Liebeserfindungen, Liebesempfindungen. Semantiken der Liebe zwischen Kontinuität und Wandel – vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart

Conference „Liebeserfindungen, Liebesempfindungen. Semantiken der Liebe zwischen Kontinuität und Wandel – vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart“ (Essen, 21./22. September 2017)

Currently one is encountering broad discussions about an ongoing change of love and it’s imaginations within the Western World. The initiation of love based relationships is changing rapidly: Meeting each other within social media has become more and more common. If a love relationship is established, it can be managed „open“ or „based on loyality“, by living together or separately, married or unmarried. One partner may wish for a lifelong relationship, the other only wants an attachment for a certain phase in life. Different views occur regarding the meaning of the love attachment itself: is it supposed to contribute to self-discovery and identity formation by understanding the partner entirely? Or should partners just help each other cope with everyday life between worries and pleasures? Should the partners have or – especially in “queer” relationships – adopt children?

Other questions make the situation even more complicated. Increasing migration rises questions about love relationships between different cultures and therefore adds more options. Ties between the western way of life and other cultural backgrounds within a love based relationship can create new and interesting hybrid forms. Also “queer” relationships are often supposed to follow different lifestyles and ways of thinking about love than popular discourses and imaginations. Meanwhile love stories of many kinds are permanently constructed by media, influencing society by shaping different images and models of love.

The conference is looking at all these phenomena by making diachronic and synchronic comparisons. The outcomes will provide a basis for the preparation of an upcoming research group of the DFG, researching “Ambiguität und Unterscheidung: Historisch-kulturelle Dynamiken”. The pre-application for this research group was approved in written form by the DFG on the 17^th of November 2016. The application will be submitted to the DFG by the end of 2017.