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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

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of Chinese

This diploma thesis thematically follows up one of subgenres of young adult popular literature - paranormal romance. Its main aim is to create a comprehensive definition of this subgenre on the basis of interpretation of representative sagas - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Silence, Finale), Nightshade by Andrea R. Cremer (Nightshade, Wolfsbane, Bloodrose, Snakeroot), Wings by Aprilynne Pike (Wings, Spells, Illusions, Destined) and Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares). The thesis was divided into eight chapters. In the first chapter we have outlined the historical development of paranormal romance, in the second part we focused on its genre characteristic. In the third and fourth chapters we tried to create a prototype of heroine and hero of this subgenre. The fifth part is about the steady plot schemes in paranormal romances. In the sixth chapter we have tried to determine a model form of relationship main pair of lovers in the analyzed subgenre. In the seventh part we discussed conflict between everyday reality and the supernatural and the social hierarchy in the fiction world of paranormal romances and we introduced supernatural species and races that...