History and Vitality

of Popular Literature
 Popular Literature

Popular literature includes those writings intended

for the masses and those that find favor with large
audiences. It can be distinguished from artistic
literature in that it is designed primarily to
entertain.
Examples of popular literature:
 Popular Literature

Popular literature, unlike high literature, generally does

not seek a high degree of formal beauty or subtlety and is
not intended to endure. The growth of popular literature
has paralleled the spread of literacy through education
and has been facilitated by technological developments in
printing.
Example of Popular literature
 Popular Literature
Popular literature tend to be publish for commercial purposes and the scope of
the articles of popular literature tends to be very broad.
Examples include the times, MacLean's the economist and the globe and mail.
 History of Popular Literature
• While "Popular Literature" was published and widely read in the 19th
Century, by the 20th Century it had become a world unto itself. During the
20th Century, the growth of readership and genres in "Popular Literature"
made "Literary" Literature seems like a small and exclusive "academic and
scholarly" market.
 THE VITALITY OF POPULAR
LITERATURE

The ratio of sales told it all: Popular Literature comprised almost

90 % of the market for fiction. "Literary" fiction was relegated to
about 5% of the sales (but not the titles!).
 THE VITALITY OF POPULAR
LITERATURE
When we think about literature at all, we tend to think of the famous authors
who were "literary" writers such as Hemingway and Faulkner - but average
folks across the globe were buying and reading fiction in great numbers - and
they didn't stick to the "classic" names. Moreover, many "popular" writers
became just as well known as the literary authors!
The authors who became household favorites in the 19th and 20th Centuries -
including Mary Shelley, Zane Grey, and Margaret Mitchell.
Some Authors who became the household
favorites in 19th & 20th centuries
FORMS OF POPULAR LITERATURE
 NARRATIVE

Narrative is a report of related events presented

to listeners or readers, in words arranged in a
logical sequence. A story is taken as a synonym
of narrative. A narrative, or story, is told by a
narrator who may be a direct part of that
experience, and he or she often shares the
experience as a first-person narrator.
Sometimes he or she may only observe the
events as a third-person narrator, and gives his
or her summation.
 EXAMPLE

CHORUS: Two households, both alike in

dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new
mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands
unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two
foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their
life;
(Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare)
 NOVELS

A novel is simply a fictional story that is told

in narrative form and that is book length. Novels exist
throughout the world and have existed since it first
became possible to print and distribute them.
 POETRY

Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words

and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of
rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in
each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form
sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or
abstract to describe directly.
 EXAMPLE

Robert Browning, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’. After Romanticism came

the Victorian poets, at least in nineteenth-century Britain.
‘Porphyria’s Lover’ is an example of the dramatic monologue
form which Browning and Tennyson, in particular, pioneered in
the 1830s. This one is spoken by a murderer, a man who
strangles his lover with her own hair. It was one of Browning’s first
great poems, published in 1836 (as ‘Porphyria’) when the poet
was still in his mid-twenties, just on the eve of the Victorian era.
Despite the poem’s reputation as one of Browning’s finest
dramatic monologues, it – like much of Browning’s early work –
was largely ignored during his lifetime. Now it’s regarded as an
important development in nineteenth-century English poetry.
 ESSAY

An essay is generally a short piece of writing

outlining the writer’s perspective or story. It is often
considered synonymous with a story or a paper or an
article. Essays can be formal as well as informal.
Formal essays are generally academic in nature and
tackle serious topics. We will be focusing on informal
essays which are more personal and often have
humorous elements.
 Types of Essays

