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x, 195 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation explores two subgenres of popular romance fiction that emerge in the 1990s: "corporate" and "paranormal" romance. While the formulaic conventions of popular romance have typically centralized the gendered tension between hero and heroine, this project reveals that "corporate" and "paranormal" romances negotiate a new primary conflict, the tension between work and home in the era of global capitalism. Transformations in political economy also occur at the level of personal and emotional life, which constitute the central problem that contemporary romances attempt to resolve. Drawing from sociological studies of globalization and intimacy, feminist criticism, and queer theory, I argue that these subgenres mark the transition from what David Harvey calls Fordist capitalism to flexible or global capitalism as the primary social condition negotiated in the popular romance. My analysis demonstrates that corporate and paranormal romance novels reflect changing ideals about intimacy in a globalized world that is increasingly influenced, socially and culturally, by the values and philosophies that dominate the marketplace. Each of these subgenres offers a distinct formal resolution to the cultural and social effects of a flexible capitalist economy. The "corporate" romances of Jayne Ann Krentz, Nora Roberts, Elizabeth Lowell, and Katherine Stone feature heroines who constantly navigate the dual and intersecting arenas of work and home in an effort to locate a balance that leads to success and happiness in both realms. In contrast, the "paranormal" romances of Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Kelley Armstrong, and Carrie Vaughn dissolve the tension between home and work, or the private and the public, by affirming the heroine's open and endless pursuit of pleasure, adventure, and self-fulfillment. Such new forms of romantic fantasy at once reveal the tension in globalization and the domination of corporate and masculinist values that the novels hope to overcome. / Committee in charge: David Leiwei Li, Chair; Mary Elene Wood; Cynthia H. Tolentino; Jiannbin L. Shiao

Writers of fiction have long since relied on love, romance, and desire to drive the plots of their work, yet some postcolonial authors use romance and interpersonal relationships to illustrate the larger political and social forces that affect their relatively marginalized experiences in a global context. To illustrate this literary strategy, I have chosen to discuss four novels written in the twenty-first century by Pakistani authors: Tbe Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, Trespassing by Uzma Aslam Khan, The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam, and Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie. With the geographical origin of these writers as a common starting place from which to compare and contrast their perspectives on global politics, their understandings of gender, and their perceptions of how the public and the private constitute and intersect each other, I will use postcolonial theory to dissect the treatment of romance in their respective novels. / v, 85 leaves ; 29 cm

English Studies / M.A. (English)

English Studies / M.A. (English)

Etiqueté péjorativement « roman à l’eau de rose », le roman sentimental, critiqué et plutôt méconnu, est pourtant un genre paralittéraire à succès. Bien qu’inspirant mépris et indifférence, cette production et son lectorat francophone méritent dès lors qu’on s’y attarde. Produit emblématique de la culture médiatique, le roman sentimental représente en effet un indicateur de mutations culturelles d’importance. Articulée en deux temps, notre analyse se centre, d’une part, sur les spécificités de cette production et, d’autre part, sur son lectorat francophone. L’examen du roman sentimental sous l’angle textuel, éditorial et auctorial est donc couplé à une enquête qualitative basée sur un ensemble d’entretiens semi-directifs visant à circonscrire les pratiques du lectorat, à éclaircir les motifs à la base de la lecture sentimentale et à déterminer sa fonction principale. / Doctorat en Langues et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished