This study aims to explore gender norms within the romance genre when they are no longer applied on a romantic relationship between a man and a woman. Through a close reading of the novel Power Plays & Straight A’s by Eden Finley and Saxon James, the study examines the main characters, Foster Grant and Zach Sawyer, to observe how they fit into the roles of a traditional romance hero and heroine. The main source for this observation comes from Janice Radway’s study Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (1991) which exemplifies the differences between the genders with the use of contrasting traits. The characters are also analysed in a societal context to observe how they abide by traditional masculinity and how their sexuality plays a part in it. There is also an overview of the novel through the perspective of both a traditional romance as well as a queer romance novel, in which terms like escapism, happy endings and coming outs are explored. Finally, there is a section specifically focused on desire and how it has changed within the genre, which is applied because the novel in question is an erotic novel as well as a romance novel. The conclusion showcases how the characters cannot be assigned to a typical female nor male role, as they both possess the traits traditionally assigned to both genders. As for their role in society, traditional masculinity is questioned, seeing as the character of Foster specifically embodies the rules of masculinity through his athletic pursuits and place within the jock culture – but would still get shunned because of his bisexuality. Furthermore, the novel possesses several traits of a traditional romance novel, most importantly the happy ending, while also including typical queer romance traits – such as a coming out scene. Desire also takes a prominent role since both main characters have an equal craving for the other. The overall conclusion of this study showcases the changing tides of the romance genre and how, despite its formulaic layout, it doesn’t render the ability for change of a genre that once seemed predictable. / Denna uppsats utforskar könsnormer i romancegenren när det inte längre tillämpas på en romantisk relation mellan en man och en kvinna. Genom en närläsning av romanen Power Plays & Straight A’s av Eden Finley och Saxon James, undersöker studien huvudkaraktärerna, Foster Grant och Zach Sawyer, för att observera hur de passar in i rollen som hjälte och hjältinna utifrån en traditionell romance-roman. Den primära forskning som uppsatsen bygger på är Janice Radways studie Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (1991) som exemplifierar skillnaderna mellan könen med användning av motsatta egenskaper. Karaktärerna analyseras också i ett samhälleligt sammanhang för att observera hur de förhåller sig till traditionell maskulinitet och den påverkan som karaktärernas sexualitet har i förhållande till den maskulina kulturen. I uppsatsen görs även en översiktlig studie av romanen genom perspektivet av både en traditionell romance och en queer romance, där jag utforskar begrepp som eskapism, lyckliga slut och att komma ut. Slutligen finns det ett avsnitt som fokuserar på begär och hur det har förändrats inom genren, vilket tillämpas eftersom romanen i fråga är en erotisk roman såväl som en romance-roman. Slutsatsen visar hur karaktärerna inte kan tilldelas en typisk kvinnlig eller manlig roll, eftersom de båda har egenskaper som traditionellt tilldelas båda könen. När det gäller deras roll i samhället ifrågasätts traditionell maskulinitet, eftersom karaktären av Foster specifikt förkroppsligar maskulinitetens regler genom hans plats inom sportkulturen - men ändå skulle bli avvisad från machokulturen på grund av sin bisexualitet. Romanen innehåller flera drag av en traditionell romance-roman, viktigast av allt det lyckliga slutet, samtidigt som den innehåller typiska queerromance drag – som en komma ut-scen. Begär tar också en framträdande roll eftersom båda huvudkaraktärerna likgiltigt får sukta efter den andre. Den övergripande slutsatsen av den här studien visar romancegenrens föränderliga tidvatten och hur den, trots dess typiska formler, inte hindrar möjligheten till förändring av en genre som en gång framstått som förutsägbar.

Chicana literature is often discussed in relation to broad literary or theoretical movements (post-modernism, magic realism, or feminism) but these approaches often fail to account for or even consider other culturally derived sources of critical interrogation. For example, Chicana authors, through direct references or allusions, demonstrate that Spanish-language soap operas, known as telenovelas, have a cultural currency that can bridge people across generations, nationalities, and class differences. Telenovelas also have theoretical value, for these productions often feature stories that address issues of race, class, gender, nationality, language, and violence. Reading contemporary Chicana literature through the lens of the telenovela, including its history and status as a cultural form, reveals the ways in which Chicana authors not only rely on but also revise the form. They disrupt the rigid Manichean world view present in telenovelas by challenging heteronormative romance and traditional gender roles to allow for alternate stories, where endings are not always tidy or happy. Drawing on recent ethnographic research in communication studies, I examine the history of Spanish-language television within the U.S. to substantiate the cultural currency of and show how the telenovela permeates and informs Mexican-American identity. Relying on the work of Jesús Martín-Barbero, I trace the development of the melodrama and romance genres out of which telenovelas emerge, evolving from newspaper serials, radionovelas, fotonovelas, to comic strip novels or libros semanales. I focus on the literary roots of the telenovela genre (with its origins in 19th century European serialized fiction) in relation to early Mexican-American historical romance narratives (María Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Jovita González, and Eve Raleigh). Based on Gustavo Aprea and Rolando C. Martínez Mendoza's definition of the telenovela genre, I examine how contemporary Chicana fiction (Denise Chávez, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, and Nina Marie Martínez) both conforms to and deviates from the generic conventions. I provide a culturally based critical strategy for offering alternate readings of Chicana literature to show how these authors use the popularity of the telenovela form to reach a specific audience and lend new insight into how viewers, familiar with the genre conventions, are comparable to literary critics. / text