Feeling the archives: Domestic queer space and the vitality affects

This essay is concerned with the archived correspondence between two gay men, Jack Strouss and Bill Wilson, in Atlanta, Georgia (southeastern U.S.) in the 1950s. Its focus is mostly on one letter that describes a social triad in a domestic space and the author’s enthusiasm about it. The attunement of vitality affects creates a sense of belonging for Bill, and this particular domestic space enables a present moment of queer intersubjectivity. Archival practices are informed by such moments, and, in fact, practice might aim at affect attunement across spheres of human activity. If the past holds untapped potential for the present, our practices might seek to dwell on some of these past moments. This is the work of the everyday, low-level affects, and weak theory.