Archive for the 'Pop Culture Association 2010' category

PCA Romance Panel 5: The Safe Spaces of Romance: Smart Bitches, Dear Author and a New Romance Documentary

Apr 02 2010 Published by under Pop Culture Association 2010

These are my notes from the PCA-ACA conference in 2010. Click here for contact information for the panelists in case you’d like to follow up. Please note that my notes are fallible, and attempt to communicate merely the gist of the presentations, not their entire substance.

Romance: Romance V: The Safe Spaces of Romance (4/1/10)
Session Chair: Pamela Regis, McDaniel College

“The Romance Community: A Room of One’s Own and Écriture Feminine”‖ Pamela Regis

Woolf – a room of one’s own means not just a physical room but all of the things women need to write at all

Cixous: women need to be free of men’s language

Claim: women have a room of their own in Romancelandia (she says this term was coined by SBTB which I never knew!) and ecriture feminine in the online community

Positions herself in relation to Woolf and Cixous as a reader, not as an expert. Sets aside voluminous commentary on both.

PR notes we still have attacks on the genre

For example, Lisa Fletcher’s book – uses postmodern theory to argue it is possible to read some of our culture’s most sexist and homophobic texts differently, especially historical romance novels

Online romance community evidences ecriture feminine, albeit not in a dialect she would recognize

Romance writers, mainly women, help create the space in which the romance community gathers

A virtual room which the SB’s furnish.

Uses 10 texts, from her keeper shelf, including Bet Me, Indigo, The Sheik, A Civil Contract, and Again as a sample.

Summarizes Cixous. “Break up the Truth with laughter”. , i.e. the old truth. The received truth.

 She focuses on Herendeen’s Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander.

The romance community is big.

They celebrate romance while subjecting it to scrutiny (cites Cassie Edwards scandal, which was reported by SBTB and caused CE to lose her contract).

Logos, ethos, pathos and humor all found at SBTB

Cites Veatch’s account of humor. Requires simultaneity – feeling normal about a violation of our affective commitments. Says whole blog works on principle that affective commitment that romance is trash, is bashed into the normality,  evidenced by the existence of years of posts, reviews, and comments.

Romance readers are not cool, but Sarah and Candy are cool. [Edited to add: I think the idea here is that the perception is that romance readers are not cool. SBs have found a way to break up this received truth with humor. They are romance readers, yet cool.]

Cites Beyond Heaving Bosoms – heroic wang, etc.

Sentimental themes in romance novels, track norms in culture: home, affection, sympathy, kinship

But SBs talk about sex scenes, while invoking sentimental basis of romance novels. We need to talk about those.

They furnish the room constructed by romance writers. They break up the phallocentric ideology.

Jane Litte, Blogger, Dear Author

Claims her position as a reader.  Cites Superwendy, Rosario, and Maili as inspirations.

Notes different viewpoints based on different cultural and sociopolitical backgrounds and how important that is to the blogosphere.

Online community emboldens readers to be proud of their love of the genre. Meets a need unmet in real life. That is the safe space, the woman’s place we have created together.

References Hilzoy’s Obsidian Wings, who claimed, a few years ago,  that romance novels are not books, but tools for relaxation or porn.

Responses to Hilzoy were numerous and quick. Showed she actually had a lot of romance readers among her blog readers.

Fast forward to 2010 – Laura who blogs on the front page of Daily Koz, prominent left wing political blog, passionate defense of romance. Represented seismic shift. Jane attributes this to online romance community.

“Growing Intentional Communities: The Popular Romance Project”‖ Laurie Kahn, Brandeis University

 Romance fiction as a financial powerhouse – unknown to many outside romland

Many also do not know about proliferation of romance subgenres

Her life’s work is to explore the lives of extraordinary ordinary women who have been dismissed and/or overlooked.

Has done documentaries on A Midwfie’s Tale and on Tupperware.

Now working on The Popular Romance Project for PBS

PBS seeks new model: documentary with ancillary website as an afterthought is old news. Need new concept, multimedia, web 2.0

Four interwoven cross-platform programs:

  1. Documentary film Love Between the Covers (she will write, produce, direct and write) – about romance readers writers bloggers editors agents cover art – an attempt to convey the world of romance novels.
  2. Library of Congress Center for the Book one day academic Symposium
  3. Nationwide Library Program with the American Library Association – nationwide discussion group program as well as traveling exhibit
  4. Popular Romance Project Website, created by the Center for History and New Media

Wants to bring all different groups together. Truly multiplatform.

Aims to stepback and look at popular romance novels in the context of popular romance across time, culture, sand also romcoms, films, advice manuals, courtship manuals.

She’s been attending all the conferences. Will be at RT end of the month, RWA in July.

