fears and anticipatory anxiousness come together.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Janus HeadISSN
1524-2269Publisher
Trivium PublicationsPublisher URL
Issue
1Volume
16Department affiliated with
- Philosophy Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Centre for Literature and Philosophy Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2016-11-09First Open Access (FOA) Date
2017-10-10First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-11-09Usage metrics
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