ARRIVAL OF COURTLY LOVE: MOVING IN THE EMOTIONAL SPACE
Noël Bonneuil
Courtly love appeared in twelfth-century Europe as a dissent from the emotional regime established by Gregorian Reform, setting lady, instead of God, object worship. From game-theory perspective, courtly and hedonism correspond to Nash equilibria, contrast Christian marriage, whose stability is threatened sex-as-appetite on one side devotion God other, maintenance depends moral control. The Church developed fear shame, which are counter-emotions desire-as-appetite. restored thrill forbidden adventure. It also shared traits common innovations natural world: it added complexity (by increasing costs, emphasizing courtship, self-restraint, extremes suffering); was made possible plasticity mating relationships; introduced small disorder ordered marriage; demanded an adaptive effort, requiring man face ever more perilous trials woman appear attractive. Though obtained deviation existing regime, had thoroughgoing long-lasting consequences for social control political power Church. deeply modified dynamic longing ego's representation. By taking temporal form capture, contrasts with Bengal, where characterized indefinitely repeating worship, absence here-now versus target-later dualism. eleventh-century Heian Japan, intermingled melancholy impossible return, antithesis concept capture.
History and Theory