Romance is both the most popular and often the most maligned genre of the publishing world. In this course, we will ask why romance matters in our particular cultural moment and also why it is so heavily criticized. We will read contemporary romance novels, watch romantic comedies, engage with romantic poetry and love songs, and investigate various historical romantic forms. Across these media, we will query: What are the aesthetic and ethical stakes of romance? What forms of romantic love are valued or socially sanctioned across our texts, and have those values shifted in our contemporary moment? How and why did romance become aligned with dangerous reading habits or so-called “guilty pleasures”? How are romantic genres gendered and what is the history of this gendering of romantic forms? Put more pointedly, when did we begin to gender romance as feminine or feminized?
Like the romance genre itself, this course is designed for English majors and non-majors alike. J-Term is the ideal time to study romance: frequently, romantic forms are conceptualized (or criticized) as “fast reads”—art that can be inhaled quickly and with delight. In this sense, a glut of romance in nine class days suits the genre perfectly, and offers us a unique opportunity to interrogate the reading practices, expectations, and values that shape romance in literature.
Course Code
ENGL 3559
Credits
3
Department
Cristina Griffin