Literatura en Lengua Inglesa II

TOPIC 2: MASS CULTURE AND POPULAR LITERATURE

In the 20​th​ century literacy spread to such an extent that most people spent a lot of time reading. At the
same time, printing became cheaper and books and magazines, as a consequence, more accessible. In
this lesson we will see how these new conditions impacted literature. We will also contest the
separation of high and low culture and trace that division to ideology.

Objectives​:

1. To approach popular literary texts.

2. To become familiar with concepts related to mass culture.
3. To get familiar with controversies surrounding high and low literature.

Reading materials​:

Carter, R. and J. McRae (2001) ​The Routledge History of Literature in English: Britain and Ireland​. London,
Routledge.

Ashley, M. “The Golden Age of Pulp Fiction”. Web

Enns, A. and B. Metz (2015). “Distinctions that matter: Popular Literature and Material Culture”.
Belphégor 13-1. Web

“The world’s best detective, crime and murder mystery books”, at

http://www.worlds-best-detective-crime-and-murder-mystery-books.com​/ (Here you will find a brief
history of the mystery novel).

Rothman, J. “A better way to think about the genre debate”, ​The New Yorker​, Nov. 6 2014. Web

Adorno, T. “The schema of mass culture”, in The Culture Industry. Selected essays on mass culture.
London, Routledge, 1991, pp. 53-84 (Optional)

Activities​:

a) Find out what is understood by the following: ​mass culture, popular culture, culture industry, low
culture, high culture, genre literature, fiction, literary fiction, ideology​. Proceed with your
sources as you were told before: work with specialized, academic dictionaries, glossaries and
encyclopedias.
b) Read the suggested texts above and place the rise of popular literature in history. You will find
the texts in the virtual classroom.
c) After reading those materials, why do you think genre literature became popular in the 20​th
century?

Suggested viewing:

“Classic and Golden Age Detective Fiction” (YouTube) (Optional)

I.S.P. N° 8 “Almte. G. Brown” Prof. Susana Ibáñez Literatura II 2018

Literary reading:

Read Agatha Christie’s ​The Murder of Roger Ackroyd​. Also, check the “20 Rules For Writing Detective
Stories” by S.S. Van Dine, which you will find online. Then, answer:

1. To what extent does the novel comply with those rules?

2. Does the author innovate in the genre? How?
3. Why do you think these books were so much preferred by readers at the time of publication?

Task:

Write​ an expository text where you discuss the connection between popular literature and the material
conditions of life in the early 20​th​ century. Remember to cite your sources between parenthesis within
the text, and then in a list of References at the end.

Journal​:

Have you learned anything in the past lessons which is especially meaningful to you? Have you found
any activity particularly challenging/interesting/innovative/boring? Which and why? What do you intend
to do next in this course? What would you do differently next time? Add any comments you think
relevant.

With a view to Promoción Directa, make sure you keep your Journal and your task well filed. You will be
asked to submit both in the Instancia Final Integradora.

Dates: Activities: ………………….. Literay reading: ……………………….. Task: …………………….

I.S.P. N° 8 “Almte. G. Brown” Prof. Susana Ibáñez Literatura II 2018