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@article{ART002850504},
author={LEE Jura},
title={A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel},
journal={Journal of Popular Narrative},
issn={1738-3188},
year={2022},
volume={28},
number={2},
pages={95-126},
doi={10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003}

TY - JOUR
AU - LEE Jura
TI - A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel
JO - Journal of Popular Narrative
PY - 2022
VL - 28
IS - 2
PB - The Association of Popular Narrative
SP - 95
EP - 126
SN - 1738-3188
AB - This paper identified a new representation of female subjects in Korean romance novels in the 2000s and analyzed the desires of women at the time. Research on women’s new subjects in the 2000s has been studied focusing on chick-lit and TV dramas. These studies focused on the distortion or frustration of subjectivity of women who appeared in the conflict with the patriarchal system in the change to neoliberalism. However, the romance novel, a subculture centered on women, depicts a woman’s honest fantasy that was not fully embodied in the mainstream discourse. Therefore, this paper analyzed popular romance novels in the 2000s. Of course, in order to identify the point where the characteristics of women’s subculture meet the general desires of the time, it was analyzed focusing on Ji Soohyeon’s My Name is Kim Sam-soon and Hyun Gowoon’s Something About 1% that gained great popularity among romance novels. In the 2000s, the female subject in Korean romance novels was portrayed as a failure of self management recommended in the neoliberal self-development discourse. They are out-of-the-way losers. They are a pathetic woman who has not acquired the perfect femininity demanded by society of their time. However, the winners of romance novels were these failures. Although she failed to manage herself, she had different abilities. The romance heroine’s ability is to trust humans and practice true love. With trust in love, the heroine healed and changed an upper class man who was hurted by someone. Men are saved through women. Through this, the romance heroine becomes the subject of relationship. Moreover, romance novels reversed the typical Cinderella narrative and highlighted the ethics of life of the middle class. This showed the desire of female subjects to resist neoliberalism and sexism, which are mainstream discourses in contemporary society. In the 2000s, romance novels portrayed human values, ethics, and cultural diversity that survived to the end in the discourse of neoliberal competition for survival.
KW - 2000s;romance;Ji soohyeon;My Name is Kim Sam-soon;hyeon gowoon;Something About 1%;chick-lit;Cinderella story;neoliberalism;sexism;self-empowerment;female subject;date;love
DO - 10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003
ER -

LEE Jura. (2022). A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel. Journal of Popular Narrative, 28(2), 95-126.

LEE Jura. 2022, "A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel", Journal of Popular Narrative, vol.28, no.2 pp.95-126. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003

LEE Jura "A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel" Journal of Popular Narrative 28.2 pp.95-126 (2022) : 95.

LEE Jura. A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel. 2022; 28(2), 95-126. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003

LEE Jura. "A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel" Journal of Popular Narrative 28, no.2 (2022) : 95-126.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003

LEE Jura. A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel. Journal of Popular Narrative, 28(2), 95-126. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003

LEE Jura. A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel. Journal of Popular Narrative. 2022; 28(2) 95-126. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003

LEE Jura. A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel. 2022; 28(2), 95-126. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003

LEE Jura. "A Failed Women’s Rebellion and the Ability of Love—A Change of women as subject in 2000’s Romance Novel" Journal of Popular Narrative 28, no.2 (2022) : 95-126.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2022.28.2.003