Fat and Fabulous: The Power of Contemporary Romance as a Site of Anti-Oppression Work
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Date
2023-03
Authors
Cole, Lauryn
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Contemporary Romance, while building on a foundation of traditional Romantic idealism, is often referring to novels that have been historically scoffed at by literary scholars. Because of the wide, sustained reach of these books (the genre currently occupies about 18% of all literary sales), it’s not only worth studying them as literary works but also in terms of what they’re doing in our current cultural landscape.
As an avid reader of Romance myself, I’ve found myself fascinated by which features are emphasized in these texts and the way women’s bodies are written, particularly the bodies of fat women. My research for this project looks at two novels published in the last twenty years, each of which features a plus-sized heroine and chart the evolution of language and characterization of women’s bodies as the genre has progressed. This project will serve to demonstrate the feasibility and value of doing academic research on Contemporary Romance and to situate close readings of these novels within the literary theories of Intersectional Feminism, Fat Studies, Cultural Studies, and Reader Response. My application of these theoretical frameworks to the understudied genre of Romance will help to fill in the gaps of existing research, build connections between disciplines, and propose a new facet of productive inquiry with radical cultural implications.
Description
54 pages
Keywords
fat representation in romance, fat studies, cultural studies, intersectional feminism, romance