ABSTRACT
In this article, I will draw on the case of 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in Florida that caused the deaths of 17 students and staff members and the injury of 15 persons on February 14, 2018. Through the analysis of two of Emma González’ speeches, I will analyze how her particular endangered body transformed into a political leadership of the anti-gun movement March for Our Lives. My analysis focuses on the symbolic breakdown and affective outbursts out of language in language that are capable of electrifying and attuning audiences politically. By reinvigorating a largely forgotten archive of affect – the works of linguist and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva – my aim is to contribute to a methodological toolbox capable of reading affect in language. Investigating rhythm, tone, and gestures in language, it is possible to detect paraverbal, nonverbal, and performative elements in language below the sign and thus contributing to a better understanding of political mobilization.
