The Institutions of Love: Courting, love and marriage

Presentation

Debate is ongoing between the position held by certain currents of thought in the social sciences (sociology, anthropology, etc.) that love is known only to the West, and that held by literary scholars and psychologists who argue the contrary. 

Between these two leanings, this work presents the numerous compromises made by various societies of Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Nepal and India) and the Indian Ocean (Madagascar) to navigate between individual expressions of love, inspired by western practices, and the social norms that exert a strong control over them. Ethnographic research into today’s practices show how these compromises continue to be expressed through “institutions of love”, usually leading to marriage.

Interview

Editors

Catherine Capdeville‑Zeng is an anthropologist and sinologist. She is a professor in the Chinese Studies Department at Inalco, and a member of Inalco’s ASIEs research unit. She is also the head of the Chinese Studies Department and co-editor of the Asie(s) collection published by Les Presses de l’Inalco.

Delphine Ortis obtained her doctorate in social anthropology and ethnology from EHESS in 2008. She is a lecturer at ESSEC, Inalco and EHESS.

370 pages
16 x 24 cm
Publication: 23/11/2018
ISBN: 9782858312795