“Feels a lot like love” : love-in(g) China in the reform era

This research examines the changing landscape of "love" in China during the economic reform since 1978. This landscape includes the drastic social transformations, the decentralisation of state control, and the intense processes of marketisation and privatisation of the economy. The thesis investigates the changing values, moral codes and forms of intimacy inscribed in "love", thus exploring the privatisation of the heart during China's economic reform. Although focusing on contemporary times, this research also examines the genealogy of "love" since the early moment of China's modernity, and explores the historical residuals that exist in today's emotional landscape. My research argues that the discourse of "love" and the emotional life it regulates are central to the formation of the modern, reflexive subject and, thus, decisive for examining Chinese modernity. The ideals of and the yearnings for "love" are like itchy and painful wounds that allow us to go deep into the tissues of Chinese society and to explore the perplexing coexistence of "socialist rule, neoliberal logic and self-governing practices" (Sun and Yang, 2021) in the contemporary time. From the changing notions of familial intimacy and interpersonal relationships to the rising consumption of romance and nationalist sentiments, as well as the formation of Chinese cosmopolitanism and the new middle class, the thesis examines these essential aspects of Chinese society through an analysis of the discourse of "love". The research combines textual analysis and curatorial practice to understand the making of "love" in the Chinese context and the ways in which people "love" and are touched and mobilised by "love". Through the exploration of popular cultural products, the spatial and artistic re-enactment of the aesthetics, memories, and bodily sensations that vibrate with the feelings of "love", the thesis hopes to add to the analysis of the discourse of Chinese modernity by investigating the process of subject formation in post-reform China through the lens of love.