Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | European Journal of Cultural Studies |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 15 Mar 2019 |
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Keywords
- romance fiction
- feminism
- Birmingham Centre for cultural Studies
Cite this
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In defence of reading trash : feminists reading the romance. / Philips, Deborah.
15.03.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - In defence of reading trash
T2 - feminists reading the romance
AU - Philips, Deborah
PY - 2019/3/15
Y1 - 2019/3/15
N2 - In Cultural Populism, McGuigan argues that in British cultural studies ‘there is populist sentiment, but hardly any ‘sentimentality’ is discernible ’ (McGuigan, p. 13). I want to argue that there was then, and there remains, an arena of British cultural studies that has always been concerned with ‘sentimentality ’ – and that is the romance narrativeTo pay serious attention to popular forms is not necessarily to celebrate them or to, as McGuigan suggests, witheringly, to ‘affect a disingenuous solidarity with ordinary people and their preferences’ (McGuigan, p. 77). While, as Fay Weldon advocated, ‘knowing popular fictions for what they are’ is a necessary strategy, it is important to ignore her advice and to take them seriously. These texts articulate significant discourses, they make widespread anxieties and aspirations visible, and cultural critics need to pay close attention to what they have to tell us.
AB - In Cultural Populism, McGuigan argues that in British cultural studies ‘there is populist sentiment, but hardly any ‘sentimentality’ is discernible ’ (McGuigan, p. 13). I want to argue that there was then, and there remains, an arena of British cultural studies that has always been concerned with ‘sentimentality ’ – and that is the romance narrativeTo pay serious attention to popular forms is not necessarily to celebrate them or to, as McGuigan suggests, witheringly, to ‘affect a disingenuous solidarity with ordinary people and their preferences’ (McGuigan, p. 77). While, as Fay Weldon advocated, ‘knowing popular fictions for what they are’ is a necessary strategy, it is important to ignore her advice and to take them seriously. These texts articulate significant discourses, they make widespread anxieties and aspirations visible, and cultural critics need to pay close attention to what they have to tell us.
KW - romance fiction
KW - feminism
KW - Birmingham Centre for cultural Studies
M3 - Article
ER -