To what extent are our most romantic moments determined by the portrayal of love in film and on TV? Is a walk on a moonlit beach a moment of perfect romance or simply a simulation of the familiar ideal seen again and again on billboards and movie screens? In her unique study of American love in the twentieth century, Eva Illouz unravels the mass of images that define our ideas of love and romance, revealing that the experience of "true" love is deeply embedded in the experience of consumer capitalism. Illouz studies how individual conceptions of love overlap with the world of clichés and images she calls the "Romantic Utopia." This utopia lives in the collective imagination of the nation and is built on images that unite amorous and economic activities in the rituals of dating, lovemaking, and marriage. Since the early 1900s, advertisers have tied the purchase of beauty products, sports cars, diet drinks, and snack foods to success in love and happiness. Illouz reveals that, ultimately, every cliché of romance—from an intimate dinner to a dozen red roses—is constructed by advertising and media images that preach a democratic ethos of consumption: material goods and happiness are available to all. Engaging and witty, Illouz's study begins with readings of ads, songs, films, and other public representations of romance and concludes with individual interviews in order to analyze the ways in which mass messages are internalized. Combining extensive historical research, interviews, and postmodern social theory, Illouz brings an impressive scholarship to her fascinating portrait of love in America.
eBook - PDF
Consuming the Romantic Utopia
Love and the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism
- 388 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
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Information
Publisher
University of California PressYear
2023Print ISBN
9780520202757
Edition
1eBook ISBN
9780520917996
Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction to the Sociology of Love
- PART I. WHEN ROMANCE MET THE MARKET
- CHAPTER I. Constructing the Romantic Utopia
- CHAPTER 2. Trouble in Utopia
- PART 2. ALL THAT IS ROMANTIC MELTS INTO AIR:
- CHAPTER 3. From the Romantic Utopia to the American Dream
- CHAPTER 4. An All-Consuming Love
- CHAPTER 5. Real Fictions and Fictional Realities
- PART 3 . THE BUSINESS OF LOVE
- CHAPTER 6. Reason within Passion
- CHAPTER 7. The Reasons for Passion
- CHAPTER 8. The Class of Love
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1. A Few Words about Methods
- Appendix 2. Questionnaire
- Appendix 3. Images of Romance
- Notes
- References
- Index
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Yes, you can access Consuming the Romantic Utopia by Eva Illouz in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Sociology. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.