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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.
List of contents
Introduction
Jayashree Kamblé, Eric Murphy Selinger, Hsu-Ming Teo
PART I: NATIONAL TRADITIONS
1 History of English Romance Novels, 1621-1975
jay Dixon
2 The Evolution of the American Romance Novel
Pamela Regis
3 Australian Romance Fiction
Lauren O'Mahony
PART II: SUB-GENRES
4 Gothic Romance
Angela Toscano
5 The Historical Romance
Sarah H. Ficke
6 Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy
María T. Ramos-García
7 Young Adult Romance
Amanda K. Allen
8 Inspirational Romance
Rebecca Barrett-Fox and Kristen Donnelly
9 Erotic Romance
Jodi McAlister
10 African American Romance
Julie E. Moody-Freeman
11 Explorations of the "Desert Passion Industry"
Amira Jarmakani
PART III: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES
12 Romance in the Media
Jayashree Kamblé
13 Literary Approaches
Eric Murphy Selinger
14 Author Studies and Popular Romance Fiction
Kecia Ali
15 Social Science Reads Romance
Joanna Gregson and Jennifer Lois
16 Publishing the Romance Novel
John Markert
17 Libraries and Popular Romance Fiction
Kristin Ramsdell
PART IV: THEMES
18 Class and Wealth in Popular Romance Fiction
Amy Burge
19 Sex and Sexuality
Hannah McCann and Catherine M. Roach
20 Gender and Sexuality
Jonathan A. Allan
21 Love and Romance Novels
Hsu-Ming Teo
22 Romance and/as Religion
Eric Murphy Selinger and Laura Vivanco
23 Race, Ethnicity, and Whiteness
Erin S. Young
24 In Response to Harlequin: Global Legacy, Local Agency
Kathrina Mohd Daud
About the author
Jayashree Kamblé is an Associate Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College in the City University of New York. She is the author of Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemology (2014) and a Vice-President of the International Association of the Study of Popular Romance.
Eric Murphy Selinger is a Professor of English at DePaul University, Executive Editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies, and President of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance. He is the author of What Is It Then Between Us? Traditions of Love in American Poetry (1998) and co-editor of New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction (2012) and Romance Fiction and American Culture (2016).
Hsu-Ming Teo is a novelist and cultural historian at Macquarie University, Australia, where she is an Associate Professor of literature and creative writing. Her academic publications include her monograph Desert Passions: Orientalism and Romance Novels (2012), and the edited books The Popular Culture of Romantic Love in Australia (2017) and Cultural History in Australia (2003).
Summary
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 groundbreaking exploration of this global genre and its remarkable readership.
