The romance publishing landscape in the Philippines is vast and complex, characterised by entangled industrial players, diverse kinds of texts, and siloed audiences. This Element maps the large, multilayered, and highly productive sector of the Filipino publishing industry. It explores the distinct genre histories of romance fiction in this territory and the social, political and technological contexts that have shaped its development. It also examines the close connections between romance publishing and other media sectors alongside unique reception practices. It takes as a central case study the Filipino romance self-publishing collective #RomanceClass, analysing how they navigate this complex local landscape as well as the broader international marketplace. The majority of scholarship on romance fiction exclusively focuses on the Anglo-American industry. By focusing here on the Philippines, the authors hope to disrupt this phenomenon, and to contribute to a more decentred, rhizomatic approach to understanding this genre world.
---
There are numerous distinct kinds of popular romancefiction in the Philippines, ranging from traditionally published Tagalog pocketbook romances to self-published English-language romances produced by #RomanceClass; traditionally published English-language chick lit to young adult (YA) romance published on digital platforms in a variety of Filipino languages and dialects.
These distinctive publishing modes are frequently entangled. For example, many of the large traditional romance publishers in the Philippines have partnerships with and/or run their own digital platforms for the purposes of discoverability, acquisition, and/or sales. Similarly, some self-published authors in #RomanceClass began their careers publishing chick lit with traditional publishers. In other instances, though, these publishing modes are quite dispersed, sometimes defined in opposition to one another. Romancefiction in the Philippines is also closely connected to the platform and entertainment media industries and encompasses diverse and unique Filipino reception practices. Providing a detailed picture of this complicated sector of publishing and book culture is a primary aim of this Element. (2)
---
In Chapter 1,‘The Filipino Romance Publishing Industry’, we outline the industrial formation of the Filipino romance genre world and explore the field’s increasing intersection with platform economies and the entertainment media industry.
Chapter 2,‘Filipino Romance Texts: From Tagalog Pocketbooks to #RomanceClass’, we examine the texts themselves. Looking at two distinctive kinds of Filipino romance–Tagalog pocketbooks and English-language #RomanceClass novels–we analyse their different textual conventions and the different markets they address, and the ways in which the latter provides alternatives to the former.
Chapter 3,‘Collectivity and Care: The Case of #RomanceClass Sociality’, narrows in on our case study of #RomanceClass to explore the ways social relationships shape industrial and textual practices. It examines the ways in which particular community practices emerged in reaction to or as a solution for issues engendered by the broader genre world, demonstrating the key role of sociality in publishing ecosystems. (10-11)
----
Language in the Philippines is intrinsically tied to questions of influence, power, and class. The ability to speak and write in English comes with connotations of superiority because command of the language generally comes from the kind of education exclusive to Classes A–C. Speakers of local languages who do not have full command of English are often belittled, with condescending terms for them entering the popular vocabulary. [...] Taglish, however–the language of romance pocketbooks, as well Filipino Wattpad stories (especially ones that are traditionally published by Bliss Books)–has the capacity to mediate the separate experiences and sensibilities caused by speaking exclusively in either English or Tagalog. It avoids not just the elitist stigma of English as a‘superior’language but also the old-fashioned use of Tagalog, which does not bear a strong resemblance to the contemporary ways in which the language is spoken. [...] Tagalog pocketbook romance is centred primarily on poverty, as this is the experience of a substantial part of its audience. (37)
---
At the heart of nearly every Tagalog pocketbook romance is a rich boy/poor girl pairing. This dynamic is so ubiquitous as to become a stereotype of these novels. (38)
---
Love scenes are almost always written in English, exemplifying a belief that it is vulgar and taboo to use the local vernacular in naming body parts and describing sex. (45)
---
InthePhilippines,theaudiencefor #RomanceClass are those who have the capacity to read English easily and for leisure, which, as noted above, denotes a certain level of education which is typically congruent with social class. This means that the texts have quite different priorities and pleasures, and are far less focused on the fantasy of escape from poverty into a better (or even luxurious) life through the romantic happy ending. Instead, we might argue, the central fantasies here are about inclusion, equality, and social progressiveness. (46)
---
#RomanceClass’s project around representation is by no means limited to professions–they have a strong emphasis on highlighting minority and under-represented identities. For instance, Carla de Guzman’sIf the Dress Fits(2017) pushes back against hegemonic ideas of female beauty [...] in this book, de Guzman explicitly centres a fat heroine. The community also demonstrates a commitment to tackle under-discussed contemporary issues, such as mental health, which is central to Celestine Trinidad’sGhost of a Feeling (2018). If at the heart of Tagalog pocketbook romance are class aspirations andclassstruggles,withconcomitantfantasiesarisingfromthose, #RomanceClass, in addressing an English-speaking audience who presumably have a much more privileged class position, has room to dwell on more varied cultural categories than class, and map the complexities of gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity as well.
One clear example of this is in #RomanceClass’s commitment to producing queer romance novels. (49)
---
While many #RomanceClass novels still take place in the nation’s capital, clear community directives that Manila need not be the setting and the space it provides to reconsider genre norms mean there are also now many which push beyond, situating romance in other parts of the Philippines, rural and urban. (50)
---
The #RomanceClass logo on a book promises a certain kind of textual experience, but it also comes with guarantees about the way the book was produced: that multiple community members were involved in the process, that said process is professionalised, and that collective care (as distinct from capitalist churn) was involved in all steps along the way. (58)
---
the central motivation of the covers project [...] is to explicitly feature Filipino romantic protagonists. Increasingly, the covers and books have symbiotically developed in order to complicate this. There is a commitment not just to representing Filipino people as romantic leads but also to representing diversity within this group–that is, to not representing Filipino people as a monolith. (72)
Here's the abstract:
---
---
----
---
---
---
---
---
---
---