[Commlist] CfC: Bonkbuster! Sex and Popular Romance from the 1950s to the Present Day

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

*Bonkbuster!*

*Sex and Popular Romance from the 1950s to the Present Day*

Edited by Dr Jo Parsons (Falmouth University)

The Bonkbuster is a baggy and pejorative term which has been applied to 
a wide ranging and diverse literary form. These texts, written mostly, 
but not exclusively, by women have suffered from critical neglect due to 
sexism and their popularity, as well as elitist attitudes towards what 
constitutes literature.

While the Bonkbuster is considered to be a 1980s phenomenon, this is not 
the case as its roots lie in much earlier fiction, such as Grace 
Metalious’ /Peyton Place/(1956), Jacqueline Susan’s /Valley of the 
Dolls/(1966), Harold Robbins' early works, 1960s Gothic Romance, and 
Pulp paperbacks. In addition, many of the authors most associated with 
this form wrote much later than expected: Judith Krantz wrote until 
1998, Jackie Collins until her death in 2015, Jilly Cooper’s latest 
novel /Tackle!/will be published in November and an adaptation of 
/Rivals/is slated to appear on our screens next year. Shirley Conran is 
still active in empowering women through her social entrepreneurship, a 
mission which previously involved using her novel /Lace /(1982)//as 
mechanism to educate women about sex, as well as through her non-fiction 
guides such as /Down with Superwoman /(1990). These authors were 
revolutionary in many ways. However, many names of popular Bonkbuster 
writers have since been almost forgotten, such as those of Elizabeth 
Gage, Meredith Rich, and Judith Gould.

The Bonkbuster is certainly alive today in various forms and to various 
extents, such as in writing by Melanie Blake, E.L. James, Fiona Walker, 
and Lesley Lokko. The /Lady Boss /documentary about Jackie Collins’s 
life and works was released in 2021 to much acclaim, and Simon and 
Shuster are in the process of reissuing all of Jackie Collins’ novels 
with new forewords written by a variety of popular authors and figures 
who examine her writing with fresh 21^st century eyes.

This edited collection seeks to fill a significant gap in scholarship in 
its consideration of the form, questioning the ways in which it pushed, 
and reinforced, contemporary boundaries. The Bonkbuster was instrumental 
in and responded to the ‘sexual revolution’ as well as many other 
contemporary cultural moments, such as the AIDS crisis and the 
pornography wars. The Bonkbuster depicted celebrity culture; the world 
of organised, and not so organised, crime; female power and aspiration, 
and so on, and can thus provide an exciting and productive lens through 
which to examine many contemporary attitudes and events.

This edited collection seeks a wide range of responses to the Bonkbuster 
in order to interrogate its prehistory and its afterlives, as well as 
its contemporary cultural importance. It will interrogate the contested 
and pejorative nature of the term ‘Bonkbuster’, asking whether it is 
possible to reclaim the title. It will consider how the Bonkbuster has 
transformed the Romance and Crime Fiction genres, and how it sits within 
the Romance trajectory more generally. This edited collection will 
provide an urgent intervention and examination of popular fiction from 
the 1950s to the present day. It will broaden our critical understanding 
of this period as well as fill a substantial gap in scholarship.

Suggested topics on the Bonkbuster and its earlier and later forms 
include, but are not limited to,

  * Sex, sexualities, and desire
  * Popular culture
  * Violence, including domestic abuse
  * Race
  * Feminism and the feminist backlash
  * Celebrity culture
  * Place
  * The pornography wars
  * The AIDS crisis
  * Sex education/manuals
  * Crime Fiction/Thrillers
  * Romance/Saga
  * Chick Lit
  * Soap Operas
  * Film and TV adaptations
  * Print, periodical, and material culture

This edited collection is for the University of Wales Press.

Please submit 500 word abstracts and a brief biography for consideration 
to Jo Parsons (Falmouth University) (jo.parsons /at/ falmouth.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(jo.parsons /at/ falmouth.ac.uk)>by*15^th December 2023*. Completed 
essays are expected to be no more than 7500 words and will be due *1^st 
June 2024. *


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