Rethinking the Romance Genre: Global Intimacies in Contemporary Literary and Visual Culture

243 Pages·2013·1.048 MB·English

by  Emily S. Davis (auth.)

Rethinking the Romance Genre
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Rethinking the Romance Genre
Global Intimacies in Contemporary
Literary and Visual Culture
Emily S. Davis
RETHINKINGTHEROMANCEGENRE
Copyright©EmilyS.Davis,2013.
Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition2013ISBN978-1-137-37186-7
Allrightsreserved.
Firstpublishedin2013by
PALGRAVEMACMILLAN®
intheUnitedStates—adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC,
175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010.
WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestofthe
World,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillanPublishers
Limited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,of
Houndmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove
companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited
States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries.
ISBN978-1-349-47587-2 ISBN978–1–137–37187–4
DOI10.1057/9781137371874
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Davis,EmilyS.,1975–
Rethinkingtheromancegenre:globalintimaciesincontemporary
literaryandvisualculture/byEmilyS.Davis.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN978–1–137–37186–7(hardback:alk.paper)
1. Romanticism. 2. Literature,Modern—20thcentury—History
andcriticism. 3. Romancefilms—Historyandcriticism.
4. Globalizationandliterature. 5. Motionpicturesand
globalization. I. Title.
PN603.D382013
808.8(cid:2)0145—dc23 2013025087
AcataloguerecordofthebookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices
Firstedition:December2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
ListofFigures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:GlobalIntimacies 1
1 1980sSouthAfricanFictionandtheRomanceof
Resistance 27
2 RewritingtheColonialRomance:GlobalIntimacies
betweenWomen 63
3 TheGothicGlobal:CapitalistExcesses,Postcolonial
Returns 103
4 TheIntimaciesofGlobalization:BodiesandBorders
On-Screen 133
Conclusion:ElectronicAffects 161
Notes 173
Bibliography 207
Index 223
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Figures
3.1 ThecontactmoduleinHarvest (CourtesyBenjamin
Mosse) 124
3.2 JayaattheendofHarvest (CourtesyBenjaminMosse) 126
4.1 OkwechastizesSenay(CourtesyMiramax/Photofest) 146
4.2 Mariacontemplatestheusesofherinterior(Courtesy
HBO/FineLine/Photofest) 155
C.1 SoueifinTahrirSquare(CourtesyHossam
El-Hamalawy) 171
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Acknowledgments
I am indebted to the editorial team at Palgrave, especially Brigitte
Shull, for so expertly guiding me through the process. My thanks to
Camera Obscura, which published an earlier version of Chapter 4,
and to Genders, in which an earlier version of the Soueif section of
Chapter 2 originally appeared, for granting me permission to reprint
thismaterial.
The University of Delaware was my intellectual home as I com-
pleted this book. An assistant faculty research leave in fall 2009
providedmemuchneededtimeandresources.Myundergraduateand
graduate students continually sharpened my thinking and reminded
me why I cared about this project. I am especially grateful to the
students in my undergraduate Women and Globalization course in
Fall 2012 and the graduate students in my Bodies and Commodi-
tiesseminarinSpring2010,inparticularJuliaPompetti,KyleMeikle,
and April Pelt. April’s work as a research assistant for Chapter 3
of this book was invaluable. Several colleagues graciously read and
talkedthroughvariousportionsofthismanuscript,especiallyMiranda
Wilson, Peter Feng, Ed Larkin, Edgard Sankara, Siobhan Carroll,
PhilGoldstein,StephanieKerschbaum,DawnFallik,JohnErnest,and
HeidiKaufman.
My friends have provided endless moral support and inspiration:
Gina Valentino, Andrea Fontenot, Geoffrey Bateman, Sumita Lall,
Melissa Rothfus, Stacey Van Dahm, Carol Hong, Becky Mitchell,
Helene Meyers, Amé Mundy, and Sarah Mundy. I still can’t believe
thatEunkangKohhasallowedmetouseheramazingdrawingformy
cover. Benjamin Mosse very kindly discussed his production of Har-
vest with a complete stranger over e-mail, and I am delighted that I
get to share a couple of images from his production with my read-
ers.AlthoughIwillneverbeasbraveoreffectiveanactivistasJeanne
Scheper,TiffanyWilloughby-Herard,BethCurrans,MollyTalcott,or
Jesse Quizar, I admire each of them tremendously. I feel a profound
respect for Hossam El-Hamalawy (3Arabawy), and am so thankful
thatheallowedmetoincludehisimageofAhdafSoueifonherlaptop
inTahrirSquareinthisbook.