After decades of feminism and deconstruction, romance remains firmly in place as a central preoccupation in the lives of most women. Romance is still the most compelling discourse by which any one of us is inscribed. In this newly commisioned critical collection, romance is revisited across the discipllines, not just in fiction and film but in a whole range of cultural phenomena. Essays range over such issues as the royal marriage, Valentine's Day, 'interracial' relationships and the romance of the scientific quest. All kinds of relationships are brought under the lens of feminist cultural...

In a historical investigation of the pleasures of cinema, Star Gazing puts female spectators back into theories of spectatorship. Combining film theory with a rich body of ethnographic research, Jackie Stacey investigates how female spectators understood Hollywood stars in the 1940's and 1950's. Her study challenges the universalism of psychoanalytic theories of female spectatorship which have dominated the feminist agenda within film studies for over two decades.
Drawing on letters and questionnaires from over three hundred keen cinema-goers, Stacey investigates the significance...

In a historical investigation of the pleasures of cinema, Star Gazing puts female spectators back into theories of spectatorship. Combining film theory with a rich body of ethnographic research, Jackie Stacey investigates how female spectators understood Hollywood stars in the 1940's and 1950's. Her study challenges the universalism of psychoanalytic theories of female spectatorship which have dominated the feminist agenda within film studies for over two decades.
Drawing on letters and questionnaires from over three hundred keen cinema-goers, Stacey investigates the significance...

First published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.