Email Romance? Elif Batuman’s The Idiot as the Narrative of an “Unloving” Relationship

Batuman’s debut novel The Idiot has garnered a great amount of critical attention for incorporating in its text emails that interweave the narrative first half novel. Taking into account both on- and offline intimacy depicted text, this article attempts to theorize relationship initiated large extent through exchanges between protagonists. By drawing upon some recent sociological inquiries on digital but extensively utilizing framework Eva Illouz offers her work, End Love: A Sociology Negative Relationships, explain “negative structure contemporary relationships”, present characterizes email romance as productive an “unloving” relationship. This argues, is anchored “the fact actors do not know how define, evaluate, or conduct they enter according predictable stable social scripts” (Illouz, Love 9). engages with question uncertainty Illouz’s argument underlines uses formulations which she conceptualizes uncertainty. elaborating protagonists’ suspicion about reality correspondence, lack any distinct it, unexplained unpredictable exits heroine’s love-interest at times, experience chaotic emotions, demonstrates (presumed) love heroine experiences fraught existential, procedural, normative, emotional