21.01.2020 (6pm - 8pm)
28.01.2020 (6pm - 8pm)

Love is put as a societal ideal, one of the highest goals, in modern western society. To succeed in love is almost equal to succeed in life. But, the well known saying ”all you need is love” now more than ever falls short, in a world where the inequality is rising faster than the oceans. And while being a fundamental feeling that plays a part in the creation of identity, love also presents a cluster of promises and has become a commodity within capitalistic society.

Through a literary analysis, with affect theory as the theoretical background, we will look at the performativity of love and its gendered perspective. We will analyse and criticise the love discourse depicted in the novel Dünkler frühling (1969) by Unica Zürn and relate it to more modern cultural productions.

An affective reading allows us to look at the normative discourse of love that, when first outlined, can be criticised. As simple as it may seem to point to a hurtful emotional discourse, it opens up to the fact that politics of emotion exists. And, that emotion is used intentionally (or unintentionally) in the reproduction of hurtful norms as heteronormativity or misogyny. But also that love in particular has been caught in neoliberal discourse in late capitalism. Love is commodified and put as something utopian to aim for, but of curse only love in the “right” (i.e. white and heterosexual) way will lead you to this utopia. That “love conquers all” surely depends on what you are trying to conquer and so, the fetishizing of love is individualizing and takes the mind away from the actual structural struggles.