Over the past 50 years there’s been a change in these attitudes, but there remains much work to do.

It has been seen as an oddity to be studied, not literature to be enjoyed and appreciated, let alone collected in the library’s stacks. The academy and its libraries have long had a fraught relationship with romance fiction. Below is an annotated version of my scripted remarks. I focused on a brief look at the history of scholarship and collecting related to romance within the academy. Rebecca Romney’s remarks situated the genre within publishing history, while Rebecca Baumann gave some great examples of ways romance novels can be used in book history instruction. We conceived of this panel as a way to get our colleagues in the rare book and special collections spaces to think differently about the romance genre. Media content that is spread thin in terms of facts and significanceĭigital media content that people choose to share through their networksġ0.On JI was part of a panel at the RBMS 2021 conference titled “Happily Rarer After: The Radical Act of Taking Popular Romance Fiction Seriously” with my fantastic friends Rebecca Baumann of the Lily Library at Indiana University and Rebecca Romney, co-founder of the rare book firm Type Punch Matrix. Media that reaches every corner of the globe Media content that spreads people apart from each other, in terms of political polarization It's rooted in the practice of women fanning themselves at the theater with actual fans, when they were overcome by the talent and attractiveness of the actors It's short for fanatic, indicating the negative view that society has historically held of media fans It's short for fantasy, since so many media fans enjoy the fantasy genre It's short for fantastic, since media fans think their favorite media is fantastic Where does the word 'fan,' in the sense of a devoted, enthusiastic member of the audience, come from?

Romance readers frequently engage in collective action, such as organizing conventions and protests against publishing houses that don't produce diverse romance novels.ĭ.By absorbing the heteronormativity of the romance genreĨ. Which of the following is NOT a way that romance readers are exemplary active audiences?Įven though fans of romance novels typically read a lot of books, they are discerning, distinguishing between quality plots and those that they dislike or disapprove of.Ī significant proportion of romance readers have become romance writers. In Reading the Romance, Janice Radway finds that for women who work in the home (as homemakers), the act of reading is:Īn activity they share with their familiesħ.

Reading the romance by janice radway