Dissertation Abstracts

From this page you may return to the main Romance Scholarship page or go directly to

• Bibliography A-G - the first half of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
• Bibliography H-O - the second part of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
• Bibliography P-Z - the end of our bibliography of academic articles and books about romance.
• Scholarship in Languages Other than English.
• Romance Resources for Academics - lists romance-related resources which may be of interest to academics.
• Writers on Romance - lists items written about the genre by romance authors but not published in academic journals or books.
• Romance in the Media - lists news items/features items about romance.

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Avila, Debbie Maria, 2005. 

"The Romance Novel of the 1930s and 1940s in Spain and Portugal: The Cases of Carmen de Icaza and Alice Ogando.' U of California Irvine (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 66.7:2572)

Burley, Stephanie Carol., 2003. 

"Hearts of Darkness: The Racial Politics of Popular Romance." U of Maryland, College Park (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 64.6: 2082)

Chappel, Deborah Kaye, 1992. 

"American Romances: Narratives of Culture and Identity" Duke University, (Dissertation Abstracts International52 (8): 2923A-24A.

Downey, Kristin, 2005. 

"Irony, Ideology, and Resistance: The Amazing Double Life of Harlequin Presents", McMaster University, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 66.10:3640.

Elliott, Margaret A., 1996. 

'The Librarian's Stereotyped Image in Romance Novels, 1980-1995: Has the Image Changed?', Master's Research Paper, Kent State University. ERIC Document ED401924. Abstract and PDF

Goade, Sally Ann, 1999. 

"'And With the Land, Our Spirits So Blended': Interrelated Frontier Quests of Self in Contemporary Historical Romance. A Study of Rosanne Bittner's 'Savage Destiny' series", Idaho State U, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 60.4:1132)

Griffin, Linda Coleman, 1999. 

"An Analysis of Meaning Creation through the Integration of Sociology and Literature: A Critical Ethnography of a Romance Reading Group." U of Houston, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 60.4: 1117.)

Harzewski, Stephanie, 2006. 

"The new novel of manners: Chick lit and postfeminist sexual politics ." U of Pennsylvania, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 67.7:2573.)

Hubbard, Rita Cooper, 1982. 

"Relationship Styles In Popular Romance Fiction: A Fantasy Theme Analysis Of Harlequin Romances, 1950-1979." (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 42.12:4973)

Hughes, Helen Muriel,1988. 

"Changes In Historical Romance, 1890s To The 1980s: The Development Of The Genre From Stanley Weyman To Georgette Heyer And Her Successors." U Of Bradford (United Kingdom), (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 50.11: 3603)

Hurley, Frances Kay., 1999. 

"In the Words of Girls: The Reading of Adolescent Romance Fiction." Harvard U, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 60.6: 1946)

Jocks, Yvonne Annette, 1988. 

“Adventure and Virtue: Alternating Emphasis in the Popular Romance Tradition.” Master’s thesis, University of Texas at Arlington. [Details not checked, but it seems likely this was written by the author also known as Evelyn Vaughn ]

Kinard, Amanda Marette, 1999. 

"Forbidden Pleasures: The Romance and Its Readers." Vanderbilt U.,(Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 59.12: 4424)

Kirkland, Catherine, 1984. 

"For The Love Of It: Women Writers And The Popular Romance." U of Pennsylvania, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 46.1:10.

Lin, Fang-Mei, 1992. 

"Social Change and Romantic Ideology: The Impact of the Publishing Industry, Family Organization, and Gender Roles on the Reception and Interpretation of Romance Fiction in Taiwan, 1960-1990." U of Pennysylvania (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 53.5:1675)

Lohmann, Jennifer, 2006. " 'Beauty and the Beast' Themes in Romance Novels." A Master’s Paper for the M.S. in L.S degree. April, 2006. 41 pages. Advisor

Brian Sturm. A Master’s paper submitted to the faculty of the School of Information and Library Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in

Library Science. [1]

Moffitt, Mary Anne Smeltzer, 1990. 

"Understanding Middle-Class Adolescent Leisure: A Cultural Studies Approach to Romance Novel Reading" U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, (Dissertation Abstracts International 51.4: 1035A)

Naber, Christine Marie, 1995. 

"Rape myths are the theory--romance novels are the practice: The impact of exposure to images of women in popular culture, " U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences,57.4:2950)

Owen, Mairead, 1992. 

"Women's Reading of Popular Romantic Fiction: A Case Study in the Mass Media: A Key to the Ideology of Women." U. of Liverpool, (Dissertation Abstracts International 52.8: 2745A)

Parameswaran, Radhika E., 1998. 

"Public Images, Private Pleasures: Romance Reading at the Intersection of Gender, Class, and National Identities in Urban India." U of Iowa, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 58.12:4485)

Rampure, Archana, 2005. 

"Doctors in the Darkness: Reading Race, Gender, and History in the Popular Medical Romance ", U of Toronto, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 66.10:3642)

Tennenhouse, Tracy Shana, 1996. 

"Female Fantasies in Women's Popular Fiction", U California Santa Barbara, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 57.9:3943)

Therrien, Kathleen Mary, 1998. 

"Trembling at Her Own Response: Resistance and Reconciliation in Mass-Market Romance Novels." (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 58.7: 2659)

Uddin-Khan, Evelyn Angelina, 1995. 

"Gender, Ethnicity and the Romance Novel," Columbia U, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 56.11:4341)

Wirtén, Eva Hemmungs, 1998. 

Global Infatuation: Explorations in Transnational Publishing and Texts: The case of Harlequin Enterprises and Sweden, Section for Sociology of Literature at the Department of Literature, Uppsala University. PDF

Young, Beth Rapp, 1995. 

"But are they any good? Women readers, formula fiction, and the sacralization of the literary canon", U of Southern California, (Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 57.2:893)