A Natural History of the Romance Novel

6. Writing the Romance Novel's History

WRITING THE ROMANCE NOVEL'S HISTORY In P,art I11 I tr,ace the historv of the rom,allce norcl in Englisl-i from the beginning of its rllodcrn dsicnddni!. in the midcigl -itccnth ccnturv to tl-ie tn-eilticth canturv ~rl-iei~ tl-ie form bcio~llcsJ \\.boll\. p o p ~ ~ l ~ r one. LIost iririis \\.riting dbout "the rom,allee" p ~ y . catmost, lip serricc to the forebecarsof contamp o r ~ r \ . \\.arks. This p r d i t i i ~ robs rhc gcnrc of its rllosr discinguisl -ied rcpresei~t~atires, nl,arooiling it ill tl-ie prcseilt, ,and . . rcduiing ir ro rhc fc\\. \\.arks r h ~ r J gi\cn irltli hds chosen to ,in,alrzc. ,Is ~ r c l-i,areseeil, tl-ie tvpic,allr i1,arroTr sclcctioil of texts hds nor 6 ~ 0 p p ~ d iritiis fro111 mClking s\\,ccping srdrcnlcnrs ,about the genre cas,a ~rl-iolc. This historr, tl-iei~, serves ,as ,a ifies,is "l110ilcr11 silperl~~,irket rolll,iilees xvitll tllcir . . . S C X L ~ - ~ l l rdcmdnding Incn ,ind innocent. dcsir~blc.p~ssi\,c ivonlcn, ,ind their insistence on S C X L I J ~\.iolcncc" :jO. j9:. This i h c ~ r ~ i r c r i z ~ r i o n of the modern ronuncc no\,cl is prcdiit~bl!. h~sr!. in its gcncrdliz~rions-not 211, or ere111110strOlll,illit' i~orcls 11,ircs ~ x L ~ , I I I ~ ilel~~,il~dillg ~licll. or ii1110ccllt, p,issire women, nor ilo thcr ,111 insist 01-1 sexu,il riolcncc :ill f,iit, this is r,irc in the l990s:8. This cl-i,ir,icreriz,ition,ilso conilcnlils c,irlr ,im,itorr fiction for ledding ro its nlisch~rdctcrizcdsuccessors-ronl~nic no\ cls. The grounds of ~ndrgindlizdtionhd\,c shifted: the ronuncc no\,cl is no longer si~npl! An oddl\. chosen dniicnt lircrdrr ivcdpon; its nlodcrn cxcnlpldrs idst ~spcrsions . . b,ick rl-irough the ceilturies polsoi~iilstl-ie liter,in. l-iistorr of their ililsuspeetills ~~reilcccssors. Tllc r0111,i11eei~orel h,is Ilercr bee11 coi~siilcrcdill its on.1-1liSl-it. \\'hen Cd\\.clti b c g ~ n the stud! o f p o p ~ 1 1 ~ r fiction in his Adlli.iztul-i.,121ystciy a i ~ d l ofliter,iture. Studcnrs oflitcr~rure rchr to thdt nup. ~lbcir ivith less thdn the dbsolutc trust onic dtrributcd to it. 17ct rhc SOIlldl3ic no\cl. despite its long historr ~ n d inl~ncnsc pop~ldritr, is on the 111dp onl!. through disrorrcd. incomplcre, ~ n d l-iostile rcpresanr,itioils.\\'l-iere ,I cIe,ir outlii~e of the rom,ince ilorcl sl-ioulil ,ippccir.xvc fi11il illstc,id tlle IcScllLl:"Here tl-iere be dr,igoils." The def;i~itioi~ of tl-ie rolli,iilce o or el c~t~iblisl-ie~l in P,irt II-ci work of prose fiction thclt rclls rhc stor!. of rhc iourrship ~ n d bcrrorh~lof one or ~llorc heroines-pro\,idcs 2 lirnlus rest ro dctcr~ninc if 2 no\,cl is J ronuncc no\.cl. The ndrrdti\,c ele111e1lrsof b~rricr 2nd point of ritudl dcdt11-\\.hiih ,ire, ,is IT.^ I-i,i~.e st'e11, ~IT.Oof tllc elel~lellt~ ,it tile core of tl-ie T O I I I , ~ I I C ~ 110~.t'ltoScther s u ~ ~ c s t c i i ~ ,incilrtictool for tl-ie discussioil of the e,irlr ron1,iilcc 110rel. FOCUS ,i r0111~i11cc110rcl t11ro~~~I-i tl-ie Iclls of b,irrier ,illil poillt of rit- \f'ritii~stl-ie Kom,incc Norcl's History M jj u,il de,itl-i. ,iild the result is ,I si~,ipshot of n-h,it is ,it st,ike in tl-i,it norcl. FO~LIS ,I ehroilologic,il series of rorn,iilce ilorels t11rou~l-i tl-iis Ieils ,and it yields ,i morins picture of the concerns of tl-ie ganrc itself ,is it derclops ,iild ihdngcs through rime. This rllcrhod A\ oids rhc ti1.o primdr!. pirf~lls of cdrIicr dttClllpt6 to ihdr~iterizcthe genre-it C \ ~ ~ ~ L I J ~ C S csscntidl c1cn1cnrs ,r ~ r h c r r h ~ n ~ i i i d e n t ~ l ones 2s sex sicntts #\torn o s t of its histor!.. the rolll,iilee 110rel did 110t ~ U I ' C sex S ~ C I ~ C S...