Madonna in a Fur Coat: On Yearning, Love and Lust

For much of Gen Z, romance is seemingly becoming a concept left to the devices of our imagination rather than something attained in actuality. Where we are seeing individuals turn to the reliable haven of romance literature and 2000s romcom’s. We are also seeing an influx of discussion online criticising the collapse of modern day dating. A recurring term in these discussions is yearning, or to be a yearner - the art of which is suspected to be lost now to the average joe. 

In fact, having fallen into this route of exploring classic romance literature myself, I recently read Madonna in a Fur Coat, a novel by Sabahattin Ali following the intense connection ignited between the meek Turkish man Raif and German painter Maria. We are introduced to Raif as someone weak and spiritless, and yet we see him fight his internal dispositions to win the love of a woman he first met hung in the walls of one of Berlin’s many art galleries. The narrative follows Raif through a detailed journal, and readers are invited to assess the otherwise closed off thoughts and emotions experienced as his love story blossoms.

The internal monologues throughout perfectly encapsulate what is being coined as the definition of a true yearner. His unapologetic declarations of love mimic that of Ryan Gosling's performance in The Notebook and the many lords in the TV adaptations of Bridgerton; or the overt pining in the love letters exchanged between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West. The hesitation behind each touch and the gravity placed on every spoken word, mulled over repeatedly before said aloud, are depicted as testimonies to Raif’s love for Maria. So we must ask, if this is yearning, are we really seeing a depletion of such devotion in current times? Is modern dating done through apps causing us to place more emphasis on outward characteristics and hence physical currency over deeper emotional connection? Or is our unfiltered access to the internet harming our ability to exchange conversations that extend beyond the surface? Or, is it just that romantic connection has taken a new form altogether- still meaningful but simply an alteration to the likes of what we see in Ali’s writing? 

I cannot help but focus on the stark contrast when comparing the likes of his work to what we have come to know as booktok romance - novels initially popularised on the platform TikTok by young adults, liked for their uncensored scenes of physical intimacy and rated on levels of ‘spicy’ to draw in readers. Whilst consumed limitlessly by many fans, these love stories are now at the centre of discussion again, for their inability to capture true yearning. 

Continually, conversations on the internet are causing us to challenge the border between love and lust, and for us to then apply our interpretations to the modern dating pool. It is a conversation worth having no doubt, and yet is leaving many of Generation Z’s population that are searching for love left more hopelessly lost now than ever before. No wonder they're choosing to stick to the comfort of the classics!