This study aims to explore the concept of a literary trope through the analysis of two contemporary novels: Book Lovers (2022) by Emily Henry and Love, Theoretically (2023) by Ali Hazelwood. The focus is on the "enemies-to-lovers" trope to understand its structure and narrative patterns, which are widely used in today’s literary industry to appeal to a loyal audience. The operation of this trope in contemporary literature is examined through the lens of Suman Gupta's concepts in Contemporary Literature: The Basics (2012), and the construction of the genre is investigated based on Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-Century Book Culture (Page and Screen) (2022) by Kim Wilkins, Beth Driscoll, and Lisa Fletcher. According to the authors, this establishment consists of three different layers: industrial, social, and textual. After discussing the industrial and social formation of the trope with insights from Janice A. Radway in Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (1984), I perform a textual analysis of the two studied works utilizing concepts from Steven Cohen and Linda M. Shires in Telling Stories: A Theoretical Analysis of Narrative Fiction (1988). Through this investigation of the characteristics and formation of the "enemies-to-lovers" trope in both works, I aim to understand what these characteristics are and the structural patterns the trope must adhere to in order to achieve success.
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There are many popular tropes in romantic fiction. Romance tropes include “forced proximity,” “forbidden love,” “friends-to-lovers,” “love triangle,” “fake relationship,” “opposites attract,” and, one of the most famous of them, “enemies-to-lovers.” The trope of enemies-to-lovers is one of the biggest in the book industry, where two characters who start off the story with a strong animosity or hostility toward each other gradually develop romantic feelings. This transformation often involves conflict, tension, and banter, showcasing the evolution of their relationship from dislike or rivalry to understanding and love.
This trope goes way back, with one of the most classic love stories of the literary world following its plot — Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. (10)
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Note from LV: - The author refers often to Janice Radway's Reading the Romancebut I was a bit bemused to find, in a description of that work, a reference to "the women from Smithton, Tasmania" (11, emphasis added) and "Radway’s research was conducted in a specific time (around 1984) and with a specific group (women from a midwestern community of Australia)" (24, emphasis added). This is incorrect. Radway states that "the midwestern community of Smithton [...] is nearly two thousand miles from the glass-and-steel office towers of New York City" (46), which locates it within the United States of America.
Here's the abstract:
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Note from LV: - The author refers often to Janice Radway's Reading the Romance but I was a bit bemused to find, in a description of that work, a reference to "the women from Smithton, Tasmania" (11, emphasis added) and "Radway’s research was conducted in a specific time (around 1984) and with a specific group (women from a midwestern community of Australia)" (24, emphasis added). This is incorrect. Radway states that "the midwestern community of Smithton [...] is nearly two thousand miles from the glass-and-steel office towers of New York City" (46), which locates it within the United States of America.