cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Manuscripts

Journal of American Culture
Special Issue: Love and Romance in American Culture

Ideas of romantic love suffuse our lives and guide our emotional experiences and behaviors. Romance comes in various forms of romantic entertainment--books, films, music--which affect and form our socially constructed notions of love, gender and courtship. These constructs of love guide public and private behavior, create judgments of values in relationships and control rules of openness or closure in expression. There is a variety of ways that American culture has understood and practiced love and romance. This special issue of the Journal of American Culture will present a conversation about romantic love and its representations which explores love and romance as a theme in art, life and culture.

We are seeking manuscripts which discuss contemporary and historical representations of love and romance, consider ways of showing love and affection and explore socially constructed notions of love, gender and courtship. We are particularly interested in interdisciplinary approaches and analyses (literary, sociological, psychological, historical, anthropological, etc) involving any variety of topics (race, gender, class, homosexuality and queer studies, place, region, structure) which consider emotional values, attitudes and behaviors considered appropriate to love and romance

Submissions are welcome on topics which might include, but are not restricted to, issues and themes such as:
• romantic relationship events, rituals and ceremonies (weddings, holidays, festivals)
• dating and courtship rites (speed dating, personal ads)
• popular music and love songs
• depictions in the media and popular culture (e.g., film, television, literature, comics)
• romantic love in advertising, marketing, consumerism
• internet and cyberspace (blogs, texting, social networking)
• literature and fiction (genre romance, poetry, animé)
• amatory writings, love letters, courtship and self-help manuals
• types of relationships (marriage, gay and lesbian)
• feelings and emotions (intimacy, attachment, eroticism)
• types of love: platonic, philosophical, divine and spiritual romance
• neurobiology of love and biological attraction
• historical practices and traditions of and in romance
• regional and geographic pressures and influences (southern, Caribbean)
• material culture (valentines, foods, fashions)
• folklore and mythologies
• jokes and humor
• romantic love in political discourse (capitalism)
• psychological approaches toward romantic attraction
• emotional and sexual desire
• subcultures: age (seniors, adolescents), multi-ethnic, inter-racial

We suggest manuscript submissions of 4000-6000 words in length, double-spaced, in current MLA style. Send an e-mail attachment, in Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format, to . Due to virus and security concerns, we do not accept zipped or compressed files.

Manuscript deadline: 30 November 2011
Publication date: March 2013

Address inquiries to:
Maryan Wherry, Sarah S. G. Frantz, and Darcy J. Martin