Dr Sam Hirst (who runs Romancing the Gothic) will be teaching "Falling in love with love: A History of Popular Romance", a course comprising 10 weekly sessions online (via Zoom), on Wednesdays at 6 - 7.30pm UK time, starting from Wednesday 21 January.
This module will explore the evolution of romance writing from the 18th century to the current day, looking not only at the novel but at the intertwined relationship between the romance novel and cinema. [...]
This course is aimed at romance readers and anyone who wants to explore the best-selling genre and most influential genre in publishing. Each week there will be a set text but extracts will also be provided as we are aware that participants will need to prioritise their reading.
Syllabus
- Amatory Fiction: 18th-Century Women Writing Desire
- Text: Eliza Haywood, Fantomina (1724)
- The Society Romance: Austen and her Legacy
- Text: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
- Pride and Prejudice (BBC, 1995, dir. Simon Langton)
- The Rise of the Byronic Hero
- Text: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
- Orientalism and the Romance
- Text: E. M. Hull, The Sheik (1919)
- The Sheik (dir. Melford, US, 1921)
- The Regency Romance
- Text: Georgette Heyer, The Quiet Gentleman (1951)
- The Reluctant Widow (Knowles, UK, 1950)
- Mills and Boon, Category Romance and the 'Nursies'
- Betty Neels, Tabitha in Moonlight (1972)
- Race and Romance
- Beverley Jenkins, Indigo (1996)
- The Romantic Comedy and Second Chance Romance
- Texts: The Philadelphia Story (dir. George Cukor, US, 1940)
- The Lovebirds (dir. Michael Showalter, US, 2020)
- Queering the Romance
- Text: Olivia Waite, Hen Fever (2020)
- Romantasy, Mixed Genres, and the future(s) of Romance
- Text: Tasha Suri, The Isle of the Silver Sea (2025)
Full details can be found on the University of Liverpool's website.
