FYS 51 Isn't It Romantic? Romance Novels as the People's Genre
While the term "romance novel" today often calls to mind tawdry love stories featuring heaving bosoms and uncontrollable passions, the genre of romance is much more complex than these stereotypes would make it seem. Early examples of romance are sprawling adventure narratives of chivalry, crusades, the supernatural, and yes, occasionally even love. Today, these tales have evolved into the modern day romance novel - a genre known for celebrating love, but which also often questions gender, sexuality, family and friend relationships, and professional success. In this course we will explore the genealogy of romance, asking not only what constitutes a romance, but also what the continuously popular genre can teach us about readers' desires and discontents across history. The course will include two mandatory field trips: one to visit The Ripped Bodice, a romance-focused bookstore in Culver City, on a Friday afternoon to be determined; and the other to the Los Angeles Festival of Books, Saturday April 26-Sunday April 27, exact day and time TBD. Open only to first-year frosh.