By the end of the twentieth century certain new media had established
themselves which have profoundly changed communication among lovers. SMS
and email in particular have created new relational forms and forms of
intimacy. From declarations of love on talk shows to televised dating
games and marriage quiz shows, television offers a panoply of wildly
popular theatrical communications of love. Does the neglecting of
traditional communication media, such as love letters and the telephone,
cause the intermingling of intimacy with the public sphere and hence the
abrogation of it? From the disciplines of sociology, history, cultural
and media studies and linguistics, this book offers answers to this
question by analyzing and discussing new media from various
perspectives.