Since I'm finally reading a romance novel that is keeping my interest, this month's Variations on a Theme is all about romance novels. Now, I'm not going to list a ton of romance novel titles. No. Instead, I want to use this as an opportunity to explore the romance genre as an academic or scholarly subject. When I was a grad student, I wrote a paper on romance novels. Ergo, I think this is an awesome topic that should be discussed more.
All summaries are from Barnes and Noble. I've included links to my reviews of the books where I can.
A Natural History of the Romance Novel
Pamela Regis
Taking the stance that the popular romance novel is a work of literature with a brilliant pedigree, Regis asserts that it is also a very old, stable form. She traces the literary history of the romance novel from canonical works such as Richardson's Pamela through Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Brontë's Jane Eyre, and E. M. Hull's The Sheik, and then turns to more contemporary works such as the novels of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Janet Dailey, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Nora Roberts.
[My review from 2007.]
The Look of Love: The Art of the Romance Novel
Jennifer McKnight-Trontz
Swashbuckling sailors, dashing dukes, naughty nurses, and sexy steward-esses caught in webs of love, passion, betrayal, and intrigue: these are the raw materials of the romance novel--and the lusty covers that advertise them. In The Look of Love, Jennifer McKnight-Trontz provides a rollicking history of the covers and stories that have captivated millions of readers worldwide. More than 150 of the most sensational covers from this venerable if venal literary form are shown in glorious color, focusing on the period from 1940 to 1970, romance design's most fertile era. The Look of Love features artwork and excerpts from titles such as Passion Flower, Kept Woman, Rendezvous in Lisbon, and Jungle Nurse. Along the way, it brings attention to the pioneers of the romance novel: cover artists such as Barye Phillips and Robert Maguire, who helped define the look of paperbacks in general, and Harlequin, the grand dame of romance publishers, with more than 100 million novels sold each year. McKnight-Trontz reveals the themes that typify both the story lines and the covers--hospital romance, the rich and raunchy, royalty, tropical paradises, Westerns, "taboo" relationships, pirates and warriors, and love triangles--resulting in this definitive compendium of camp. A book for romance lovers everywhere.
[My review from 2007.]
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels
Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature
Janice A. Radway
Originally published in 1984, Reading The Romance challenges popular (and often demeaning) myths about why romantic fiction, one of publishing's most lucrative categories, captivates millions of women readers. In a new introduction, Janice Radway places the book within the context of current scholarship and offers both an explanation and critique of the study's limitations.
Dangerous Men & Adventurous Women: Romance Writes on the Appeal of Romance
Jayne Ann Krentz (ed.)
In this seamless, ultimately fascinating, and controversial book, the authors dispute some of the notions that plague their profession, including the time-worn theory that the romance genre contains only one single, monolithic story, which is cranked out over and over again. The authors discuss positive life-affirming values inherent in all romances: the celebration of female power, courage, intelligence, and gentleness; the inversion of the power structure of a patriarchal society; and the integration of male and female. Several of the essays also discuss the issue of reader identification with the characters, a relationship that is far more complex than most critics realize.
Other Romance Titles
Becoming a Woman Through Romance - Linda K. Christian-Smith
Desire: Love Stories in Western Culture - Catherine Belsey
Empowerment versus Opression: Twenty First Century View of Popular Romance Novels - Sally Goade
Happily Ever After: A Guide to Reading Interests in Romance Fiction - Kristin Ramsdell
Love's Sweet Return: The Harlequin Story - Margaret Jensen
Reading the Romantic Heroine: Text, History, Ideology - Leslie Rabine
Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre - Kristin Ramsdell
The Romance Readers Advisory: The Librarian’s Guide toLove in the Stacks - Ann Bouricius
Romance Writing - Lynn Pearce
Romantic Conventions - Anne Kaler
Texts of Desire: Essays on Fiction, Femininity, and Schooling - Linda K. Christian-Smith
Women and Romance: A Reader - Susan Ostrov Weisser (ed.)
Words of Love: A Complete Guide to Romance Fiction - Eileen Fallon
All summaries are from Barnes and Noble. I've included links to my reviews of the books where I can.
Pamela Regis
Taking the stance that the popular romance novel is a work of literature with a brilliant pedigree, Regis asserts that it is also a very old, stable form. She traces the literary history of the romance novel from canonical works such as Richardson's Pamela through Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Brontë's Jane Eyre, and E. M. Hull's The Sheik, and then turns to more contemporary works such as the novels of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Janet Dailey, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Nora Roberts.
[My review from 2007.]
Jennifer McKnight-Trontz
Swashbuckling sailors, dashing dukes, naughty nurses, and sexy steward-esses caught in webs of love, passion, betrayal, and intrigue: these are the raw materials of the romance novel--and the lusty covers that advertise them. In The Look of Love, Jennifer McKnight-Trontz provides a rollicking history of the covers and stories that have captivated millions of readers worldwide. More than 150 of the most sensational covers from this venerable if venal literary form are shown in glorious color, focusing on the period from 1940 to 1970, romance design's most fertile era. The Look of Love features artwork and excerpts from titles such as Passion Flower, Kept Woman, Rendezvous in Lisbon, and Jungle Nurse. Along the way, it brings attention to the pioneers of the romance novel: cover artists such as Barye Phillips and Robert Maguire, who helped define the look of paperbacks in general, and Harlequin, the grand dame of romance publishers, with more than 100 million novels sold each year. McKnight-Trontz reveals the themes that typify both the story lines and the covers--hospital romance, the rich and raunchy, royalty, tropical paradises, Westerns, "taboo" relationships, pirates and warriors, and love triangles--resulting in this definitive compendium of camp. A book for romance lovers everywhere.
[My review from 2007.]
Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan — the
creators of the wildly popular blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books — have
no shame! They look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of
romance novels and tackle the hard issues and questions:
— The heroine's irresistible Magic Hoo Hoo and the hero's untamable Wang of Mighty Lovin'
— Sexual trends. Simultaneous orgasms. Hymens. And is anal really the new oral?— Romance novel cover requirements: man titty, camel toe, flowers, long hair, animals, and the O-face— Are romance novels really candy-coated porn or vehicles by which we understand our sexual and gender politics?
With insider advice for writing
romances, fun games to discover your inner Viking warrior, and
interviews with famous romance authors, Beyond Heaving Bosoms
shows that while some romance novels are silly — maybe even tawdry —
they can also be intelligent, savvy, feminist, and fabulous, just like
their readers!
Janice A. Radway
Originally published in 1984, Reading The Romance challenges popular (and often demeaning) myths about why romantic fiction, one of publishing's most lucrative categories, captivates millions of women readers. In a new introduction, Janice Radway places the book within the context of current scholarship and offers both an explanation and critique of the study's limitations.
Jayne Ann Krentz (ed.)
In this seamless, ultimately fascinating, and controversial book, the authors dispute some of the notions that plague their profession, including the time-worn theory that the romance genre contains only one single, monolithic story, which is cranked out over and over again. The authors discuss positive life-affirming values inherent in all romances: the celebration of female power, courage, intelligence, and gentleness; the inversion of the power structure of a patriarchal society; and the integration of male and female. Several of the essays also discuss the issue of reader identification with the characters, a relationship that is far more complex than most critics realize.
Other Romance Titles
Becoming a Woman Through Romance - Linda K. Christian-Smith
Desire: Love Stories in Western Culture - Catherine Belsey
Empowerment versus Opression: Twenty First Century View of Popular Romance Novels - Sally Goade
Happily Ever After: A Guide to Reading Interests in Romance Fiction - Kristin Ramsdell
Love's Sweet Return: The Harlequin Story - Margaret Jensen
Reading the Romantic Heroine: Text, History, Ideology - Leslie Rabine
Romance Fiction: A Guide to the Genre - Kristin Ramsdell
The Romance Readers Advisory: The Librarian’s Guide toLove in the Stacks - Ann Bouricius
Romance Writing - Lynn Pearce
Romantic Conventions - Anne Kaler
Texts of Desire: Essays on Fiction, Femininity, and Schooling - Linda K. Christian-Smith
Women and Romance: A Reader - Susan Ostrov Weisser (ed.)
Words of Love: A Complete Guide to Romance Fiction - Eileen Fallon
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