#37 An Homage to Retellings in Romance Books

Once upon a time, in a library not so far away, two librarians sat down to talk about retellings in romancelandia. We ask what makes an original tale? What even is a retelling? Join us as we break down some of the different layers of these types of stories!

Did you catch how many times we said the buzzword? Email us at [email protected] with your best guess!

Jackie's proposed retelling schema:

1. Original tales
2. These may not be the very first instance of the tale/trope/motif, but they are often accredited as being the source of inspiration for derivative works
3. Retellings
4. a derivative work where an author takes a classic story, and reworks the characters, plot, setting/situation, in a new way, thus creating a completely new versino of the original
5. Will often claim direct influence from the original tale by keeping the characters names/plot points/other identifiable fixtures
6. Homage
7. A derivative work that shows respect or attests to the worth or influence of another, original work. They may retain the names or the plot arc, or they may not. However they still claim influence from the original story.
8. Rip-off
9. Derivative works that pay no deference to original work. Can go all the way from ignoring their source of inspiration, to straightforward plagiarism where they rip pieces of another story and repackage it for their own monetary gain

Works/authors/books mentioned:

• Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
• Twilight by Stephanie Meyers
• Romeo + Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
• Legend of Good Women by Geoffrey Chaucer
• Pyramus + Thisbe by Ovid in Metamorphoses
• Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
• An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
• Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
• Little Thieves by Margaret Owens
• Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer
• Touch of Darkness/Hades & Persephone series by Scarlett St. Clair
• Dark Olympus series by Katee Robert
• Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series by Sarah J Maas

Other podcasts listened to:

• S03.27: Retellings in Romance Novels with Kate Clayborn
• Omegaverse episode - #28 Shifting into Werewolf Romance + Omegaverse
• Scandals episode- #30 the Drama with RWA, Omegaverse and Bad Books

Links:

• "A More Inclusive Happy Ending: Romance Novels that Diversify the Classics" (Brown, 2021)
• "Fairy Tale Retellings? Or Fantasy Romances?" (Reddit)
• "What is a Retelling?" (bookseriesrecaps.com)
• "Homage or rip off?" (reddit)
• "Pyramus and Thisbe" (Britannica.com)
• "Disney didn't invent Cinderella. Her story is at least 2,000 years old" (McKinney, 2015)
• "Why We’ll Never Get Tired of Literary Retellings" (Donohue, 2019)
• Why do you think "retellings" are currently so popular, particularly in young adult literature?" (Quora)
• "Why is publishing Plagiarism Still Possible?" (Nuttall, 2022)