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Thursday, October 7, 2010

It's Thursday Again?


Wow, are the days flying by faster than usual? It sure feels like it. My Mom used to tell me how time moves differently when you get "older".... oh crap....no, I'm not going to go down mid-life-crisis road!!!! Note to self: Stop It
Romanticon 2010 - My hubby and I had a fantastic time last year. Romance authors and readers sure know how to have a great time! Most of the seven sexy scribes are attending and I can't wait to hear stories and see pictures!!
I was searching for something to write about and found this on Wikipedia:
The modern romance genre was born in 1972 with Avon's publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower, the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback. The genre boomed in the 1980s, with the addition of many category romance lines and an increased number of single-title romances. Popular authors began pushing the boundaries of the genre and plots and characters began to modernize.
In North America, romance novels are the most popular genre in modern literature, comprising almost 55% of all paperback books sold in 2004. The genre is also popular in Europe and Australia, and romance novels appear in 90 languages. Most of the books, however, are written by authors from English-speaking countries, leading to an Anglo-Saxon perspective in the fiction. Despite the popularity and widespread sales of romance novels, the genre has attracted significant derision, skepticism and criticism.

And then I found this:

Classic erotica from the Ancient World includes the Song of Songs from the Old Testament and the Roman Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter (later made into a film by Fellini).
From the medieval period we have the Decameron (1353) by the Italian , Giovanni Boccaccio (made into a film by Pasolini) which features tales of lechery by monks and the seduction of nuns from convents. This book was banned in many countries. Even five centuries after publication copies were seized and destroyed by the authorities in the USA and the UK. For instance between 1954 and 1958 eight orders for destruction of the book were made by English magistrates.

Food for thought!

Have a fantastic week-

Tessie

www.tessiebradford.com
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5 comments:

  1. We'll miss you, Tessie and all the seven scribes not going.

    Very interesting how far erotica dates back. Definitely food for thought. :)

    I'll take lots of pics and hopefully have lots of stories.

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  3. Great post Tessie! I suspect as women find their power in the world, women's literature will gain respect.
    The fact that 55% of paperback book sales fall within the Romance novel category is very interesting. Isn't the population of earth about 52% female?
    XXOO Kat

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  4. Tessie - guess love and lust have been around a long, long time....Great post!

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  5. Thanks Kat and Julia -
    I was not surprised that erotica goes back to ancient times but I was surprised that the "modern romance genre" only started in 1972!??

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