Love loomed large across 20th-century culture when the universal and complex emotion was celebrated through various forms of expression — such as literature, cinema, and drama — as an ideal and a prerequisite for happiness.
It was usually portrayed to be compelling, pleasurable, and emotionally resonant. French philosopher Edgar Morin said the era brought the idea of the "beloved" into cultural narratives, intertwining love with human endeavour, artistic and social valour, and even commercial success.
Advertisements, too, used the allure of love, weaving it into the fabric of their appeal. In this way, love transcended mere emotion, morphing into a life philosophy, a moral alternative, and a sophisticated tool for marketing and commodification.
At a time of heightened anxiety in the world, people seek solace in the spirit of love — not least in mid-February, when there is a special day dedicated to romantic connections. It brings the traditional colour of love – deep red – out onto the streets and all over the television screens, giving a festive feeling to late winter.
Love stories
Arab culture has long explored the nuances of romanticism via its storytelling traditions and through poetry and music. This was particularly evident in the second quarter of the 20th century.
Then, there was a move toward expressive and unbridled emotion — free from the bounds of modesty. The spell of love in the Arab world is often associated with iconic figures such as Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Fayrouz, and Sabah.
The poem Al-Atlal by Ibrahim Naji, celebrated by the Apollo School of Poetry and then set to music by Umm Kulthum, epitomises the Arab romantic ode to love, longing, and the introspective self.
The emotional resonance of lyrical drama brought renowned collaborations, notably between Nizar Qabbani and celebrated vocalists like Abdel Halim Hafez and Najat Al-Saghira.
For the ancient Greeks and their philosophers, love was seen as a divine yearning. Plato's The Symposium introduces us to Eros, the god of love, depicting love as a pursuit of the divine and the good. This conceptualisation of love — as a longing for divinity and virtue — extends through classical literature and philosophy, highlighting the emotional underpinnings of existence.
The Eleatic school of Greek philosophy proposed that the interactions and affinities between atoms—viewed as forms of love—drive the transformations of nature.
Following this lineage, both Plato and Aristotle positioned love as a fundamental longing for the divine. Aristotle further suggested that love's emotive force is the catalyst for the primal movement, underscoring a divine love that elicits human emotional responses.
Romance novels and films
Whatever else it is capable of, love creates a pervasive suspense in human life, sparking a quest to satisfy its demands. The narrative arc this creates is widely familiar; the terms “romantic movies” and “romance novels” resonate across generations.
Love stories often make deep emotional connections of their own with those who follow them. They inspire people to identify with – or aspire to – the protagonists' experiences.
Arabic literature has long orbited around themes of romance. But it was not until the 1980s that specialised treatises on love began to surface, marking a shift towards a scholarly and analytical approach to understanding love.
These works aimed to define the essence of love, diverging from the broader and perhaps more speculative treatments found in traditional Arab heritage.
As well as being a lofty ideal worthy of such study, love is an integral aspect of everyday life, along with its mysteries, secrets and techniques that are worthy of the way in which literature explores, outlines and explains.
Love has transcended its status as a lofty ideal to become an integral aspect of everyday life, replete with mysteries, secrets, and "techniques" that demand exploration and rational explanation.
Here is a look at how that has been done on the Arab cultural stage and what the writers and artists involved found in their works on love.
