History, huh : a post-modern study of the consumption of queer romance

Abstract

Queer romance is a subgenre of the romance genre, being differentiated by the genre and sexuality of the main relationship explored within the novel. When starting this thesis, I was especially interested in who is writing and reading queer romance, what they look for in queer romance novels, how they feel during and after the reading process, and how (and with whom) they identify in terms of the characters in these novels. Research showed that of the popular queer romance novels, most are written by queer identifying authors. Representation is something readers keep in mind when choosing a novel, and when it comes to the portrayal of these characters, most often readers are left feeling as if they are experiencing the story and romance through a friend’s eyes. Generally, readers will only question representation of queer identities if they feel something is wrong with the representations.