Masculinities in Post-Millennial Popular Romance

This book focuses on the projection of the hero's masculinity in a selection of post-millennial popular romance narratives and attempts to discover if, and to what extent, this projection reinforces or challenges patriarchal ideas about gender. In the majority of these narratives the hero is often presented as a hegemonic alpha male. However, hegemonic masculinity is not a fixed concept. Rather, it is subject to continuous change which allows for the emergence of various dominant masculinities. Under a poststructuralist lens and through a close textual analysis approach and a gender reading of romance narratives, the book suggests that to a certain extent the romance hero could be described as a platform onto which different forms of dominant masculinity are displayed and highlights that these masculinities do not necessarily clash, depend on, or function as a prerequisite for each other.

List of contents

Introduction
Chapter 1. Hegemonic Masculinity and the Romance Hero
Chapter 2. Transnational Business Masculinities in Popular Romance Fiction
Chapter 3. Hybrid Masculine Bloc in Popular Romance Fiction
Chapter 4. Body and Beauty in Popular Romance Fiction
Chapter 5. 'Lesser' Masculinities
Conclusion

About the author

Eirini Arvanitaki is a teaching associate in the Department of Social Sciences at the Hellenic Open University in Patras, Greece.

Summary

This book follows a close textual analysis approach and offers a gender reading of post-millennial popular romance heroes. It suggests that to an extent the male protagonists of these narratives could be described as a platform onto which different forms of dominant masculinity are displayed and coexist without losing their hegemonic status

Product details

• Authors: Eirini Arvanitaki
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.01.2024
• EAN: 9781032306841
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3230684-1
• No. of pages: 70
• Series: Routledge Focus on Literature
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Gothic, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 21st Century, Romanticism, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Gender studies, gender groups, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: from c 2000, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form, LITERARY CRITICISM / Subjects & Themes / Gender Identity