Abstract/Details

'reine ou esclave...': conflicting images of women in the contemporary 'romantic novel' in france

Paizis, George.   Birkbeck University of London ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1986. U142534.

Abstract (summary)

The romantic novel in France has enjoyed enormous success in the last seven years. Its readership constitutes the largest and most homogenous group of readers in terms of sex and social class. The purpose of this thesis is to shed some light on the causes of the popularity of these novels.

A singular "blend of the material and the sentimental, romantic novels are an affective commodity. Competition dictates that the sellers constantly monitor and modify their books to suit the exact requirements of the buyers. As such, romantic novels reflect real demands from the readers.

The genre has attracted comment and some analysis from both the right, its defenders, and critics, usually feminists. Paradoxically, both critical strategies have tended to posit the reader as passive victim. Both share a common assumption of the univocity of the text and both see the genre as playing a functional role in the insertion of the female reader in the process of social reproduction.

But can the meaning and the value of the text to the reader be reduced to its predetermined ideological messages? And does the reading necessarily force the reader to passive consumption of its messages?

Our study will first describe the conditions of production of the novels and establish a tentative portrait of the readership in France. We will then examine the packaging of the books .and the constitutive elements of the narrative in order to discover what the values are, how these are posited and worked by the romantic novel and whether they constitute and propagate a coherent ideology.

By means of a textual analysis we hope to reveal why the romantic novel appeals and its possible social effect, whether it forecloses the options available to the reader or if it also expresses consciousness of oppression, elements of protest and opens avenues of resistance.

Indexing (details)


Subject
Romance literature;
Books
Classification
0313: Romance literature
Identifier / keyword
(UMI)AAIU142534; Language, literature and linguistics
URL
https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.367832
Title
'reine ou esclave...': conflicting images of women in the contemporary 'romantic novel' in france
Author
Paizis, George
Number of pages
1
Degree date
1986
School code
8375
Source
DAI-C 70/29, Dissertation Abstracts International
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
University/institution
Birkbeck University of London
University location
England
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Note
Bibliographic data provided by EThOS, the British Library’s UK thesis service: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.367832
Dissertation/thesis number
U142534
ProQuest document ID
2038863372
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2038863372/abstract