Cross-Cultural Couples in the Old and New Europe: From Bi-Localism to Emotional Transnationalism

Abstract

This contribution looks at changes that have come about in the private sphere, and in particular in the way couples are formed, as a consequence of the process of European unification. The study will show how the expansion of the marriage market following increased mobility within Europe has led to a new form of sentimental mixité, characterised by the diffusion of unions between partners of different nationalities, bearers of different, but not distant cultures, as happens in traditional ‘mixed couples’ (with racial, ethnic or religious differences) or as happened in European mixed couples of the past. We will also illustrate how the spread of cross-cultural and international couples in the new United Europe is accompanied by the creation of more fluid and broader forms of identification, where the ‘locative’ dimension¹ of identity tends to become less important.