In The Wedding Complex Elizabeth Freeman explores the significance of the wedding ceremony by asking what the wedding becomes when you separate it from the idea of marriage. Freeman finds that weddings—as performances, fantasies, and rituals of transformation—are sites for imagining and enacting forms of social intimacy other than monogamous heterosexuality. Looking at the history of Anglo-American weddings and their depictions in American literature and popular culture from the antebellum era to the present, she reveals the cluster of queer desires at the heart of the "wedding complex"—longings not for marriage necessarily but for public forms of attachment, ceremony, pageantry, and celebration. Freeman draws on queer theory and social history to focus on a range of texts where weddings do not necessarily lead to legal marriage but instead reflect yearnings for intimate arrangements other than long-term, state-sanctioned, domestic couplehood. Beginning with a look at the debates over gay marriage, she proceeds to consider literary works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Vladimir Nabokov, and Edgar Allan Poe, along with such Hollywood films as Father of the Bride, The Graduate, and The Godfather. She also discusses less well-known texts such as Su Friedrich’s experimental film First Comes Love and the off-Broadway, interactive dinner play Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding. Offering bold new ways to imagine attachment and belonging, and the public performance and recognition of social intimacy, The Wedding Complex is a major contribution to American studies, queer theory, and cultural studies.

Princess Nadia believes offering her virginity to King Zayed, a long-standing, hostile enemy of her country, is the best way to forge peace between their countries. And so Nadia disguises herself as a dancer and infiltrates the king’s chambers. Here she will seduce the king, who is rumored to be a vulgar man. As pure Nadia trembles in his bed, the king finally appears, but he’s dignified and good-looking—completely different from his terrible reputation! Now what will become of Nadia’s plan? What will become of Nadia?

"A fascinating backstage look at the wedding industry, one which the author views as a window on contemporary values. While the book is written to rigorous academic standards, its lucid and witty style makes it appealing to the general reader."--John H. Boyle, "Eastern Economic Review." (Anthropology)

Traditional text types (or genres) are complex linguistic, sociocultural and cognitive phenomena that can only be analysed in flexible interdisciplinary frameworks fusing structural and process-oriented approaches and combining quantitative description with qualitative interpretation and evaluation.The theoretical and methodological implications of the prototypical text type concept which is developed in this book are explored in an exhaustive case study of a representative (ie prototypical) genre: the wedding report, a conventional type of news report published in local English newspapers. The distinctive contextual and textual features — situational context, text production processes, function, thematic structure, and form on the macro- and microlevel — are analysed synchronically and diachronically. The linguistic findings are integrated into a comprehensive view of the interplay between the genre as a linguistic frame and its sociocultural context.The study puts special emphasis on addressing the methodological problems arising from the inherent fuzziness of traditional text types, and can thus serve as a detailed working model of genre analysis, designed to be adapted to the specific requirements of similar studies.

The Irresistible Italian: Married for Business

The Suave Sicilian: Married for Revenge Stefan Bianco is a man with one thing on his mind. Revenge. And the last person he expects to see hanging on the arm of his nemesis? The stunning Clio Norwood — the only woman to ever resist his near-lethal brand of seduction. Clio's life has become a mere shadow of what it once was. But Stefan's searing gaze returns her to the fiery, passionate woman he once knew. Clio has the key to his revenge, and Stefan has the key to her freedom...but only if he agrees to her shocking proposal!

The gorgeous Greek: married for his heir. Christian Markos has swapped the streets of Athens for the world's top boardrooms. Now, with enough riches to indulge his every whim, there's only one luxury he can't buy: the stunning and sensual Alessandra Mondelli. His best friend's sister is strictly off–limits until their forbidden attraction consumes them both, leaving Alessandra pregnant! After a youthful mistake, Alessandra is no stranger to public scrutiny. Christian's honourable proposal offers her and their baby protection but she must push all thoughts of love aside. Except their dishonourable hunger for one another is threatening their convenient arrangement!