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(Color) Blind: Historical Romance Fiction and Interracial Relationships in the Twenty-First Century

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(Color) Blind: Historical Romance Fiction and Interracial Relationships in the Twenty-First Century LOVE IS (COLOR) BLIND: HISTORICAL ROMANCE FICTION AND INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Mallory Jagodzinski A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2015 Committee: Jolie Sheffer, Advisor Kara Joyner Graduate Faculty Representative Pamela Regis Sridevi Menon Lisa Hanasono © 2015 Mallory Jagodzinski All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Jolie Sheffer, Advisor This dissertation analyzes three historical romance novels—Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress by Theresa Romain (2015), The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (2008) and The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan (2013)—to understand how postracial rhetoric is being contested and confirmed in a genre where the reader is promised an “emotionally just” ending. In historical romance novels, this “emotionally just” ending often involves a re-writing of history where institutional systems (often patriarchy) are made progressive and more hospitable to oppressed groups through the power of romantic love (RWA “About the Romance Genre”). I argue that depictions of interracial relationships in twenty-first century historical romance novels written by American authors for a primarily American audience helps to illustrate both the problem of postracial thinking and the complexities and contradictions of postracial thinking by rewriting both history and historical stereotypes. The inclusion of interracial relationships that seriously analyze issues of racial identity within the course of the narrative helps to trouble the dominance of the postracial narrative for readers of romance, 83% of whom are white according to a survey conducted by The Nielsen Company for the Romance Writers of America (“The Romance Book Buyer” 11). iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would not have made it through the dissertation process without the support and guidance of some truly amazing individuals and institutions. I would like to especially thank the romance community for its generosity across the board. The Romance Writers of America made it possible for me to travel to Thessaloniki, Greece to convene with other popular romance scholars and receive feedback on the project in real-time. The RWA also provided scholarly support by providing me with information to help improve the strength of this dissertation and its findings. I would also like to thank romance author and scholar Kathleen Gilles Seidel, who provided funding for me to attend the PCA/ACA National Conference in Chicago where I was able to meet up with Pam Regis and ask her to be on the committee for this project. This mention of Pam brings me to the scholarly romance community, whom I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart for welcoming me with open arms and sharp minds. Eric Selinger, Sarah Frantz Lyons, Pam Regis, Amanda Allen, Jayashree Kamblé, An Goris, Katie Morrissey, Angela Toscano, and Jodi McAlister have each had a hand in helping me develop as a scholar of the genre. These are the best people to explore new cities (and sometimes new countries!) with while having the smartest conversations about the romance genre. I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee as this project would have been much more disorganized and unfocused without their guidance. Thank you to Jolie Sheffer, Pam Regis, Sridevi Menon, Lisa Hanasono, and Kara Joyner. Thank you to Kara who selflessly served as my graduate faculty representative. Lisa is owed many thanks for both her cheery messages and helpful suggestions (especially regarding clarity) throughout this process. I would like to thank Sri for all the feedback she has provided at various stages of the project and who encouraged me to be a better scholar when she noted that she wasn’t convinced by my argument just yet. I will never stop being thankful for Pam, who stepped up her guidance and v support when I was really in the weeds of this project; Pam had confidence in me when I did not, and her emails signed “Onward!” made me feel like I was capable of finishing this project. Jolie has pushed me to think through my arguments through many rounds of chapter drafts, and I would like to thank her for her dedication and investment in my project. She helped to talk me through the arguments I wanted and needed to make, always encouraging me to excel. I would also like to thank her for be willing to advise a project on romance novels because not many faculty members are willing to do so! Finally, I would like to thank those nearest and dearest to me. I would like to thank my parents Mark and Rhea for their encouragement of my love of reading and their support of my choice to stay in school for twenty-two years (I promise I’m finished now!). My siblings Margot and Sam are owed many thanks for making me laugh and being the best and weirdest people I know. I would like to thank my friend Puja Batra-Wells, her husband Bob, and their daughters Lila and Mira for making me a part of their family. Puja is the smartest person I know, in both life and academia; I’m so grateful to call her my friend. I would particularly like to thank my friends Johni Amos, Lisa Kaplan, Debbie Ribera, Kate Schaab, and Pam Wagner who have been the very best of friends. These five women have bought me coffee, made me food, held me while I cried, made me laugh so hard I cried some more, talked me off ledges, commiserated with me, responded to many ALL CAPS messages, and reminded me I was loved. Thank you for being my friends. And lastly, thank you to Felix, Orion, and Leo for lounging on the keyboard when work really needed to get done. Thanks for being the best cats ever. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………..... ... 1 Why Study Historical Romance in the Twenty-First Century? ................................. 5 Defining “Romance Novel” ...................................................................................... 11 Portrayals of Nonwhite Characters in Romance ....................................................... 14 From Print to Digital Romance ................................................................................. 16 Literary Segregation ........................................................................................ 18 Literary Segregation Online ............................................................................ 22 Shifts in the Genre Over the Past Forty Years .......................................................... 24 A Genealogy of Romance Fiction Scholarship ......................................................... 26 Project Limitations .................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER I. SECRETS, MASQUERADES, AND NEOLIBERALISM IN THERESA ROMAIN’S SECRETS OF A SCANDALOUS HEIRESS …………………… .…………… 42 Locating Theresa Romain in the Romance Industry ................................................. 44 Overview of Key Plot Points .................................................................................... 46 Reader Reception ...................................................................................................... 50 Private Solutions to Public Problems ........................................................................ 51 Secrets and Masquerades in Romance ............................................................. 52 Augusta Meredith: Postfeminist Solutions to Gender Inequity ....................... 55 Joss Everett: Complicating Masculinity Through Poverty .............................. 66 Joss Everett and the Privatization of Racial Difference .................................. 73 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 80 vii CHAPTER II. THE NAÏVE HEROINE AND WHITE PRIVILEGE IN MEREDITH DURAN’S THE DUKE OF SHADOWS ……………………………………………………….. ........... 81 Locating Meredith Duran in the Romance Industry ................................................. 81 Overview of Key Plot Points .................................................................................... 84 Reader Reception ...................................................................................................... 86 The Naïve Heroine and the Specter of Whiteness .................................................... 89 The Inexperienced/Innocent/Naïve Heroine in Romance Novels ................... 90 Gendered and Racialized Citizenship .............................................................. 100 Centering White Women’s Experiences by Displacing Those of Brown Women ............................................................................................ 112 Perceptions of Mixed-Race Masculinity ......................................................... 115 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 124 CHAPTER III. THE RECOGNITION SCENE, PERFORMATIVY, AND PRECARITY IN COURTNEY MILAN’S THE HEIRESS EFFECT ……………………………………… .. 126 Locating Courtney Milan in the Romance Industry ................................................. 128 Overview of Key Plot Points .................................................................................... 134 Reader Reception ...................................................................................................... 138 Revising the Recognition Scene ............................................................................... 141 Reading and
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