История на любовните романи
History of Romance Novels

Summary/Abstract: In his introduction to the volume A History of Love Novels Pierre Lepape argues that although the novel is somewhat difficult to define as a literary genre, love novels have long been neglected as second-rate, and termed simply ‘sentimental’ novels unjustly believed to be better suited to the female mind. However, not all novels about love are love novels, but in the latter, love is of utmost importance to at least one of the protagonists. Also there are no funny love novels, although there can be some comical scenes in sentimental novels. The compiling of a history of the love novel resembles the effort to try and capture the way novelists have been inventing love over the centuries. Love novels are often read in complete solitude. They are a personal and intimate experience. But the actual triumph of the novel, albeit transient, is reading itself.

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