Annotated Bibliography

Christoffersen, Kari. “Paranormal Romance Novels: Another Form Of Tradition In The Modern World.” Conference Papers—American Sociological Association (2010): 81. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

       Kari Christoffersen is a PhD candidate associated with the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, has a masters degree in Sociology, and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and Russian Area Studies. Her article is a presentation that she gave concerning romance novels. The article talks about how/why females enjoy a specific romance genre: Paranormal romance. The author referenced other sources used to help provide information. The article also mentions the ways that romance novels themselves are viewed by readers.

       The main argument of the author is women enjoy paranormal romance novels as a way to offer a way to cope with problems in the world and keep a sense of tradition in the world. The article expresses that women like paranormal romance through the different elements expressed/seen throughout the genre. These elements include vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. It also explains that romance novels in general are so enjoyable because they allow women to enjoy emotional nurturance that they do not experience in every day life. I feel that the article shows that women enjoy paranormal romance as a way to relax and unwind from chaotic and difficult days they experience every day. The spiritual messages that are provided in the stories themselves can help give the readers a sense of hope in a dark and depressing time.

        I feel that this article is useful in my research because it gives me information on the topic “romance” itself; it also supplies information pertaining to paranormal romance novels and females attraction towards them. This will help with my research paper because it (the paper) focuses on the female enjoyment of romance novels with a specific genre being paranormal romance. This article shows really good examples for why women seem to want and like to read paranormal romance.

Coddington, Lynn. “Wavering Between Worlds: Feminist Influences in the Romance Genre.” Paradoxa: Studies In World Literacy Genres. Ed. Victor Reinking et.al.. N.A.: Paradoxa, 1997. 58-77. Print.
            Lynn Coddington completed her doctoral dissertation at the University of California at Berkeley, published both historical and category romances as Allison Hayes, and sold fourth book to Silhouette Books. The article shows the different feminist influences that are expressed in romance novels. The article provides examples throughout that help demonstrate the views seen in the various novels.
            The main argument of the author is the feminist views of romance novels and assumptions that people have of romance novels. The novels are viewed as being the same and trashy due to all of the sentiment shown. These novels still manage to reinforce women to negative gender roles that produce heterosexual gender relations of control. Romance is a genre that is constantly changing. The stories shared in the articles help to reinforce these ideas. I feel that the article helps express the way females play a role in romance novels; it shows that females are just as important as males, even though they clearly show that women should serve men (heroes).
            This article will be helpful for my research because it provides me with some interesting insight into the influence and roles of females inside and outside romance novels. I found the information to be very interesting, and I would like to share it in my paper.

 

Mitchell, Kaye. “Raunch Versus Prude: Contemporary Sex Blogs And Erotic Memoirs By Women.” Psychology & Sexuality 3.1 (2012): 12-25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.

            Kaye Mitchell is a professor in the department of English and American Studies at the University of Manchester in Manchester, UK. She is a lecturer in Contemporary Literature, programme director of MA Contemporary Literature & Culture, and an author of two books and articles on gender, sexuality, and contemporary literature. Her article expresses the views of sex blogs and erotic memoirs. The differences and similarities between the two are shown in the article as well.

            The main argument of the author is the fact that most romance novels started as a sex blog or erotic memoir. These forms of writing are not new; they were not readily available like they are today. The technologies that we have allow personal experiences to be recorded and expressed. The author shows that these blogs mention anxiety towards female desire and sexual pleasure. The blogs are aimed at female readers, and they blur the boundaries between what is fiction and non-fiction. It is said that blogs and memoirs allow females to openly express their sexuality since they could not share with friends and lovers. I feel that the article shows a good representation of why females enjoy romance novels. This article has given me an insight to the feelings expressed and felt through this experience.

            I believe this article will be very helpful with my research paper because it provides information about romance novels and the feelings expressed from readers. The article helps explain why women read and write romance.

Mussel, Kay. “Where’s Love Gone? Transformations in Romance Fiction and Scholarship.” Paradoxa: Studies In The World Literacy Genres. Ed. Victor Reinking et. al.. N.A.: Paradoxa, 1997. 3-14. Print.

            Kaye Mussell has a PhD in American Civilization, a professor of Literature and American Studies, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in College of Arts and Sciences, and an author of books and articles about women’s romance. The article shows that there are differences between past romance novels and present ones. The author expresses how she wrote romance that was not successful and how she came around to being involved in the genre again.

            The main argument of the author is the differences seen between past and present novels. Past novels were written with a serious, somber, and little humor at all style. The newer novels have rare grammatical errors and are unpredictable and interesting. The new novels show that happy endings are open-minded and realistic; they express that showing love does not fix any problems. The heroes and heroines have support for their romance from friends and families, which is not the case so much with older romance novels. I feel that this article shows how people, especially women, have come to enjoy romance novels. It appears that they are enjoyed more now-a-days than before, and it is clearly shown why.

            This article is useful for my research by providing information towards the reasons for why females enjoy romance novels. It helps express this through the differences between past and present novels along with readers’ feelings and reactions towards the novels as well.

Radway, Janice. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984. Print.

            Janice Radway is an associate professor of American Civilization at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book challenges myths that arise about the reason romance fiction captivates women so much. It is believed that women read romances because it claims their dependence of men. Radway uses different approaches including readers’s responses to question the claim.

            The main argument of the author is that women do not read romances to claim dependence of men. She uses forty-two readers of romance novels and their responses/experiences to help her challenge the claim of women needing to depend on men. it is shown that this is not true, even though the novels do not express the idea of women’s independence of men.

            I feel that this book helps with my research because it provides information on why females read romance novels; it helps to give me a viewpoint as to if the reasons that are expressed are really true or not. This book has very interesting information that I would love to include in my research paper.

Struve, Laura, and LAURA STRUVE. “Sisters Of Sorts: Reading Romantic Fiction And The Bonds Among Female Readers.” Journal Of Popular Culture 44.6 (2011): 1289-1306. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Laura Struve is an associate professor of English for Wilmington College; her article explains the reasons for why females enjoy romance novels so much. The author uses several different sources within the article itself. There are differing views on the genre (romance) itself. The article discusses how society views romance and it readers along with the effects this genre can have on those who read it and his/her surroundings.

The main argument of the author is that women read these novels to try and find other women who also have read the romance novels. This is seen as “searching for sisters.” The article expresses how females read the novels and then share ideas and opinions with other women. This helps to spread the word on the different titles and writers that are favorites among this “community.” Females do not wait around for men because they are looking for others who read the romance genre.

Struve mentions the ways in which women enjoy the genre, but the main one is to find other women who read the same novels. These women communicate with each other either in person or through the internet; this causes the women to be considered “sisters.” This article will be useful to my research because it provide information about my topic of women and their enjoyment of romance novels. The article also provides background information on the genre that can be useful in the research paper as well. I feel that this a good source to use in my paper because it helps provide information for my topic along with additional information on the romance genre.

I feel that in order to understand why women are so drawn to this genre, one has to understand what a romance novel is, and this article helps give some explanations as to what other authors feel the genre is about.