ABSTRACT
This chapter departs from the observation that the archival turn in trans studies has flourished because of the intense affects that cluster in and around historical figures raising questions of affective justice. Archival activations of media objects require our attention in order to combat the pervasive sense of cultural amnesia (e.g. trans kids are new! Or, trans women of color have it bad now!). Their study can provide historical depth to today’s media fascination with trans* lives, yet also bring ethical quandaries about raising the dead. I am interested in the role played by an experimental documentary in recasting canonized historical figures and reconfiguring the affects that have encrusted on them. Media objects are a rich domain for activating an ephemeral archive of transgender feeling, for instance, Happy Birthday, Marsha! (2018) goes after the “feels like” truth of the situation, a birthday mishap or an encounter with a cop, as historically there is little to go on. In the broader field of affect studies, my offering is that the aesthetically presented evidence of affect is a means for proofing and producing arguments that refute those that seek to erase trans* lives, and their affective afterlives.