Narrative Essays: This is when the writer is

narrating an incident or story through the
essay. So these are in the first person. The aim
when writing narrative essays is to involve the
reader in them as if they were right there when
it was happening. So make them as vivid and
real as possible. One way to make this possible
is to follow the principle of ‘show, don’t tell’. So
you must involve the reader in the story.
Descriptive Essays: Here the writer will
describe a place, an object, an event or
maybe even a memory. But it is not just
plainly describing things. The writer
must paint a picture through his words.
One clever way to do that is to evoke
the senses of the reader. Do not only
rely on sight but also involve the
other senses of smell, touch, sound etc.
A descriptive essay when done well will
make the reader feel the emotions the
writer was feeling at the moment.
Expository Essays: In such an
essay a writer presents a balanced
study of a topic. To write such an
essay, the writer must have real
and extensive knowledge about
the subject. There is no scope for
the writer’s feelings or emotions in
an expository essay. It is
completely based on facts,
statistics, examples etc. There are
sub-types here like contrast
essays, cause and effect essays
etc.
Persuasive Essays: Here the
purpose of the essay is to get the
reader to your side of the
argument. A persuasive essay is
not just a presentation of facts but
an attempt to convince the reader
of the writer’s point of view. Both
sides of the argument have to
presented in these essays. But the
ultimate aim is to persuade the
readers that the writer’s argument
carries more weight.
"Self-Reliance" is an 1841
essay written by American
transcendentalist
philosopher and essayist
Ralph Waldo Emerson. It
contains the most thorough
statement of one of
Emerson's recurrent themes:
the need for each individual
to avoid conformity and
false consistency, and follow
his own instincts and ideas.
 SHORT STORY

A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically

can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-
contained incident or series of linked incidents, with
the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood.
Search Results
A short story is a brief work of fiction, usually written
in prose and running 1,600 to 20,000 words in length.
The literary roots of the short story can be found in
oral storytelling traditions, such as anecdotes, fables,
fairy tales, and parables.
"The Ransom of Red
Chief" is a short story by
O. Henry first published
in the July 6, 1907 issue
of The Saturday Evening
Post. It follows two men
who kidnap, and
demand a ransom for, a
wealthy Alabamian's
son.
Genres and Themes of Popular
Literature
 Popular Literature
• Popular literature includes those writings intended
for the masses and those that find favor with large
audiences.
• It is designed primarily to entertain.
• Popular literature, unlike high literature, generally
does not seek a high degree of formal beauty or
subtlety and is not intended to endure.
• The growth of popular literature has paralleled the
spread of literacy through education and has
been facilitated by technological developments in
printing.
• With the Industrial Revolution, works of literature,
which were previously produced for consumption by
small, well-educated elites, became accessible to
large sections and even majorities of the members
of a population.
 Genres
• Romance. These stories are about a romantic
relationship between two people. They are
characterized by sensual tension, desire, and
idealism. The author keeps the two apart for most of
the novel, but they do eventually end up together.
• Action Adventure. Any story that puts the
protagonist in physical danger, characterised by
thrilling near misses, and courageous and daring
feats, belongs to this genre. It is fast paced, the
tension mounting as the clock ticks. There is always a
climax that offers the reader some relief.
• Science Fiction. This genre incorporates any story set
in the future, the past, or other dimensions. The
story features scientific ideas and advanced
technological concepts. Writers must be prepared to
spend time building new worlds and using genre-
specific words.
 Examples of genre-specific words:
Sci-Fi
• Android - from the Greek meaning like a human. These are artificial life forms that
are constructed to resemble a human and act like one. They can be made from any
material even organic material like flesh. Not to be confused with a Golem, which is
a magical equivalent.
• Clones. You can create a copy of any living being.
Sometimes, they have all the memories of the
original or they can be given the memories of the
original. This is how you bring a character back from
the dead without magic.
• Cyborg. These are part-organic, part-synthetic
humanoid constructs. Famously, the Borg from Star
Trek fall loosely into this category.
• Federation of Planets. A loose coalition of star
systems in an alliance similar to the NATO or the UN.
• Fantasy. These stories deal with kingdoms as
opposed to sci-fi, which deals with universes. Writers
must spend plenty of time on world building. Myths,
otherworldly magic-based concepts, and ideas
characterise these books. They frequently take cues
from historical settings like The Dark Ages.
 Examples of genre-specific words:
Fantasy
• Balor, Balrog, Pit Fiend. From the fiery pits of hell to
the acid swamps of the abyss, these mythological
terrors are fallen angels bent on wanton distraction.
They may rampage through the lands, or they may
plot away for thousands of years awaiting their turn
to sow the seeds of destruction in a king’s mind.
• Dragons. The most over-used and best monster in
fantasy. Dragons are not really a monster. They are
more intelligent than humans, they live for
thousands of years, and have immense magical and
physical power. They can be good or evil.
• Ent, Tre-ent. Best known for not being hasty. These
are living tree-like humanoids about two stories in
height. They guard forests and nature.
• Speculative Fiction. These stories are created in
worlds unlike our real world in certain important
ways.
• "Super genre"
• Other people deem SpecFic as synonymous to
Science Fiction
• Not all Sci-Fi and Horror necessarily counts as
speculative
• Sci-Fi are books which deal with "things that could
not possibly happen" while speculative fiction are
books which deal with "things that could really
happen but just hadn't happened while the authors
wrote them." -Margaret Atwood
• "Sci-Fi is SpecFic when what is written about could
really happen, whereas narratives that cannot, under
any circumstances, happen in our world, classify
separately as fantasy." -Ursula K. Le Guin
• Coined by Robert A. Heinlein; Heinlein & Michael
Moorcock used SpecFic to denote a subset of science
fictions where the central concerns are sociological
speculations as distinct from scientific and
technological innovation.
• "SpecFic tends to come very close to what other
authors mean "utopian" or "dystopian" science
fiction." -Merril & Atwood
• "What if this happened?" "What if the world were this
way?"
This genre usually overlaps one or more of the
following:
1. Science Fiction
2. Fantasy Fiction
3. Superhero Fiction
4. Horror Fiction
5. Supernatural Fiction
6. Utopian and Dystopian Fiction
7. Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyotic Fiction
8. Alternate History Fiction
• This book is the first in
a series and takes place
after a climate
apocalypse. Most of
the population have
drowned from rising
water and the gods and
monsters of legend
walk among us.
• This is a mixture of
dystopian environment
that is clearly possible
and urban fantasy
elements.
• Another possible future
book, envisioning a world
after a flu that wipes out
most of the population.
• It follows many characters
and timelines including a
group of actors that travel
from outpost to outpost
in Great Lakes region,
performing Shakespeare
plays for survivors in a
dangerous, dystopian
landscape.
• Suspense/Thriller. A character in jeopardy
dominates these stories. This genre involves pursuit
and escape. It is filled with cliffhangers.

