Historical Romance Fiction

The first book-length study of romance novels to focus on issues of sexuality rather than gender, Historical Romance Fiction moves the ongoing debate about the value and appeal of heterosexual romance onto new ground, testing the claims of cutting-edge critical theorists on everything from popular classics by Georgette Heyer, to recent 'bodice rippers,' to historical fiction by John Fowles and A.S. Byatt. Beginning with her nomination of 'I love you' as the romance novel's defining speech act, Lisa Fletcher engages closely with speech-act theory and recent studies of performativity. The range of texts serves to illustrate Fletcher's definition of historical romance as a fictional mode dependent on the force and familiarity of the speech act, 'I love you', and permits Fletcher to provide a detailed account of the genre's history and development in both its popular and 'literary' manifestations. Written from a feminist and anti-homophobic perspective, Fletcher's subtle arguments about the romantic speech act serve to demonstrate the genre's dependence on repetition ('Romance can only quote') and the shaky ground on which the romance's heterosexual premise rests. Her exploration of the subgenre of cross-dressing novels is especially revealing in this regard. With its deft mix of theoretical arguments and suggestive close readings, Fletcher's book will appeal to specialists in genre, speech act and performativity theory, and gender studies.

Dr Lisa Fletcher is Lecturer in the School of English, Journalism and European Languages at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Introduction, Lisa Fletcher; Part I Defining the Genre, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 1 Romance, History, Heterosexuality, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 2 "I Love You": The Romantic Speech Act, Lisa Fletcher; Part II Popular Historical Romance Fiction: Cross-Dressing Novels, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 3 Speech Acts and Costumes: Georgette Heyer, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 4 Performativity and Heterosexuality: Judith Butler and the Cross-Dressed Heroine 1980-2005, Lisa Fletcher; Part III Literary Historical Romance Fiction: Victorian Romances, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 5 "Who is Sarah?": History and Heterosexuality in John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 6 "Shame on You": Affective Speech Acts in The French Lieutenant's Woman, Lisa Fletcher; Chapter 7 Performatives and Narratives: A.S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance, Lisa Fletcher;