This article examines how Alice Oseman’s novel Loveless employs both metafiction and autofiction in its narration to establish queer joy. Metafiction hereby connects to romance tropes that are both employed by and reflected on by the protagonist, while the presence of autofictional selves of Oseman relates to asexuality and aromanticism. The analysis considers the struggles, confusion, and pain as depicted in the protagonist’s story, specifically in (autofictional) connection to Oseman and their statements about their own journey as an aromantic and asexual (shortened as aro-ace) person. Most centrally however, both the self-awareness of metafiction and the authenticity of autofiction are read in close connection to queer joy. Ultimately, this article argues that Loveless functions as an alternative love story to the heteronormative script, furthering aro-ace representation and offering hope to any reader seeking love beyond heteronormative romance.
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Loveless (2020), Alice Oseman’s fourth young adult novel, focuses on its protagonist Georgia’s quest for romance and love. In the second chapter of the novel, readers already learn that Georgia “love[s] romance” and she reveals an almost obsessive interest in the romantic love she finds in fanfiction and movies (8). [...] In the last chapters of Loveless, Georgia realizes not only that she is asexual and aromantic but also that her [...] big love story is ultimately about recognizing that Rooney is her platonic soulmate and “acknowledging and celebrating the love she already has in her life: the love between her and her friends” (Henderson, “Alice Oseman and”). [...] Loveless ultimately ends with a rom-com style happy ending and a notion of queer joy for her. (59-60)
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In the novel, Georgia frequently references romance tropes and different kinds of romantic texts she consumes, an aspect that invites an investigation of how the novel employs forms of metafiction through the use of a “genre-savvy protagonist” who possesses extensive knowledge about the exact literary genre they themselves are part of (Henderson, “Genre-savvy Protagonists”). (60)
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I argue that the metafictional employment of romance and the autofictional construction of aro-ace identity in Loveless create a balance between (genre-) self-aware fiction and authenticity, joining in a narrative that constructs identifying as aro-ace as an ultimately joyful queer experience. Hereby, the book offers an authentic, yet dreamy, reading that is full of hope for aro-ace readers, subverts heteronormative romance tropes and broadens notions of love and joy for all its readers. (60)
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the love declaration realizes the kind of fantasy that Georgia, inspired by romance fiction, speculates on in the beginning of Loveless, sure that “[her] big love story would come” and “[she] would find the one” (9). Yet, it is completely different to what she imagined, as romantic love is superseded by platonic love. (68)
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Lienhard repeatedly cites Alex Henderson's “Genre-savvy Protagonists in Queer YA Rom-coms.” Concepts in Popular Genre Fiction, 6-3 [sic] December 2021, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Conference Presentation. This was published in the Journal of Popular Romance Studies in 2023 (details here).
Here's the abstract:
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Lienhard repeatedly cites Alex Henderson's “Genre-savvy Protagonists in Queer YA Rom-coms.” Concepts in Popular Genre Fiction, 6-3 [sic] December 2021, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Conference Presentation. This was published in the Journal of Popular Romance Studies in 2023 (details here).