Narratives Of Love Research Articles

Interwoven Threads: Sympathetic Knowledge in George Eliot and Spinoza

Before achieving success as a novelist, George Eliot spent several years translating Spinoza’s Ethics. Previous scholarship on Spinoza and Eliot has generally assumed that Eliot’s novels are wholly influenced by Spinoza, or that they can even be read as ‘translations’ of Spinoza. In this article, I instead argue that Eliot’s shift from Spinoza translation to novel-writing reflects an initial repudiation of, followed by a contention with, unresolved problems in Spinoza’s social philosophy as regards the role of sympathy, fellow-feeling, and the knowledge of others as distinct and different beings. I also explore how Eliot’s own views develop between the early novel Adam Bede and the later Middlemarch to argue against a reading of ‘sympathy’ in Eliot as something wholly consistent or uniform. Her efforts to fashion a post-Spinozan art of sympathy in Adam Bede, in which a morality of fellow-feeling is emphasised and explored in narratives of love and self-renunciation, resulted in internal problems concerning the reliability of the imagination and the power of societal relations to condition how this fellow-feeling is experienced. The later Eliot draws on a conceptual imagery of ‘threads’ of relationality and a ‘fabric’ of opinion in Middlemarch to emphasise the integration of thinking and feeling, and the role of beneficent action, in a manner consistent with aspects of Spinoza’s social philosophy. I show that Eliot here makes useful progress through and beyond lacunae in the Ethics, contributing to a wider set of debates about sympathy, difference, ethics, and epiphanies through the concept of sympathetic knowledge.

Research on the Changing Perspectives on Romantic Love among Chinese International Students at the University of Toronto

Abstract: In the era of globalization, many Chinese students study abroad. As a University of Toronto student, the author is interested in the romantic love narratives of Chinese international students. These students are more confident in expressing emotions and have different views on marriage compared to their parents, leading to a sense of contradiction. By applying an individualist perspective, this research carefully studies the love narratives of Chinese international students at the University of Toronto. The interview in this study carefully curated questions about discussing a conflict in romantic relationships, disclosing the core perspectives towards romantic relationships between couples. This paper adopts the individualism approach by which the author can further explore the micro perspective. The study shows that Chinese international students pursuit of happiness in romantic relationships is not an isolated endeavor but is deeply entwined with broader social and cultural contexts, requiring a delicate balance between individual fulfillment and collective harmony. This research illuminate the complex interplay between individual agency and societal norms in shaping perceptions of love, offering valuable insights for future research aimed at unraveling the multifaceted dimensions of romantic relationships across cultural contexts.

“Those feminists haven't come to us, they don't know our reality”: Indian sex workers' narratives of love and power

“Those feminists haven't come to us, they don't know our reality”: Indian sex workers' narratives of love and power

The production of girls’ love narrative in Couple of Mirrors (2021) through transmedia storytelling in contemporary China

ABSTRACT There has been a relative dearth of scholarly discussions surrounding the production of girls’ love (GL) narratives in mainland China since the 2010s. This article offers an illustrative case study of a successful GL multimedia storyworld, Couple of Mirrors (CM), which unfolds across a webtoon, a novel, and a web series. First, this article scrutinizes the multilevel state regulation on queer content creation in different media formats. Second, we draw on Henry Jenkins’ canonical conceptualisation of “transmedia storytelling” to delineate the ways that the production of CM differs from the mainstream BL transmedia stories. Through a textual and paratextual analysis of official producers’ and fans’ participation, we argue that CM’s transmedia storytelling creates explicit GL elements through negotiation between market preferences, heteropatriarchal ideologies, and governmental censorship. In doing so, we show that CM represents a successful non-heteronormative cultural commodity within the mainland Chinese media market.

Seeking Communal Emotions in Social Practices That Culturally Evolved to Evoke Emotions: Worship, Kitten Videos, Memorials, Narratives of Love, and More.

In many instances, emotions do not simply happen to people by chance; Often, people actively seek out an emotion by engaging in practices that have culturally evolved to evoke that emotion. Such practices tend to be perpetuated and spread if people want to experience the emotion, like to recall it and tell others about it, want to give the emotion to others and experience it together, and/or regard the emotion as a sign of something wonderful. We illustrate this with a newly delineated emotion, kama muta. Many social practices around the world are structured to evoke kama muta. In those culturally evolved practices, and outside them, what typically evokes kama muta is a sudden intensification of communal sharing, or a sudden shift of attention to a communal sharing relationship. It seems probable that other social-relational emotions are also evoked by sudden changes in relationships or the sudden salience of a relationship. This change or saliencing may be incorporated in social practices that are perpetuated because they evoke the sought-after emotion. We suggest that such practices, as well as sudden changes in relationships that occur elsewhere, are especially promising places to discover social-relational emotions.