Has board of scholarly advisors: Tara McPherson, USC, editor of Vectors, Tricia Rose, Brown, Ronald Walters, Johns Hopkins, Mary Bly, Fordham, Jack Santino, BGSU

 Folktales, advertisements, first person stories, video interviews, cover art,

She starts shooting this summer.

12 responses so far

PCA Romance Panel 3: Nora Roberts: Food, Community, and Voice

Apr 01 2010 Published by under Pop Culture Association 2010

(Brief notes on papers given at the PCA-ACA Conference in St. Louis)

Thursday April 1

Romance III: Nora Roberts: Food, Community, and Voice
Session Chair: An Goris, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven/DePaul University

“Recipes and Rituals: Food and Religion in Nora Roberts’ Three Sisters Island Trilogy”‖ Tessa Kostelc, The George Washington University

Through close textual analysis, this paper demonstrates importance of food and its connections to spirituality and mysticism, and to romance in this trilogy.

Circle Trilogy (2006) – Morrigan’s Cross, Dance of the Gods, Valley of Silence.

Heroine’s understanding of the kitchen spills over into her understanding of Wicca, the religion of her ancestors and new friends on circle island.

And then she compares that to relationships – time, originality, imagination, care – all ingredients of recipes, Wicca, and romance.

Further, food creates communal bonds – centrality of café, of group meals.

“Lights, Audiobooks, Action!: The Recreation of Narrative Voice in Nora Roberts’s The Circle Trilogy”‖ Glinda Hall, University of Arkansas

Notes the importance of voice to romance readers. She has a hard time with Nora Roberts. Notes that when she listened to the Circle Trilogy on audio during a 4 hour commute, she was hooked.

Does the performance reinvent the author’s voice, creating another community of romance readers.

She is a fan of NR’s performed word, but not her written word. NR as a storyteller – GH is a fan of her stories but in a particular form.

Issues of marginalization of the performed text parallel in some ways issues of marginalization in the genre.

[Later, someone suggested that Nora works well on audio because she tends not to write in complete sentences.]

“Let’s Keep It in the Family: Nora Roberts’ Connected Books”‖ An Goris

Theme of family and community crucial to NR’s oeuvre (200+ books, 400 million in print).

Connected book  format –which had been new in early 1990s, shift in genre and its publication practices

Genre of romance seems at first resistant to connected series, since each novel has a definitive ending

Also hesitation because of publication practices, of M&B, Harlequin, Silhouette in 1970s and 80s: focus in marketing on genre not novel itself. Not geared towards relevantly distinguishing novels.

Two-Three decades ago generic conventions were more dominant.

Moved from line driven to author driven genre. (title and author smaller type than words “Silhouette Special Edition”)

Roberts’ first use of connected books format was in 1985, 4 books about MacGregor siblings for Silhouette.

Typically, HEA is more of a promise than narratively portrayed in any depth. NR excels at fulfilling promise of HEA in subsequent books.

When SSE reissue these every few years, title and author are emphasized a little bit more, until in 2006 her name is the biggest thing on the page.

1991  Calhoun sisters novels for Silhouette Desire. First time connection is noted in marketing, with a special Calhoun logo on each book. (Courting Catherine, etc.)

Yet each book lives up to its generic identification – courtship narrative with HEA.

Power balance between genre conventions and individuals author.

Circle Trilogy 2006. They no longer function independently. Romance narrative relies on all books.

Relationship between genre and author has now changed.

The tendency to write families and communities was always there in NR. But it developed over her career in ways that changed the genre, its narrative and publication practices.

Now connected books are very popular in genre. Notes that this individuating dynamic is not much studies in popular romance criticism.

We need to incorporate tendencies to individuation in our criticism, in addition to emphasis on genre.

[Sarah Frantz asks the first question, noting that it was in fact Sam and Alyssa, Suzanne Brockman’s characters, who first began their courtship in a book in which they don’t have their HEA.]

Disclaimer: These summaries are just one person’s interpretation, which is fallible. To follow up, click this link to contact the speakers for more information.

5 responses so far

PCA Romance Panel 2: The Dark Side of Romance: Rape, Serial Killers, and Power Dynamics

Apr 01 2010 Published by under Pop Culture Association 2010

(Brief notes on papers given in the Romance Area for the 2010 PCA-ACA Conference in St. Louis)

Thursday April 1

Romance II: The Dark Side of Romance: Rape, Serial Killers, and Power Dynamics
Session Chair: Sarah S. G. Frantz, Fayetteville State University

This session was very well attended, with at least 35 people.

“Romancing the Rapist: The Myriad Uses of Sexual Force and Violence in Genre Romance”‖ Robin Harders, University of California, Irvine

Robin was unable to attend, so I read her paper out loud. I can say it was very well received, lots of folks taking notes and nodding along.

