Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
116,888
edits
m (update links) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (work->trope, copyedits) |
||
Line 1:
{{
[[File:romance_cover_015_7106.jpg|frame|Plenty of [[Costume Porn]], and actual porn.]]
A genre of [[Literature]] that has become popular starting in the early 20th century. While romantic subplots have existed in fiction since fairly close to the beginning, romance as a focal point and driving force hadn't really been explored in depth until the last few centuries. Romance novels as an industry started in [[The Thirties]] with the company of Mills and Boon releasing hardcover romance novels. The genre changed significantly with the distribution of ''The Flame and the Flower'', which is noteworthy for showing that buyers of romance novels are more than happy to read about sex. The genre has since evolved over time, gaining a number of subgenres in the process.
Line 7 ⟶ 6:
While [[Subverted Trope|subversions]], [[Averted Trope|aversions]], [[Deconstruction|deconstructions]], and [[The Parody|parodies]] are prevalent, most romance novels are [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|fairly idealistic]] and end [[Happily Ever After]].
A couple of companies such as Harlequin (Mills and Boon in the U.K.) have started a business model of releasing relatively short (~55,000 words), [[Strictly Formula]] paperbacks. These are known as "category" or "series" romances because they are divided into series, each of which has its own requirements for setting, tone, and level of sensuality and is visually distinguishable by consistent cover design.
"Single title" romances -- those released as
The genre has always had a bit of a stigma to it, generally getting critically dismissed as "not literature" for most of its existence. They are often derisively known as "bodice-rippers" (particularly the historic ones) or "trashy romance novels" though it's obviously a stereotype that they all have [[Coitus Ensues|gratuitous sex scenes]]. Some cynical souls have observed that the stereotypical
For tropes popular within Romance Novels, see [[Romance Novel Tropes]]. [[Paranormal Romance]] is a subgenre.
{{examples|Examples of the genre (beyond series romance titles) include:}}
* [[The Age of Innocence]]
* [[The Alien Series]]
|