The language we use when we are in love is not a language we speak, for it is addressed to ourselves & to our imaginary beloved. It is a language of solitude, of mythology, of what Barthes calls an 'image repertoire'. This book revives
- beyond the psychological or clinical enterprises which have characterised such researches in our culture
- the notion of the amorous subject. It will be enjoyed & understood by two groups of readers: those who have been in love (Or thing they have, which is the same thing), & those who have never been in love (or think they have not, which is the same thing). This book might be considered, in its restless search for authorities & examples, which range from Nietzsche to Zen, from Ruysbroek to Debussy, an encyclopaedia of that affirmative discourse which is the lover's.