Western romance fiction as English-language media in postcolonial India

In this study I took an ethnographic approach to examine the reception of i mported Mills & Boon romance novels among women in postcolonial urban India . My approach included intensive interviews and participant observation amo ng a group of young, middle- and upper-class women in Hyderabad, a city in South India. My analysis of young women's responses revealed the social con struction of these Western romance novels as English-language media. Romanc e novels were pleasurable because they were an extension of Indian women's childhood English-language reading. Readers viewed romance novels as resour ces to improve English-language skills and used romance reading to bolster their identities as modern and cosmopolitan women. In conclusion, I conside r the implications of the study for media globalization and ethnographic au dience research.