Introduction Blog Post

 Hello! I'm Gabriella, a second-year political science student from Calgary, Alberta. I chose this course because I love reading, and a friend recommended it. Plus, it fulfills a literary requirement for my degree, witch i'm sure is why many of us are in this course. I'd like to share a bit more about myself that I think connects well with this course. Firstly, as I mentioned earlier, I'm a big fan of reading. My favourite books are in the fantasy genre, especially those that build immersive worlds. If you have any recommendations, I'm open to suggestions!

In addition to fantasy, I also enjoy reading romance books, although I suspect it might not be the same kind of romance we'll be exploring in this course. Recently, I came across a great six-part series called Caraval. It's a fantasy romance that primarily revolves around the relationship between two sisters. The author, Stephanie Garber, is really good at creating a captivating world. If you're interested in a good read, I recommend giving it a try!

For this semester, I'm looking forward to exploring the perspectives and lives of various characters in the books we'll be reading. Before starting this course, I wasn't sure what exactly romance studies covers– love, family, emotions? The course introduction clarified that it has no fixed definition and is something that invites all to enjoy and interpret. It is for this reason that I believe each of us will develop our own definition of what RMST is, by the end of the term, based on our different experiences with the course.

I find the idea of romance studies intriguing because as we read our assigned books and discuss in class, I believe we will each create our own understanding and personal interpretation of RMST. As our professor mentioned in lecture, the translations of the texts we're going to read are different from the original languages such as French or Spanish, presenting a new interpretation of these books. When we read these translated texts and imagine the stories in our minds, each of our experiences will be unique. We will all read these books and feel different emotions, see characters and imagine them differently. Each of us will see the books from different angles and maybe find RMST themes such as love, family, civil war, betrayal. That’s why I'm looking forward to our class discussions and seeing how these different perspectives will come together.  By the end, I think we'll have diverse views on romance studies based on our interpretations of the texts and lecture discussions.

For my question, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the definition of romance studies. What do you think it is?



Comments

  1. HaileyJanuary 11, 2024 at 10:59 PM

    Hi! I am also very excited to explore the characters of the texts as well, and to be honest my mind didn't even go there until I read your introduction post! It will definitely be interesting to not only perceive the lives of the characters ourselves as readers, but as a collective, which will definitely make things interesting, as we all understand differently, just like you said!

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  2. Daniel OrizagaJanuary 12, 2024 at 9:36 AM

    Gabriela, if you are interested in the themes of love, family and betrayal in the novels we will read, you will find some of that... and they are entertaining, to be honest. :) Bienvenida!

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