Popular romance fiction constitutes the largest segment of the global book market. Bringing together an international group of scholars, The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction offers a ground-breaking exploration of this global genre and its remarkable readership. In recognition of the diversity of the form, the Companion provides a history of the genre, an overview of disciplinary approaches to studying romance fiction, and critical analyses of important subgenres, themes, and topics. It also highlights new and understudied avenues of inquiry for future research in this vibrant and still-emerging field. The first systematic, comprehensive resource on romance fiction, this Companion will be invaluable to students and scholars, and accessible to romance readers.
Author(s): Jayashree Kamblé, Eric Murphy Selinger, Hsu-Ming Teo
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2020
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Notes on contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I: National traditions
1. History of English romance novels, 1621–1975
2. The evolution of the American romance novel
3. Australian romance fiction
PART II: Sub-genres
4. Gothic romance
5. The historical romance
6. Paranormal romance and urban fantasy
7. Young adult romance
8. Inspirational romance
9. Erotic romance
10. African American romance
11. Explorations of the “desert passion industry”
PART III: Methodological approaches
12. Romance in the media
13. Literary approaches
14. Author studies and popular romance fiction
15. Social science reads romance
16. Publishing the romance novel
17. Libraries and popular romance fiction
PART IV: Themes
18. Class and wealth in popular romance fiction
19. Sex and sexuality
20. Gender and sexuality
21. Love and romance novels
22. Romance and/as religion
23. Race, ethnicity, and whiteness
24. In response to Harlequin: Global legacy, local agency
Index
