La globalización de los afectos. Amor, migración y medios de comunicación

The idea of romantic love is a product of modernity (Giddens, 1992). From the implausible and sweetened narrative that romantic love has pro- posed since the 18th century, the imaginary of love relationships began to be fed through various cultural products (cinema, literature, music and television, among others) which had a strong impact on couple relation- ships. However, parallel to the dissemination and reproduction of this nar- rative, social actors have found new ways to establish a love relationship. Love has prevailed with and beyond geographical boundaries and has built new possibilities for couples largely thanks to the use of information and communication technologies (ict) (Roca i Girona, Soronellas Masdeu, & Bodoque Puerta, 2012). These “global” couples are characterised by the fact that they are constituted beyond religious, cultural and ethnic boundaries and it is precisely this type of experience, which is becoming increasingly frequent, that has redesigned the field of affection and emotion (Beck, 1995; Beck & Beck- Gernsheim, 2012). Based on ethnographic research conducted in Italy with bicultural couples: Italian men with Mexican women who migrated to Italy for love, this article explores how marriage, family, sexuality, and gender roles are constructed and are built from new and diverse love narratives, imaginaries, media, and technologies.