Today, we are happy to bring you our conversation with Rita Felski and Camilla Schwartz, editors of Love, Etc: Essays on Contemporary Literature and Culture

What inspired you to compile this book? 

We both felt that the topic of love was receiving short shrift in literary and cultural studies. Interestingly enough, this is not the case in philosophy and sociology—yet in our own field, writing about love is often dismissed as sappy and sentimental. Love can only be invoked, it seems, if it is going to be debunked or demystified. And yet it’s a central aspect of most people’s lives as well as a ubiquitous theme in literature and popular culture; we wanted to put together a collection of short essays that would offer some fresh perspectives on love.

What did you learn and what are you hoping readers will learn from your book? 

We really wanted to explore the variety of forms of love – for example the differences and similarities between loving, liking, desiring, caring for, being attached to, etc. Of course, it was impossible to ignore romantic love—Love Etc. includes essays on The Bachelor, Tinder, and the lyrics of pop songs--but we were also keen to learn more about other kinds of love. Attachments to friends, to children, to books, to trees, to machines, all get some attention in the book, along with queer love and polyamory. Our aim is to expand the field rather than come up with a final definition of what love really is.

What surprised you the most in the process of writing your book? 

That pop music has played and still plays such an important role in our diverse conceptions of love—and that pop music lyrics appear in the titles of so many academic publications, including this one (cue the Pet Shop Boys). “Love is all Around” –even among the most hard-bitten literary and cultural critics.

What’s your favorite anecdote from your book?

We especially enjoyed Carolina Bandinelli’s account of how people use Tinder. You might think that people join dating sites because they want to meet people, but her research suggests that this is not always the case. For example, one interviewee made sure to match only with men who lived far enough away that she could avoid seeing them; it would be very embarrassing, she said, to actually meet someone you matched with! And Carolina also includes some amusing descriptions of her own experience of Tinder while she was conducting research; the terse koan-like conversations with strangers that would abruptly fade into silence.

What’s next? 

Rita is finishing up a book called “Reading with the New Frankfurt School” and looking forward to spending time in London and Melbourne next year. Camilla is finishing up a book about child-free archetypes (e.g. cat ladies, nuns and stepmothers) in contemporary literature and culture.