Popular Fiction

Welcome to the shadow side of literature! Popular fiction has huge cultural reach and significance, and it is the site of long-standing and fierce debates about the psychological (and bodily) impact, social utility, and aesthetic merit of stories. In this subject, students will read a range of contemporary and recent popular texts, written by professional authors, fans, and artificial intelligence, while learning about the historical and institutional contexts that produced them. Students will think about the gendering of popular fiction, and learn to apply multiple critical approaches and theoretical frameworks - from the positive (pop fiction as the true culture of the people) to the negative (mass-produced fiction as mechanism of patriarchal and authoritarian control).

• 1Analyse major genres of popular fiction through close reading of representative works across historical periods and cultural contexts.
• 2Evaluate competing theoretical frameworks for understanding the production, circulation and reception of popular fiction.
• 3Investigate the role of publishing, media institutions and fan communities in shaping how popular fiction is defined, marketed and consumed.
• 4Critique the cultural politics of popular fiction, including issues of gender, race, class and sexuality in relation to form, readership and ideology.
• 5Produce well-structured written and oral arguments that integrate textual analysis, theoretical perspectives, and contextual research on popular fiction.