Love and Violence in the Music of Late Modernity

Using evidence from popular music, this article highlights how contemporary definitions of love combine ideas about the modern self as autonomous and distinct with an emphasis on the importance of sacrifice and devotion to the achievement of successful relationships. The tension between these concepts is manifested in ambivalence to love, with pain, conflict, and violence reoccurring features within popular music. This article argues, that as love is not just a feeling but implicated in structuring intimate behaviors, this understanding of love leads to the naturalizing of conflict and violence in modern relationships.