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The Myth and History of Romantic Love : The Modernity of Social Emotions and Its Critical Genealogy

  • Cross-Cultural Studies
  • 2021, 62(), pp.365-392
  • DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2021.62..365
  • Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Literature
  • Received : February 10, 2021
  • Accepted : March 15, 2021
  • Published : March 30, 2021

CHOI Jin Seok 1

1서울과학기술대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In general, love is often regarded as one of the many private emotions and experiences that an individual can have during their lifetime. However, on the contrary, it is a collective and public mentality that leads to the social institutions of marriage and family, as well as the formation of society itself. The structure of these feelings, which emerged around the 18th century, holds a psychological component that has made a decisive contribution to the construction of individual identity and the conception of social belonging in Modern society. Throughout Modern cultural history, however, love has continued to be portrayed as a very private and intimate experience, with the idea of “Romantic Love,” still quite common even in this present moment. Accordingly, love is an exchange of sincerity between heterosexual couples, institutionalized through marriage and completed by childbirth. The so-called, “Myth of Romantic Love,” is an effective dispositif introduced by modern civil society in order to build a mechanism for reproduction, and its influence is gradually being lost in the Post-Modern era of the 21st century. By analyzing the conventional notion of Romantic Love, this article examines how marriage, family, and childbirth were related to the launch and continuation of Modern civil society, and looks at the future prospects of this social convention.

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