Family Romance Narratives of the April 19 Revolution shown in Love Narratives

Family Romance Narratives of the April 19 Revolution shown in Love Narratives

The Canvas of Love Under the Light of Technology: An Analysis of Photography, Music and Narrative Techniques of Love Themes in Edward Yang’s Films

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the expression of love themes in Edward Yang’s films, especially through the use of photography, music and narrative techniques, and explores how these elements work together to construct a unique love narrative. Through case analysis of works such as The Murder of the Boys on Kuling Street, Yi Yi and Love in the Wind, this article reveals how Edward Yang used film technology to deepen emotional expression and theme exploration, thus leaving a mark in the history of Taiwanese films. An indelible mark.

We Won’t be Able to Change How We Fight Without Changing How We Love

This article draws from and elaborates on some ideas conveyed in my book, <i>Why Men Hurt Women and Other Reflections on Love, Violence and Masculinity</i> (2022), to reflect on the relationship between love and violence. It contends that as a society we will not be able to change how we fight or oppose each other, at least we will find it more difficult to reduce the magnitude of men’s violence against women, without changing the dominant narrative of love. Although the reflection on the relation between violence and love applies to other kinds of aggression and intimacy, such as between men’s violence against and love for other men, the focus of this article is men’s violence against women they love. Love and violence, the article shows, are not necessarily and always incompatible but instead are sometimes nested in each other.

The Ageing Self through Dramaturgies of Memory Loss and Love: Tristan Bernays’ Old Fools and Nick Payne’s Elegy

This comparative study of Tristan Bernays’ Old Fools (2018) and Nick Payne’s Elegy (2016) concerns two contemporary plays in which love manifested in middle-age and older adulthood is a determinant factor in the reconceptualization of the ageing self, particularly when afflicted by memory loss or cognitive failure. Positioned within the framework of theatre and ageing studies, and drawing from their intersection with gender studies and disability theories, the study demonstrates that the narrative arc that both texts recreate is not free of overtones of decline. However, the manipulation of chronological time in both plays through different techniques, as well as the importance of their love story, one between a man and a woman in Old Fools, and the other between two women in Elegy, help disrupt the binary of young/old perpetuated by ageist cultures, and, ultimately, undermine rigid constructions of identity in old age. The article concludes that new theatrical representations of ageing that develop narratives of love not only enable richer debates on the construction of the self, but ultimately contribute to an all-inclusive stage and, with it, to an age-friendly society.

노희경 드라마 장애 여성 서사에 관한 연구

This article takes the female characters with disabilities in Noh Hee-Kyeong’s TV series as the research object, and uses Lacan’s mirror theory and aggression theory to analyze the characteristics of female characters with disabilities, the metaphor of disability as a power discourse, and the self-identity challenges and aggressive nature of female characters with disabilities' narratives. The research results are as follows: First, the women with disabilities characters in Noh Hee-Kyeong’s TV series all grew up in incomplete native families. Their personality formation is deeply influenced by their father or mother, and they have some kind of paranoia or defect. Secondly, ｗith the exception of those with Down syndrome, female characters with disabilities all have beautiful looks. The screenwriter chose visual impairments, hearing impairments and mental impairments that do not affect femininity, so that female characters with disabilities still have sexual appeal. Disability metaphors contain deep gendered power discourses. Thirdly, the love narratives of women with disabilities are intrusive in nature. Whether it is a physical disability or a mental disability, women with disabilities are not treated equally by men without disabilities. They are still tools to satisfy men's desire for conquest.

Interpretations of Sumbanese Ikat by Instagram Influencers

Ikat Sumba is considered a noble Indonesian traditional textile art because the process of making it is very long, and the motifs are very distinctive with local geographical indications. Influencers create various activities with Sumba cloth by posting feeds on Instagram social media. The impression of fashion affairs on Instagram attracts influencers, brand products, and Instagram users. This research analyses six digital influencers on Instagram as actors who engage with Ikat Sumba. Digital influencers with different backgrounds and characters certainly bring different points of view through pictures and captions on their Instagram accounts about these cultural artifacts. Instagram feeds and captions from Ikat Sumba influencers who produce texts, distribute, and respond will create different interpretations of Ikat Sumba. This research uses descriptive qualitative methods and was analysed in more depth using Norman Fairclough's discourse analysis and supported data by network analysis using ACNA. The findings in this research reveal that Ikat Sumba is a traditional Indonesian fabric art that is not only valuable but also represents love, clothing, and the local community in Indonesia. The interpretation to market the product should present the precious values of Sumbanese ikat as a noble craft that explores narratives of love, clothes, and people instead of showing specific physical details of the textile. Social media influencers influence the creation of interpretations of traditional works of art. This could be the future of Sumba Weaving related contents in Instagram with an informative and attractive appearance to increase the value of Sumba Weaving so that it is more widely known and influence marketing efforts. Keywords: Instagram’s influencer, Interpretation, Traditional Textile Art, Network Analysis, Sumbanese Ikat.

