Narrative Affect, The End of Public Opinion

Narrative Affect: The End of Public Opinion develops a theoretical framework for understanding contemporary mass media as an affective system rather than an informational or persuasive one. The book argues that public opinion has been structurally displaced by narrative affect as the primary mechanism through which media coordinates attention, emotion, identity, and participation. Extending the analysis introduced in The Media Scenario: Scriptwriting for Journalists (2026), the book conceptualises media power as the design of affective environments—story-worlds that position individuals as participants before reflection, deliberation, or belief formation occurs. Narrative affect operates pre-cognitively, organising bodily intensity, mood, and emotional orientation in advance of judgement. The book integrates insights from affect theory, media studies, political communication, and narrative analysis to explain why factual correction fails, why polarisation persists, and why influence increasingly bypasses rational debate. It proposes that selective exposure, outrage cycles, and immersion are not cognitive distortions but affective strategies that stabilise identity and narrative coherence. By reframing journalism and political communication as forms of affective design, Narrative Affect challenges established models of propaganda, persuasion, and public opinion. It offers a diagnostic account of contemporary media power and provides conceptual tools for analysing how truth, legitimacy, and social reality are reorganised through feeling rather than belief.