Romance novel
The love and family novel refers to a wide genre of popular literature, which is intended mainly to the female reading public, and follows in its construction most simple basic patterns. Often it is in the form of book novels.
History
The emergence of love and family novel is directly related to the social situation of the bourgeoisie under the late feudal rule. This citizen was increasingly dependent economically and politically to gain influence in order to exist alongside the ruling nobility can. Especially in relation to the development and implementation of new bourgeois morality and values and way of life, the question of the correct behavior in the home and family has had great importance. Has this problem already been addressed in the " moral weeklies " use from the 18th century Enlightenment philosophers of the new medium "Roman" to pursue the question of the possibilities of domestic happiness and nourish stories with the description of private fortunes. The result was the so-called moral didactic, touching family saga.
Drama
As early dramatic works of trivial family and love literature, August Wilhelm Iffland are melodramas ( " crime of ambition ", " The Ward " ) or August von Kotzebue ( people hate and remorse, " The noble lie" ) to name a few. These works already reflected the until now characterizing features of family and love of literature: restriction to the private individual destiny and mediation of emotionality.
It should be mentioned as an important representative next Iffland and Kotzebue Charlotte Birch - Pfeiffer, who was the reputation of " mistress of the German stage " enjoying 1830-1860. She wrote alone, more than 20 family dramas, such as " Gertrude ," " A Family ", "The Forest House " or " Rose and roses ".
Prose
In prose area especially four authors played a crucial role: August Lafontaine ( " The power of love", " family stories ", "the step-siblings " ), Friedrich August Schulze, who was known under the pseudonym Friedrich Laun ( "marriage histories ", " Three Kisses and a long night "," family fortune " ), Gustav Schilling ( " The Bride Show ", " Domestic pictures " ) and H. Clauren ( " passion and love "," The Dijon - herb "," philopena ").
After the production of these works 1780-1830 put a new wave of trivial family and love literature again only in the 1860s. During this time a variety women began writing. Many of them dominate the landscape of family Sheet " The Gazebo ", as for example, E. Marlitt, whose work " The Twelve Apostles ", " The secret of the old maid " or "The Woman with the rubies " Twenty years in the " Gazebo " were published. Furthermore Wilhelmine Heimburg, Elisabeth Bürstenbinder or Anny Wothe be mentioned.
Family and love literature of the 20th century
With the beginning of the 20th century also uses the unsurpassed success Hedwig Courths - Mahler, whose novels were printed in half a century in a total circulation of 30 million copies. Among her most successful works include "The Other honor," " My Kitty ", " An unloved woman ", "The Beautiful Unknown " or " disdain ". Besides Courths - painters were only two other writers in this field of literary meaning: Helene Butenschön that Fr under the pseudonym " Back " occurred and Anny of Panhuys.
Gradually appeared Family and Romance on in the popularized since the beginning of the 20th century novel book series. Although they were by the end of the First World War only weak - for example through the ranks " Intimate Stories " or " What you do not loudly told " - represented, but they could also over time with the "Little Master novels " or the series " Women of today" further establish.
The heyday of the family and love of literature in West Germany, however, starts only after 1949. In the GDR, however, this literature has not been produced, but even disposed of all existing works in the context of cultural policy. In the Federal Republic, however, family and romance novels soon made up more than half of all Romanheft series, where in 1958 a decrease was observed at about 35 percent. Among those series include: " My novel ", " novels of the heart ", " Linden - Roman", "Roman on Saturday" or " bastion Family Roman".
Current examples of modern love and family are the valuable literary literature novel The Liebesblödigkeit of William Genazino, the narratives Rich Girls by Silke Scheuermann, PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern and the novel Last Days, now from Jan Drees.