Threats of the Rural: Writing and Designing with Affect

Abstract

Drawing from the author's background and fieldwork in the rural West and Midwest, this chapter presents findings that are, at times, evasive and ambiguous. Stylistically, the writing foregrounds the unnamed and subliminal intensities that circulate in and out of the rural and onto the body. These rural affects give rise to our emotions shaped by social culture. This chapter is a provocation toward writing ethnographically inspired work in human--computer interaction (HCI). I suggest that the hallmarks of HCI research---deep analysis and clarity of argument---may unduly simplify the complexity of the rural, particularly its inhabitants. This chapter presents an alternative to normative modes of writing HCI, inviting multiple readings, interpretations, affects, and, indeed, ``designs'' from readers.