Courtship, Marriage and Marriage Breakdown Approaches from the History of Emotion

This book explores the history of marriage and marriage-like relationships across five continents from the seventeenth century to the present day. Across fourteen chapters, leading marriage scholars examine how the methodologies from the new history of emotions contribute to our understanding of marriage, seeking to uncover not only personal feeling but also the political and social implications of emotion. They highlight how marriage as an institution has been shaped not just by law and society but also by individual and community choices, desires and emotional values. Importantly, they also emphasize how the history of non-traditional and same-sex relationships and their emotions have long played an important role in determining the nature of marriage as an institution and emotional union. In doing so, this collection allows us to rethink both the past and present of marriage, destabilizing a story of a stable institution and opening it up as a site of contest, debate and feeling.

1. Marriage and Emotion in Historical Context Katie Barclay, Jeffrey Meek and Andrea Thomson2. Affection and Passion in Early Modern Spanish SeparationsEdward Behrend-Martínez3. "He Asked Her Why She Was Crying": Young People’s Intimate Relationships, Emotions, and the Making of Marriage in Early Modern FranceJulie Hardwick4. Illicit Relations in a Multiethnic City: Emotions, Fidelity, and Economic Obligations in Colonial MexicoMargarita R. Ochoa5. Mobile Emotions: Bigamy and Community in Scotland, 1660-1830Katie Barclay6. "Companions in Labor": Same-Sex Marriage and the Romantic Ideal in the Early United StatesRachel Hope Cleves7. "Bigamy", "Marriage Fraud" and Colonial Patriarchy in Kayes, French Sudan (1905-1925)Marie Rodet8. From Foreign Bride to "Korean" Mother: Managing Feelings in Modern, South Korean MarriagesAmalya Layla Ashman9. "The Best of Both Worlds’?: Young Women, Family and Marriage in 1970s ScotlandAndrea Thomson10. "He Isn’t Affectionate at All": African-American Wives in the 1940s and the Problem of "Cool"Christina Simmons11. Trust, Authenticity and Bigamy in Twentieth-Century EnglandClaire Langhamer12. "It Seemed the Right Thing to Do!": Mixed-Orientation Marriages and Emotions in Post-War ScotlandJeffrey Meek13. Marriage in India: A Web of IntimaciesRuth Vanita14. To Have and to Hold?: The Relationality of Emotions and Couples’ Relationships in Twenty-First-Century BritainJanet Fink and Jacqui Gabb

Katie Barclay is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in the History of Emotions and Associate Professor in History, University of Adelaide.Jeffrey Meek is Lecturer in Economic & Social History at the University of Glasgow.Andrea Thomson is Research Associate in the Faculty of History, University of Oxford.