Women and Men in Love
European Identities in the Twentieth Century

It has often been assumed that Europeans invented and had the exclusive monopoly over courtly and romantic love, commonly considered to be the highest form of relations between men and women. This view was particularly prevalent between 1770 and the mid-twentieth century, but was challenged in the 1960s...

It has often been assumed that Europeans invented and had the exclusive monopoly over courtly and romantic love, commonly considered to be the highest form of relations between men and women. This view was particularly prevalent between 1770 and the mid-twentieth century, but was challenged in the 1960s when romantic love came to be seen as a universal sentiment that can be found in all cultures in the world. However, there remains the historical problem that the Europeans used this concept of love as a fundamental part of their self-image over a long period (traces of it still remain) and it became very much caught up in the concept of marriage. This book challenges the underlying Eurocentrism of this notion while exploring in a more general sense the connection between identity and emotions.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements
Introduction: Forms of Love and Limits of Europeanness: Intentions and Assumptions
PART I: MALE PORTRAITS
Chapter 1. 'Free Love and Fraternity between the Federated Peoples of Europe': Giorgio Quartara, Supporter of European Integration and Feminism Chapter 2. 'Love Becomes Entangled with Civilisation': Leo Ferrero, a Young European
PART II: EUROPE'S ROOTS IN LOVE
Chapter 3. Mediterranean Love Chapter 4. The Heart of Europe: Love in the Western World by Denis de Rougemont
PART III: CONNECTING JEWISHNESS, EUROPEANNESS AND LOVE
Chapter 5. 'Between Two Worlds': Ansky's Dybbuk in France and Italy Chapter 6. 'Notre Mere l'Europe': Giorgina Levi and Heinz Arian
Primary Sources and Archives References Index