An started following the work of Kim Akass, University of Hertfordshire, Science, Tech & Creative Arts.
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An started following the work of Renée Jackson, York University, Graduate Programme in English.
- Authorship
- Critical Theory
- Cultural Studies
- Genre Theory
- Literature
- Paratexts
- Popular Culture
- Popular Literature
- Popular Romance Fiction
- Popular Romance Novel
- Popular Romance Studies
- The Romance Novel
Papers
Constrained Writing, Creative Writing: The Case of Handbooks for Writing Romances
co-authored with Dirk De Geest; Poetics Today, 31:1, pp 81-106.
This article broadens the concept of "constrained writing" by applying it to a less prestigious domain of literature, namely, popular romance novels. In order to find out how constraints play a role in writing and publishing such commercial texts, a corpus of handbooks for writing romances is carefully analyzed. Such handbooks meticulously guide aspiring writers through the entire process of writing romances, from the first ideas to the final act of having their texts published. This product- and process-orientated approach is ultimately based on a number of discursive strategies that enable the aspiring writer to conceive of romance writing as an accessible and feasible yet highly constrained activity. In this article, three such dominant strategies are carefully discussed. One is the handbooks' constant appeal to the reading experience of the romance. Another is their conceptualization of writing as a craft and a profession and their infrequent but functional use of explicitly normative language. Finally, the role of the genre's highly influential institutional context in the handbooks' formulation of generic norms and constraints is considered as well. This article ultimately demonstrates the broad applicability of the notion of constrained writing to many forms of literature.
Response to Pamela Regis: matricide in popular romance scholarship?
published in Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 2011, 2.1.
This paper provides a critical response to Pamela Regis’ meta-critical paper “What Do Critics Owe the Romance?” While it endorses Regis’ identification of the methodologically sound selection of study-texts as one of the main challenges faced by the field of popular romance studies, it also formulates a critique of Regis’ account for being ahistorical and undertheorised. It briefly sketches the genealogical development of the field of popular romance studies and reads Regis’ paper as part of the field’s current process of maturation.
Romance the World Over
in: Global Cultures. Frank Salamone (ed.) Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2009. 59-72.
In this paper I discuss the worldwide translation, production and distribution of popular romance novels by Canadian publisher Harlequin. I summarize and discuss numerous studies on the translation of category romance novels and ultimately pose that Harlequin's exceptional global success is based on interacting strategies of localizing and globalizing their novels.
Loving by the Book: Voice and Romance Authorship
in: New Perspectives on Popular Romance Fiction. Frantz, Sarah and Selinger, Eric. (eds.) Jefferson:MacFarland. Forthcoming
Discusses narrative conventions and the role of the author's individuality in the popular romance genre on the basis of the analysis of a set of romance writing handbooks. In particular it focuses on the handbooks' rethorically complex and surprisingly self-conscious articulation of the genre's seemingly paradoxical interaction between familiarity and novelty - and the role played by an author's authenticity in romance writing.
Review Reading Nora Roberts by Mary Ellen Snodgrass
published in Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 1.1, 2010.
short review of the book Reading Nora Roberts by Mary Ellen Snodgrass.
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