The trope enemies to lovers : an analysis of book lovers and love, theoretically

Abstract

This study aims to explore the concept of a literary trope through the analysis of two contemporary novels: Book Lovers (2022) by Emily Henry and Love, Theoretically (2023) by Ali Hazelwood. The focus is on the "enemies-to-lovers" trope to understand its structure and narrative patterns, which are widely used in today’s literary industry to appeal to a loyal audience. The operation of this trope in contemporary literature is examined through the lens of Suman Gupta's concepts in Contemporary Literature: The Basics (2012), and the construction of the genre is investigated based on Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-Century Book Culture (Page and Screen) (2022) by Kim Wilkins, Beth Driscoll, and Lisa Fletcher. According to the authors, this establishment consists of three different layers: industrial, social, and textual. After discussing the industrial and social formation of the trope with insights from Janice A. Radway in Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (1984), I perform a textual analysis of the two studied works utilizing concepts from Steven Cohen and Linda M. Shires in Telling Stories: A Theoretical Analysis of Narrative Fiction (1988). Through this investigation of the characteristics and formation of the "enemies-to-lovers" trope in both works, I aim to understand what these characteristics are and the structural patterns the trope must adhere to in order to achieve success.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo estudar o que é uma trope literária através da análise de dois romances contemporâneos: Loucos por Livros (2022), de Emily Henry, e Amor, Teoricamente (2023), de Ali Hazelwood. O foco de observação é a trope “inimigos-para-amantes”, para entender seu formato e padrão de enredo, que são muito usados na indústria literária atual para vender obras para um público fiel a essa estrutura. Nesse trabalho, abordo o funcionamento desta trope na literatura contemporânea a partir de conceitos de Suman Gupta em Contemporary Literature: The Basics (2012); e investigo a estrutura do gênero literário com base na obra Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-Century Book Culture (Page and Screen) (2022) de Kim Wilkins, Beth Driscoll e Lisa Fletcher. Segundo as autoras, essa construção de gêneros literários apresenta três camadas diferentes, que são: a industrial, a social e a textual. Depois de discutir a formação industrial e social da trope com a ajuda de Janice A. Radway, em Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (1984), faço uma análise textual das duas obras estudadas usando conceitos de Steven Cohen e Linda M. Shires em Telling Stories: A Theoretical Analysis of Narrative Fiction (1988). Espero, com esta investigação sobre características e formação da trope “inimigos-para-amantes” nas duas obras, entender quais são essas características e qual é o padrão de narrativa que a trope deve seguir para alcançar o sucesso.