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Reading the Romance by Janice A. Radway6/21/2023 ![]() ![]() Published in the 80s, Janice Radway’s work on the ways that women read romance novels challenged the popular ideas about why romantic fiction has captivated millions of women readers. You may want to read Fiske so you have a broad introduction to the theories of pop culture before the second essay by Radway. ![]() In this he lays out the debates about popular culture and the agency of the consumer. We will read just his intro to the book Reading the Popular, a classic assigned in courses on consumption. John Fiske is also known for his work on popular culture. In these readings we look at romance novel readers and pop culture theory. John Fiske’s essay “Understanding Popular Culture” from his book Reading the Popularĭo people passively take in the messages of the commodity they are given, or does the process of consumption imply a kind of appropriation or transformation of commodity and its meaning? What is the place of pleasure in this kind of analysis? Is taking pleasure in consumption a cop-out that brainwashes you? We will continue to discuss popular culture and women consumers that we began with Barbie.Radway’s classic article “Women Read the Romance”. ![]() We’ll still be using the “everyday resistance” model of Scott here, but we will focus on popular culture – in particular the relationship of consumers to commodities. This week we will venture further into the world of the politics that don’t look like politics. ![]()
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