Radway
This decade marked the rise of the feminist media studies that influences Radway's research.
What are the 1970s and 1980?
This social media platform is credited with significantly increasing Gen Z's interest in romance novels.
What is TikTok or BookTok?
"Wholesome Romances" typically have these kinds of endings.
What are happy and predictable endings?
This explains why individuals seek specific media to fulfill their needs.
What is the Uses and Gratification Theory?
This trope involves two characters who can't stand each other at first but grow to love each other over time.
What is enemies to lovers?
Radway focuses on this concept in their studies about romance novels
What is escapism?
This age group has recently become the primary audience for romance novels.
What are 18 to 24-year-old?
What is using cure illustrated covers with bright and inviting covers?
This uses media to obtain information, knowledge, and understanding about the world.
What is orientation?
Often found in romance, this trope features a brooding, dark, and reserved love interest meeting cheerful, optimistic, positive partner.
Radway critiques this aspect of viewing identities in romance reading
She is a popular author among Gen Z readers who in recent years has attracted controversy.
Who is Colleen Hoover?
Current wholesome romances differ in this thematic way from older romance novels.
What is moving away from dark and fantasy to realistic and relatable stories?
This is using media to escape reality or to avoid unpleasant situations, emotions or thought.
What is avoidance?
This trope involves a character pretending to be in a relationship for social, financial, or family reasons, often leading to a real feeling.
What is fake dating or fake relationship?
Dawn H. Currie's approach combines these two methods in her studies of girls' magazines.
What are content analysis and qualitative research?
This demographic shift in romance novel readership has occurred over the past decade?
What is a shift from readers aged 35-54 to 18-24?
This cultural shift favors more grounded love stories.
What is a desire to escape into the easy life and seek relatable, realistic love stories?
This focuses on entertainment and pleasure aspects of media; using for enjoyment, filling time, and emotional release.
What is diversion?
What are star-crossed lovers?
Radway views this as a way for women to disengage from reality through romance novels.
What is temporary separation from familiar responsibilities?
This issue with representation among authors benefiting by social media.
What is the underrepresentation of queer and POC writers?
These are the implications of younger-looking book covers in "wholesome romance"
What are concerns about the trivialization or misunderstanding or romance content?
What is social utility?
This trope centers around a romance that blossoms from a platonic friendship, sometimes unexpectedly for one or both parties.
What is friends to lovers?