Discussing Repetitive Cliches or “Tropes” in Romance Novels & Movies
“In Adorno & Horkheimer’s “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment and Mass Deception," they argue that the details of many of our popular culture texts are interchangeable. Basically, what they are referring to are the cliches that exist within different types of artifact.”
I have seen this repetition of similar elements in popular culture through trending romance novels. With BookTube and BookTok becoming a popular form of social media for reading communities to offer and receive reading recommendations, many book influencers offer the “trope” of the romance novel in their description before recommending (or not recommending) the book.
These tropes in romance novels seem to be interchangeable – this “certain structure tends to emerge over and over again.” So what is a trope and what tropes are there?
A romance trope is “a plot device or theme used within a romance novel giving a recognizable starting point to the story that a reader can recognize.”
https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/romance-genre-and-romance-tropes-guide/#:~:text=A%20romance%20trope%20is%20a,using%20this%20common%20plot%20device.
Some popular tropes include enemies to lovers, love triangle, forbidden love, forced proximity, opposites attract, mistaken identity, love at first sight, friends to lovers, childhood friends to lovers, fake-dating, and more. The film Harry Met Sally might claim “opposites attract,” while the novel Twilight is known for its love triangle between Bella, Jacob, and Edward. These tropes aren’t revolutionary, as “forbidden love” could be used to describe the romance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
https://neverenoughnovels.com/2022/02/22/romance-tropes-list/
So here are the major questions:
Romeo and Juliet was written in 1597, so how have we not gotten sick of the forbidden romance trope after all these years? How have the repetition of these tropes not ruined the theme of romance completely?
Logistically, we should be tired of it. But perhaps it is the familiarity that allows us to relate (and after all, don’t we all want to relate to a fairytale-esque romance?) and truly connect with the story.
Additionally, shouldn’t the sharing of the “trope” be a major spoiler and dissuade the reader from picking up the novel altogether? It would seem that it takes the mystery out of the plot and gives it all away. Instead, revealing the trope seems to do the opposite. In a world filled with over-consumption and a plethora of reading options, describing novels by a quick trope is an easy and efficient way for readers to find a novel that they will most likely connect to and enjoy the most. In the beginning, it may be fun to not know how the characters will fall in love, but a well-read romance reader will quickly be drawn to and discover their favorite tropes.
What are your favorite tropes? Do you agree or disagree with giving away the trope in romance novels and movies?
Hi Liz! As a person who has recently discovered bookstagram I enjoyed your thoughts on romance novel tropes. You are right, we should be tired of the same old tropes, but I’m not, and judging by how well bookstagram, booktube, and booktok are doing, apparently there are plenty of other people who feel the same way. Familiarity in where a book is headed is like your favorite blanket, comfortable, cozy, and relaxing. As you mentioned, there are so many books to choose from, knowing a little bit about what you are going to be reading makes it that much easier to find something you know you will enjoy instead of wasting precious leisure time on trying to find a book you think you might like. This week I also wrote a blog post about reading and mass culture and as I mentioned, sometimes you just need a little escapism, especially, if like us, you are steeped in a lot of academic reading. Romance trope novels are just the escape I need, even if they are superficial. And for the record my favorite trope is enemies to lovers.
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