Becoming a Woman Through Romance (Critical Social Thought)

Using the theory and interpretive methods of feminism and cultural studies, Christian-Smith explores the contradictory role that popular culture plays in constructing gender, class, race, age and sexual meanings. "Becoming a Woman Through Romance" combines close textual analysis of 34 teen-romance novels with a school study in three mid-western American schools. Christian-Smith sets teen romance fiction in the context of the rapidly changing publishing industry and the important political and economic changes occurring in the United States consequent on the rise of the New Right. This work combines in one volume three areas of cultural studies research - the political economy of publishing, textual analysis and a study of readers. This book is intended to be of interest to researchers in education, sociology, literature and cultural and gender studies.