• Cliffhanger- a dramatic and exciting ending to an

episode of a serial, leaving the audience in suspense
and anxious not to miss the next episode.

• There are one or more ‘dark’ characters that the

protagonist must escape from, fight against, or best
in the story. The threats to the protagonist can be
physical or psychological, or both.
• Mystery/Crime. These are also known as
‘whodunits’. The central issue is a question that must
be answered, an identity revealed, a crime solved.
This novel is characterized by clues leading to rising
tension as the answer to the mystery is
approached. There are many sub-genres in this
category.
• Historical. These fictional stories take place against
factual historical backdrops. Important historical
figures are portrayed as fictional characters.
• Westerns. These books are specifically set in the old
American West. Plotlines include survival, romance,
and adventures with characters of the time, for
example, cowboys, frontiersmen, Indians,
mountain men, and miners.
• Family Saga. This genre is about on-going stories of
two or more generations of a family. Plots revolve
around things like businesses, acquisition, properties,
adventures, and family curses. By their nature, these
are primarily historical, often bringing the resolution
in contemporary settings. There is usually
a timeline involved in these books.
• Women’s Fiction. These plot lines are characterised
by female characters who face challenges,
difficulties, and crises that have a direct relationship
to gender. This is inclusive of woman’s conflict with
man, though not limited to that. It can include
conflict with things such as the economy, family,
society, art, politics, and religion.
 Themes
• Love
• Death
• Good vs Evil
• Coming of Age
• Power and corruption
• Survival
• Courage and Heroism
• Prejudice
• Individual vs society
• War
 Love
• Romeo and Juliet
• Pride and Prejudice
• Wuthering Heights Wonder
 Death
• The Book Thief
• The Lovely Bones
• The Fault In Our Stars
• Harry Potter Series
 Good vs Evil

• The Lord of the Rings

• Song of Ice and Fire
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• The Stand
 Coming of Age
• The Catcher in the Rye
• Little Women
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
• The Perks of Being a
Wallflower
 Power and Corruption
• Macbeth
• Animal Farm
• The Hunger Games
• The Lord of the Rings
 Survival

• Lord of the Flies

• Life of Pi
• Room The Road
 Courage and Heroism
• The Hobbit
• Percy Jackson
• Robinhood
• Beowulf
 Prejudice
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Hate U Give
• Frankenstein
 Individual and Society

• Nineteen Eighty Four

• Huckleberry Finn
• The Giver
• Fahrenheit 451
 War
• A Farewell to Arms
• War and Peace
• Gone with the Wind