Some details about this thesis are given in Lynne Carmichael's later article, "Romantic fiction: a neglected area of research" (1988). It says in the abstract of that article that "The article is a paraphrase of some of the points raised in the section of that thesis dealing with romantic fiction in particular." Here's some background which is given about the writing of the thesis:
In about 1977/78 I began research for what eventually became a master's thesis but which began simply enough as curiosity about why people read light fiction in general and romantic fiction in particular and whether such fiction had any intrinsic value. At that time it was difficult to find any material that was particularly pertinent to the analysis of romantic fiction except for the work by Mann, Frye and Cawelti. By 1980 I had written a fairly conventional and uninspired section of my thesis which dealt with historical fiction - its development and a comparison with other forms of fiction and drama. Useful as this was for my own background, it was very much a review of earlier work which ultimately contributed very little to the final thrust of the more pertinent sections of my thesis.
At the same time, I had read the classic work in the field by Leavis and found her views particularly offensive and began to seek ways to refute her elitist views of 'the herd' who did not share her own taste. A few other sources had occasional points that set me thinking along lines that I hardly dared to follow. By 1981 I had formulated a rough concept [...]. At this stage I had seen very few of my ideas on the compatibility of feminism and romantic fiction reflected in the writing available to me and I lacked sufficient confidence to 'go it alone' and write my thesis entirely from my own instincts.
In the midst of this dilemma, a particular example of serendipity gave me a breakthrough without which I do not think I would have been able to proceed. The journal Psychology today arrived with an article dealing with romantic fiction. When I read it, I was absolutely elated for it showed that someone else was thinking along the lines that I had not dared fully to explore! I wrote to the journal and asked them to forward my letter to the author and within a remarkably short time Dr Thurston not only replied but sent me a very useful package of materials that led me to other, like minded, writers. (123-124)
Some details about this thesis are given in Lynne Carmichael's later article, "Romantic fiction: a neglected area of research" (1988). It says in the abstract of that article that "The article is a paraphrase of some of the points raised in the section of that thesis dealing with romantic fiction in particular." Here's some background which is given about the writing of the thesis: