Contesting Imaginations of Romantic Love: An Ethnographic Analysis from the European Border Cover Image

Contesting Imaginations of Romantic Love: An Ethnographic Analysis from the European Border
Contesting Imaginations of Romantic Love: An Ethnographic Analysis from the European Border

Author(s): Miriam Gutekunst
Subject(s): Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure , Social Theory, Sociology of Culture, Migration Studies, Globalization
Published by: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku
Keywords: romantic love; marriage; migration; border regime; imagination;

Summary/Abstract: Imagination has become an important social practice throughout the world in times of globalization and deterritorialization, as argued by the anthropologist Arjun Appadurai. This development has an effect on the formation of romantic relationships: more and more couples meet across borders. Migration through marriage has become one of the most important legal channels to Europe. In this article, I argue that romantic love can be understood as imagination and, thereby, as a driving force for migration. At the same time, imaginations of romantic love are in the focus of migration control and, consequently, highly contested and shaped by different state actors while travelling across borders.

  • Issue Year: 61/2024
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 63-76
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English
Toggle Accessibility Mode