Romance (Paperback - 2004)

Often derided as an inferior form of literature, "romance" as a literary mode or genre defies satisfactory definition, dividing critics, scholars, and readers alike. In this lucid, imaginative guidebook. Barbara Fuchs: • traces the myriad transformations of romance throughout literary history • examines the concept's relation to larger questions of literary and cultural theory • asks what the history of romance can tell us about the theories of genre • probes the resistance to romance, asking what broader issues might be in play • explores definitions which might help us to recognize and analyze it in new forms • argues the usefulness of romance to critics as a literary strategy rather than a fixed genre Romance is a clear and wide-ranging introduction for students of literary history, comparative literature, and modern literary forms. It is also a convincing case for a literary concept too often set to one side.

Barbara Fuchs is Associate Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania.