Description
Book SynopsisArgues that a crisis in the meaning and experience of marriage emerged when it lost its institutional function of controlling the distribution of property, and instead came to be seen as a locus for feelings of desire, togetherness, and loss. This title presents the history of marriage and romance.
Trade ReviewA cultural study of love and marriage in fiction and film rather than a history of recent marriage,
Modern Love illuminates the complexities of an important recent development in American marital ideals. * The Journal of American History *
A wide-ranging and beautifully dialectical analysis of the modern discourses on love and intimacy. David Shumway overturns some of the usual assumptions about romantic love and, in the process makes original, often surprising observations about literature, movies, pop music, self-help books, and a variety of other texts. Modern Love is a pleasure to read, and it contributes significantly to our understanding of modernity. -- James Naremore,Indiana University
An extremely valuable contribution to the history of that supposedly timeless ideal, the intimate relationship. -- Elizabeth Freeman,author of The Wedding Complex
Fascinating and timely. * Intams Review *
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: A Brief History of Love I Romance 1 Romance in the Romance and the Novel 2 Romancing Marriage: Advice Books and the Crisis 3 Marriage as Adultery: Hollywood Romance and the Screwball Comedy 4 Power Struggles: Casablanca and Gone with the Wind II Intimacy 5 Talking Cures: The Discourse of Intimacy 6 Relationship Stories 7 Marriage Fiction Conclusion: Other Media, Other Discourses: The Crisis Continues Notes Index About the Author