Video Gaming and Narratives of Love as a potential stance of cultural-political meaning in current societies: A study of It Takes Two, 2021

In 2021, arriving shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing it required, a creative co-op video game, It Takes Two, created by Swedish developer Hazelight Studios and published by American gaming giant Electronic Arts, gained huge popularity on a global scale, including unexpected success in the Chinese market. Although the game is not officially available in China, has no publishing license, and no official promotions, still half of its sales come from China. The game is based on a divorce-themed story, and by integrating cooperative gameplay mechanisms, it enables players to engage in constructing their own “narrative of love” that reflects and coincides with specific cultural indicators. Bringing the dynamics of marriage and divorce to the forefront, the game has generated enormous discussion in mainstream Chinese online platforms, and drew attention to political-cultural notions of what it means to be married and then to struggle and go through the (emotional, practical, and legal) divorce process. The aim of this article is to approach video games such as It Takes Two as a cultural form that should be understood as part of our politics as citizens and individuals in a broad sense, and as part of a wider and more complex connection we have with each other and with society (Street, 2007). Drawing on an analysis of the function of gameplay mechanics in relation to video game setting and structure, this study provides a discussion of the visual and narrative representations of an ostensibly “typical” universal love and divorce issue within the sociocultural context of a Western family, and examines how Chinese audiences make sense of such “lessons” and ideology, and how they work (or might not work) for them. It Takes Two raises awareness of and questions about how games can elicit emotional responses and deep reflection in real life for its players about the vicissitudes of marriage (and love relationships in general) and the culturally specific, at times legal, and broadly visual political implications of their successful or disastrous unfolding.

From amorous histories to sexual histories: rethinking male love narrative in Ming and Qing dynasties and the discourse on homosexuality in modern China

ABSTRACT “Amorous histories” represent an unofficial historical tradition that once served as a legitimate mechanism for narrating same-sex desire in Chinese culture. This tradition not only celebrated love (qing) but also explored obsession (pi) within the Chinese context. This article reexamines the erotic arts, including notes and erotic fictions, that constituted the narrative mechanism of amorous histories to rethink the intricate stance of both praise and critique towards male love during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The analysis reveals how these texts repeatedly employed a narrative tactic of combining enticement and moral suasion to represent male love. While legitimizing male love, these representations were simultaneously regulated by the moral norms of official histories. However, during the late Qing and early Republican era, the tradition of amorous histories began to wane and eventually gave way to the emergence of pathological narratives under the guise of “sexual histories” in modern China. Within the discourse of sexual histories, the tradition of praising qing and pi was substituted by Western-influenced “the science of sexuality,” which pathologized same-sex desire. This article traces the changes in the meaning of “pi,” which underwent a phase of non-pathologized development in Ming and Qing dynasties, before being pathologized by May 4th literati. Finally, this article analyses the impact of the replacement of amorous histories with pathologized sexual histories on the debates over homosexuality between Hu Qiuyuan and Yang Youtian in modern China. It shows how changes in historical narratives influenced early twentieth century perceptions of same-sex desire.

“It’s a Feeling That Makes You do Anything”: Youth’ Narratives of Love and Experiences of Victimization in Their Romantic Relationships

Youth narratives of love are shaped by romantic experiences through observation of others’ romantic relationships, and by media commonly conveying romantic beliefs. Since past reports have linked romantic beliefs to dating violence (DV), studies need to explore narratives of love by youth who report DV victimization experiences to identify specific targets to address in DV prevention programs. This qualitative study explored the narratives of love by heterosexual youth and documented specific features according to their DV victimization experiences. Directed content analysis guided the analyses of semi-structured interviews of 82 participants aged 15 to 24 years ( M = 19.4; SD = 2.1). Most participants were cisgender females (75.6%) born in Canada to Canadian-born parents (54.6%). Four polarized narratives of love emerged: (1) Growing love versus love at first sight, (2) Completive versus fusional love, (3) Lucid versus triumphant love, and (4) Ongoing versus eternal love. Both participants who reported experiencing DV victimization, and those who did not, expressed non-romantic and romantic beliefs, although they used different wording to convey similar beliefs in their narratives. These findings underscore the importance of challenging the dominant romantic beliefs that may place youth at risk of experiencing DV and therefore contribute to DV prevention.

