Making A Case For Romance As A Serious Genre In Literature.
Dear reader,
I hope this finds you well. Please note that this piece is heavily inspired by Bridgerton (Go and watch it if you haven’t already!). Beyond all the wonderful emotions the show made me feel, it also made me examine our perception of romance in literature. Romance-centered stories are often considered as leisure reading, or unserious writing. If you’re not telling people how to make 1 million dollars, the power of networking, or writing about political instability, and other so called ‘serious’ topics, then it’s somewhat less worthy of praise.
It’s a bit ridiculous to me, because at the base of most of our human struggles, is love. What exactly is unserious about love? People have fought wars for it, killed for it, sacrificed many hardships for this emotion. Spouses have given their lives up for their partners, and moved mountains for this emotion. So what’s so unserious about love? An emotion that makes an ardous life somewhat more bearable, more colourful.
Writing about love is just as serious/challenging as writing any other literary genre- perhaps even more difficult as it strips characters to their most vulnerable forms of self, exposes their flaws and still deems them worthy of experiencing love and loving. It irks me because do you know how hard it is to conjure up characters and write a believable love story? To write about desire, longing, passion and other related emotions?
An exercise: Write a scene depicting the love two people share. You are not allowed to use the words love, affection, romance of other similar vocabulary. You are also not allowed to depict any form of sexual intimacy.
Somewhat complex, yes? Yet, this is the brilliance of writers who write (really well) about love.
I started my reading journey with the likes of Eze Goes To school and Enid Blyton books. But by my preteen and early teen years, I was sniffing Avon and Harper books like cocaine. As I grew older and tried to find my identity as a writer, I began to look down on the very books that taught me the complexities of human relationships, that taught me warmth, empathy, determination and so much more. I felt like I needed to write about political instability in Nigeria, Emigration and you know, other serious topics. It didn’t help that most Nigerian writers I looked up to and that were successful, were writing such themes. So I started reading things and writing things, that I honestly barely cared about. There’s also the conversation about how it’s harder to be a widely acclaimed writer from Africa if your writing isn’t centered on certain themes, but let’s not derail to that conversation.
Seeing how well-recieved Bolu Babalola’s Love in Colour was - a collection of Short stories with delicious portrayals of love was such a breath of fresh air. Mahn, representation matters! Life is hard and the form of entertainment I require is one drenched in cheesiness. It’s also the sort of writing I want to do. The kind that delights, that makes hearts quicken and makes lights go up in eyes.
I want to say that perhaps because the population of people who consume ( or publicly admit to consuming) romance stories are women is why it is looked down on, which is simply a manifestation of misogyny. In this essay I shall-
Okay, okay, you get my point.
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Away from my musings, I read pretty interesting stuff this week, so let’s unpack them:
I find Burna Boy brilliant and difficult at once. This interview is an example of what I mean.
‘From a Security Officer to Product Designer at Facebook - How my dream to be world-class came true.’ This is probably the best thing I read all week. I have big dreams and this article affirmed that they aren’t impossible.
I think the best part about reading this article is her grit/determination. I’m always rooting for people who believe they can create their own futures.
You’ve probably read this before, but if you haven’t you should. Tech Cabal expose the toxic workplace culture at Bento. And it lead to larger conversations online about abuse in workplaces, particularly in the tech and nollywood ecosystem.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away from Nigeria, (former and current) workers in Tesla have filed the largest racial discrimination suit ever in California against Tesla.
Poetry: Won’t you celebrate with me? by Lucille Clifton. This is perhaps my favourite poem in the entire world and I think everyone should experience it’s brilliance. at least once.
Fiction: The year of the Sun. This was a rather delicious read.
When Doctors Cite 'Regret' to Deny Care, Who Is Really Protected? This was an…interesting read. I’ll leave you to form your own opinions.
I read stories from Modern Times every week and I’ve decided to always include them in my letters going forward. I really enjoyed this piece centered on parental love.
An interesting photo I took this week:
What this newsletter is listening to:
Asa’s V album. I mentioned it in an earlier letter, and how I was still warming up to it. Now, I love it so much, I even wrote a (yet to be published) piece about it!
Also, Divine’s new album (allow me pretend Rema and I are familiar enough for me to call him Divine.)
I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I did. I also want this to be, beyond a newsletter, a community of sorts. So feel free to write back, tell me your thoughts on some of the stories I shared, and even your favourite story from the week!
Away from this newsletter, what’s the best story you read this week? Share it with me, and who knows? It might feature in my next letter.
Thank you for reading. Until next week.
With love,
Titi.
An amazing read. Romance >>>>>>>>
You attached the wrong link to the Bento story