Romancing the Archive: Romance Fiction in Historical and Cultural Context

HIST 164 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Are romance novels regressive texts or subtle forms of cultural resistance? Does this wildly popular, widely dismissed, highly gendered fiction genre stand for or against the well-being of its primary authors and readers – women? 

Romancing the Archive explores 20^th and 21^st century romance fiction as cultural commentary produced in historical context. We will contend with whether romance fiction holds a tension at heart – the push and pull between resistance to tradition and resistance to change. Building on the Schlesinger Library’s premiere collection of romance fiction and author archives, we will study the history of modern American romance fiction, trace how the genre has changed over time, explore the complexities of reader reception, and evaluate cultural and political relevance. At the end of our course, we will chart the current directions and social stakes of this billion-dollar industry built on story-making and fantasies of romantic desire.

In 2023, a conference on popular romance fiction held at Yale University highlighted it as “the literature of hope.” Our class will consider how romance literature simultaneously challenges and reinforces social expectations while drawing on the past, reflecting on the present, and inspiring readers who often become devotees of the genre. Themes we will examine in these texts and the archives include – gender, race, sexuality, marriage, the family, class, spirituality, joy, beauty, business, the cultural uses of history, and the production and commercialization of pleasure. Class sessions will connect texts and their historical moments with cultural criticism, genre analysis, and archival exploration.

 This seminar seeks to engage the broader Radcliffe student community and may culminate in a public offering.

Course Notes

This course can be used to meet the "North America" History Concentration requirement or the seminar requirement.