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Discourses on Non‐conforming Marriages: Love in T aiwan
Author(s) -
Wang HongZen,
Chen MeiHua
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of japanese sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.133
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1475-6781
pISSN - 0918-7545
DOI - 10.1111/ijjs.12063
Subject(s) - ideology , mainstream , gender studies , power (physics) , sociology , legend , hegemony , romance , period (music) , phenomenon , ethnic group , politics , political science , law , psychology , literature , philosophy , anthropology , psychoanalysis , aesthetics , art , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics
In contemporary T aiwan, arranged marriage seems a remote legend. However, the mainstream ideology of romantic love and marriage is a recent phenomenon that started only half a century ago. The debate on love and marriage that took place a hundred years ago has been reopened in current T aiwanese society on transnational marriage and same‐sex marriage debates, which are regarded as non‐conforming marriages in a specific historical period. We argue that the hegemonic ideology of romantic love has produced a powerful exclusionary effect on cross‐border marriages based on ethnic and class discrimination, but also an inclusive effect on same‐sex marriage in present T aiwan society, which underscores the power of the discourse of love in modern T aiwanese social life. The love discourse can be progressive in a specific historical conjuncture, but it can also be regressive by excluding other forms of intimacy.