“A very glamorized picture, that”

[Dave Monroe]

“A very glamorized picture, that”: images of Scottish female herring
workers on romance novel covers
Author: Jane Liffen

DOI: 10.1080/10350330802217121
Published in:  Social Semiotics, Volume 18, Issue 3 September 2008 ,
pages 349 - 361

Abstract

This article analyses portrayals of Scottish female herring workers on
the covers of romance novels and investigates how far these
representations conform to, or subvert, the genre of romantic fiction.
Covers are analysed to establish whether they accurately portray
Scottish female herring workers at their labour. If romanticisation of
the women's working role is evident, the ways in which this manifests
itself and the possible reasons for this romanticisation are examined.
Composition of images and the mise-en-scne of covers are analysed, as
well as aspects concerning the narratives of the novels, and elements
of herring processing work that are noticeably absent in the
depictions are also considered. These elements excluded from the
covers are examined through theory relating to the abject in an
attempt to ascertain whether the covers potentially provide models of
female empowerment for the reader.
Keywords: herring; romance fiction; fisher girls; feminine;
representations; abject


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