Not all rape is created equal in the genre, and the use of sexual force in Romance is contextualized by both the individual book and reader.

For example, we can’t equate the villain’s threats against the heroine with the hero’s. The former is generally not a rape fantasy.

Analysis of rape fantasies are often not textually informed and are therefore inaccurate, assuming, for example, that hero wants complete submission.

Wants to create a critical space for a take on rape in romance. So far, the two approaches, that it is mere fantasy, and to amenable to analysis, or that it is a manifestation of patriarchal oppression.

Emphasizes importance of consent of the reader, whose external gaze is a significant, and undertheorized element.

Looks closely at Christina Dodd’s 1997 A Well-Pleasured Lady, Sarah Craven’s 2009 The Innocent Surrender, and Anna Campbell’s 2007 Claiming the Courtesan.

“Alpha Male: Dominance, Submission, and Masculinity in Popular Romance Fiction”‖ Sarah S. G. Frantz

Talks about an early Joey Hill Ellora’s Cave series, “Nature of Desire”, and what she is doing with BDSM. Lauren is set in opposition to clichés and caricatures of BDSM. The emotional connection is emphasized, BDSM as an identity, as part of a person’s essence.  is key. Book is part of Hill’s metacriticism of the romance genre as a whole. Hill connects to subtle power dynamics of gender in all romance.  Carries weight of political implications, especially gender power dynamics, of genre as a whole.

Theory of polysexuality, which allows BDSM as a sexual identity, is better than monosexuality, which says anything other than homosexuality or heterosexuality is a sexual practice only. Gender is just one axis of sexual identity, with domination and submission, sadism and masochism, among others, intersecting in complicated and unpredictable ways. Multidimensional.

Take that theory and apply it to what Hill is doing with her books. (Sarah refers to what she is doing as “wildly extrapolating” although it definitely sounds more rigorous than that.)

What follows is a close textual analysis of, especially, Holding the Cards.

Hill’s comments on construction of masculinity in romance genre are key to this book. Masculine submission is closely connected to construction by females of men in romance genre. Sharp focusing lens of BDSM power exchange. She has never written a fully submissive woman, despite being one herself.

“Serial Killers Make Great Boyfriends?: Dexter and Dark Heroes”‖ Amber Botts, Neodesha High School

Explains that she is trying to apply romance studies more broadly, which is why she is presenting this at a romance panel, not at a TV panel.

Notes that as a romance reader, she reacts to certain cues. Thinks show is so popular because Dexter operates as a dark romance hero. Also people rationalize that he only targets “bad” people.

First, is he really a serial killer? TV portrayal of serial killers not accurate in general. There is a checklist which you can access via Dr. Phil’s website (much laughter here).

Dexter is in the gray zone – he has feelings, but worries that he doesn’t. He has a conscience and a moral code, but it allows him to kill – only bad people. Romantic dark heroes often occupy this gray area as well. For example, rapes and forced seduction, Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld, Feehan’s Carpathian series heroes are sociopaths prior to when they meet their mates.

Dark heroes capable of destroying everything when their dark side takes control – Anne Stewart. Dexter similarly acknowledges his capacity to unleash more destruction.

Identifies self as a predator – something you get a lot in romance, especially in paranormal.

Also protective, rescues people.

Has a romantic relationship. Rita has no fear for herself or her kids from Dexter.

Dexter wants a normal life but feels he is doomed to not have one. Just like in so many romances with dark tortured heroes.

Like so many dark heroes he sees himself as less redeemable than we do.

Also Dexter is not sexual, says he doesn’t really get it. Similar to Kresley Cole, Lindsay Sands, others in paranormal romance whose sexuality requires the heroine to awaken.

Much better to think of him as a dark hero rather than a serial killer or sociopath. He has some aspects of the latter two, but neither fit.

“Reality v. Writing: Walking the Tightrope of Reader Expectations, Personal Knowledge and Romance Tropes”‖ James Buchanan, Romance Author

Notes that she hates standing at a podium because it makes her feel like she is back in court. (lawyer? )

Pubs call is m/m, but she prefers “gay romance” because she doesn’t like taking the politics out of it.

Gay rom puts two people on same gender footing, taking power dynamics out. Lots of narrative possibilities absent in m/f romance. In m/m tropes still there but you can mix and match. For example, you can allow power dynamic to change and flow.

Notes that her personal experience (member of National Leather Association) informs her writing but has to be informed by what readers want. For example, slave chow is not something you can start talking about in a romance book.

Insists romance hero traits that Lori Devoti listed in her RtB column, such as wealthier, older, well hung hero are all there in m/m. Not coded in same gender language but they are there.

The dynamic of the “unequal equal”. The person who eats out of a dogbowl is not necessarily unequal to the person making him do it.