해방기 사랑의 서사와 징후적 읽기

This paper aims to examine the psychological conflicts and problems of self-identification that occurred when writers outside the community attributed to the community, focusing on Park Young-joon's novels in liberation period, from the perspective of the narrative of love. In the literature of Park Young-joon, the issue of his track record in Manchuria and his transfer is important. This has been mainly discussed from the perspective of the author's 'self-identification'. However, compared to other writers at the same time, Park did not reveal his past actively or express his beliefs persuasively. Rather, it can be seen that he expressed his longing for recognition through the the narrative of love by passive characters. Park Young-joon's works during the liberation period show a significant change in trend from the establishment of the separate government. Prior to the establishment, many works deal with the question of how to liquidate the past and live a new life. In addition, the characters attempted to seek a positive outlook by dealing with the subject of recognition, development, and inclusion through love. In addition, many works have narrated their experiences in Manchuria. In the world of his works, if colonial works are centered on the story of breaking wishes and fantasies in Manchuria, post-liberation works tend to cover up the past and protect himself. However, after the establishment of the separate government, in the world of Park Young-jun's works, “love” is reserved, and there is a characteristic that no positive future is sought or progress is made. Rather, it is depicted as the main theme of the separation and disconnection of characters who want to love. Park Young-jun's works in liberation period have something in common that most of them are based on a longing for recognition. While the narrative of Manchuria are works that seek to strengthen the rights and solidarity among members of the community by differentiating the world outside the Korea, love narratives have something in common that all the characters surrounding love are based on a longing for recognition. These characteristics appear in his works as detailed changes in political and historical reality after liberation.

차현숙 소설에 나타난 사랑의 서사와 여성 문제의 극복

차현숙 소설에 나타난 사랑의 서사와 여성 문제의 극복

Personality and Mating Orientations in Monogamy and Consensual Non-Monogamy in Young Spanish University Students.

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is a non-normative relationship that can generally be defined as relationships in which the involved individuals have openly agreed that they can have other sexual and/or affective partners. Despite growing interest in CNM, little research has been conducted regarding characteristics of the involved individuals, as well as comparing CNM individuals and monogamous individuals' characteristics. Expanding this research is important, as CNM constitutes a sizeable minority group, and CNM individuals and relationships are subject to stigma and dehumanization. The present study compared CNM and monogamous individuals in terms of personality (including "dark" personality) and mating orientations (sociosexuality and long-term mating) in young Spanish university students. Main results indicated that CNM individuals did not differ much in personality nor were they prone to higher "dark" personality traits when compared to monogamous individuals. Regarding mating orientations, CNM individuals were prone to higher sociosexuality levels and lower levels of long-term mating. Interestingly, results showed positive correlations between sociosexuality and "dark" personality in monogamous individuals, but not in CNM individuals. In conclusion, young Spanish university CNM individuals seem to be more pro-sex than monogamous people and less committed to the romantic love narrative of long-term mating, but these individuals were not more untrustworthy, self-centered, ruthless, or malevolent. Results were also discussed regarding their implications in the stigma and dehumanization of CNM people.

Laura's Vacillations: Castelvetro's Treatment of Paradox in Petrarch'sRerum vulgarium fragmenta

AbstractThis article explores Castelvetro's treatment, in his commentary on Petrarch's Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, of the paradox of the pleasure and pain the speaker seems to feel simultaneously in his experience of loving. The argument is that Castelvetro, in comparison to other fifteenth- and sixteenth-century commentators on Petrarch's Rime, more consistently and insistently explains such paradoxes not as indications of some mysterious mingling of pain and pleasure that lovers might feel but rather as indications of the different times of the speaker's amatory experience, an experience that features Laura's vacillating attitude toward him, and hence his alternating joy and anxiety. This reading of paradox depends on Castelvetro's interpretation of the Rvf's love narrative, an interpretation that views Laura as not wholly displeased with the speaker's love but as one who vacillates between favoring and disapproving of the speaker's affection.

Reflecting on Legal Responses to Intimate Partner Femicide in Scotland.

This article considers legal responses to intimate partner femicide in Scotland. It reflects on how the plea of provocation on the basis of infidelity has been used, pointing to misrepresentation of the relationship between domestic abuse and stalking. From there, findings from 57 intimate partner femicide cases are presented. These findings indicate problematic stereotypes in how intimate partner femicide cases are reported and the operation of the "love narrative" in sentencing. It is concluded that more must be done to label intimate partner femicide cases appropriately and that improvements are achievable within the current criminal justice framework.

“Soon as I saw him, my heart skipped a beat.” A structure analysis of romantic narratives by young Ghanaian women

Research on how young women in urban African cities talk about their love moments with their romantic partners is rare. This study examined the narrative structure of romantic love narratives as told by 12 first year Tourism and Hospitality Management female students in an English-medium public university in Ghana. The analysis showed that the background component of the stories was used by the young women to conceptualize about love, guard against heartbreaks, and/or to be adventurous. The study identified two types of complication, circumstantial complication and complication of intent, which led the narrators to evaluate the situations surrounding their associations with their partners. The study has implications for understanding the logic of love, cultural, and sexual development among young Ghanaian women.