Wow! eBook
New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction: Critical Essays
Author(s): Eric Murphy Selinger (Editor), Sarah S.G. Frantz
- Publisher: McFarland & Co
- Publication Date: 15 Mar. 2012
- Language: English
- Print length: 275 pages
- ISBN-10: 0786441909
- ISBN-13: 9780786441907
Book Description
Despite the prejudices of critics, popular romance fiction remains a complex, dynamic genre. It consistently maintains the largest market share in the American publishing industry, even as it welcomes new subgenres like queer and BDSM romance. Digital publishing originated in erotic romance, and savvy on-line communities have exploded myths about the genre’s readership. Romance scholarship now reflects this diversity, transformed by interdisciplinary scrutiny, new critical approaches, and an unprecedented international dialogue between authors, scholars, and fans. These eighteen essays investigate individual romance novels, authors, and websites, rethink the genre’s history, and explore its interplay of convention and originality. By offering new twists in enduring debates, this collection inspires further inquiry into the emerging field of popular romance studies.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“a fascinating, history of scholarship on popular romance fiction. All scholars of popular culture should read this sophisticated and rigorous volume…the essays in the volume are refreshing”―The Journal of American Culture.
About the Author
Sarah S.G. Frantz associate professor of English at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, is president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance and the author of articles on Jane Austen, J.R. Ward, Suzanne Brockmann, and contemporary popular romance fiction. Eric Murphy Selinger is executive editor of the Journal of Popular Romance Studies and associate professor of English at DePaul University, where he teaches courses dedicated exclusively to popular romance fiction. He is the author or co-editor of several books and is a regular contributor to Parnassus: Poetry in Review.