Notes culture came out of warrior culture, exp World War II. That’s a male culture, which women are only beginning to inhabit, with increased military roles.

In gay rom, men can be more vulnerable, and both partners can be vulnerable, and a vulnerable man is a sexy man.

In Q&A both Sarah and James opine that f/f romance does not work to dispel gender power dynamics the way m/m does, because readers are women.

I managed to score a James Buchanan book, Hard Fall, for which I paid, but also a free JB coffee mug. I felt I should disclose these facts although I don’t think they affect my summary of the talk. Had the coffee mug been filled with a nonfat latte from Satrbucks, I would have been seriously compromised.

Please note that these are one fallible person’s impressions of the talks. Visit the PCA website for emails of the presenters to follow up.

7 responses so far

PCA Romance Panel 1: Romancing Bollywood

Apr 01 2010 Published by under Pop Culture Association 2010

(Brief notes on papers given in the Romance Area for the 2010 PCA-ACA Conference in St. Louis)

Thursday April 1

Romance I: Romancing Bollywood
Session Chair: Eric Murphy Selinger, DePaul University

“Reading Bollywood Reading Romance: Jaane Tu Janne Na”‖ Eric Murphy Selinger

Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai (Know it or not), a romantic comedy. Eric notes that he is at a double remove from his subject, both as one of the 10% minority of readers who has curly hair, and as a US scholar. Later he breaks out into song.

Romantic love / romantic fiction / premodern narrative pleasure  — the film brings all three together.

This is a very detailed examination of the film,  and thus not easy to summarize, even briefly.

Citing Barthes. Mass culture is a machine for showing desire. That’s what this film does: there are certain types of men and woman who interest us, certain types of music which do, and above all love stories must interest us, especially those with an HEA.

But, adds ES, there is no foreclosing the irreducibility and multiplicity of self-reference. For example, love stories are ways we recognize and articulate messy experiences: Where is that world where my life is not such a stranger to me? Whatever their medium representations of romantic love are a push back against the tyranny of fact. The more we have, the more we can play them off against each other in non doxological ways.

We already know this imaginative and cross cultural work is done by high art. So it is in popular romance, whatever the medium.

Found in Translation: Hindi Cinema‘s Take on Romance in English Language
Film”‖ Jayashree Kamble, University of Minnesota

JK focuses on differences between two films, Love Actually (2003), and Salaam E Ishq (2007). For example, Indian film shies away from sex outside context of marriage. India filmic tradition should not be confused with Indian cultural mores, which it often contests. And this film innovates on Indian cinema itself, for example, by keeping the camera on a newlywed couple who attempt comically to consummate their marriage.  The newlywed storyline is an adaptation of the John and Judy storyline in Love Actually. John and Judy met by serving as standins for sex scenes in film, not a scenario that would work in Indian cinema.

JK goes on to show how the different storylines in LA are transformed in innovative ways by SI, drawing in interesting creative ways on both the source material – Love Actually – and Hindu cultural traditions and Indian film techniques and tropes.  The sacrificing lover, the rich girl falling in love with the nice poor guy, etc. are common themes in Indian cinema which are utilized to transform storylines in Love Actually.

JK notes that Indian cinema is always changing. For example, SI portrays emotional and sexual compatibility across cultures, and the reality and import of sexual desire, two themes traditionally eschewed. She relates this to the form of English language romance novels – via Bakhtin –  and concludes that these kinds of studies will not only help us to understand Indian cinema but romance novels as well.

“‘My Heart It Speaks a Thousand Words’: Language, Race, and Romance in
Bollywood Cinema”‖ Pavitra Sundar, Dartmouth University

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India  (Land Tax 2001):

Best selling soundtrack for the film includes lyrics sung by Elizabeth in English. Very unusual.

Usually singing is done by hero and heroine in Hindi cinema, figures of goodness, upholding of moral universe.  The character of Elizabeth represents a key change in Hindi cinema’s representation of white women. Not a vamp, but pure of heart and morality. All of this is signaled by the accent, lyrics, musical structure, setting of her singing, etc. Her desire is signaled by conventional love tropes of all cinema and of Hindi cinema in particular. But she is set apart as well.

Also explores the importance of language to communication of love. Elizabeth can only voice her forbidden desire in English. Bhuvan, the object of her desire, seems to suggest Hindi is the language of love.

Notes that Elizabeth’s voice is both an advance but also limited. In a longer paper she discusses split between aural and visual messages of the film, with the latter giving us a glimpse of a world with fewer boundaries, suggesting Bollywood’s portrayal of romantic love is not as straightforward or utopian as often thought to be.

Disclaimer: These summaries are just one person’s interpretation, which is fallible. To follow up, click this link to contact the speakers for more information.

3 responses so far

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