ABSTRACT
Chapter 2, “Turning Romance Green: Anti- and Post-Pastoral Approaches to Love in Gendered Comedies,” examines anti-pastoral and post-pastoral elements in the dark romantic comedies such as Love Serenade (1996), Attenberg (2010), and The Sapphires (2012). Terry Gifford suggests the post-pastoral negotiates a resolution between traditional pastoral and its anti-pastoral opposite. Instead of attacking idealized pastoral visons of nature by invoking contrasting features such as harsh and unattractive realism, the post-pastoral “recognises [sic] the dangers of a complacent view of our fragile relationship with nature, seeking to avoid hubris” and the exploitation traditional pastoral texts celebrate. This chapter explores how these diverse romantic comedies promote such a resolution.
