The term ‘pulp’ originated in the 1920s in reference to American magazines and newspapers that were printed on cheap high-acid content paper. Called Penny Dreadfuls or Penny Bloods in Britain, or Dime Novels in America, these cheap, portable and disposable publications appealed to the masses by employing formulaic and repetitive narrative forms and sensational plots.
Emergence of Pulp Fiction
The introduction of mass elementary education in the 1870s greatly increased literacy rates resulting in a desire for literary works that would appeal to all ages and classes. As literacy and consumerism grew, books and magazines became commodities accessible to all income levels. It was out of these significant cultural changes that popular or "pulp" fiction emerged.
Originally “popular” meant “of the people” suggesting the authentic voice of the masses. In this sense it was seen as democratic and powerful. For others it signalled vulgarity, ignorance and susceptibility to manipulation (Shiach, 30). The term ‘popular’ then is politically disputed, viewed either as a revolt of the masses, or a belief that readers are generally healthy, but dupes and victims of cultural exploitation by capitalism.
Evolution of Pulp Fiction
In the late nineteenth century pulp publications mainly consisted of detective fiction, boys adventure stories, and captivity narratives. In the twentieth century, science fiction, romance, and horror titles became immensely popular along side the perennial favourite, crime fiction and later, true-crime and true-confession stories.
But by the nineteen fifties, pulp fiction in its original form was largely outmoded and in some cases illegal. The post war panic over the effects of violent images in comic books and increased competition from radio, film, and especially television, resulted in a steep decline in readership, and by the end of the decade, many of the main pulp publications had ceased production.
However, while pulp fiction no longer exists in the same form or quantities, its effect on contemporary culture is still strong. Interest in real-life drama, adventure stories and celebrity lives has not changed much since the first American Dime Novel. Our thirst for the lurid and sensational is evident in the popularity of tabloid newspapers,celebrity magazines, and romance, true-crime, and horror paperbacks. Scan any bestseller list and popular fiction consistently ranks in the top five.
Why People Love to Read Pulp Fiction
Characterized as a "bad habit" or "guilty pleasure", reading pulp fiction is still considered a trivial past time at best, or culturally retrograde at worst. Focusing on simplistic binaries of good versus evil, both readers and writers of genre fiction are seen as passive consumers revelling in simplistic plots and one dimensional characters.
Yet, according to Scott McCracken, “[p]opular fiction, from folk tales and fairy tales to popular ballads to modern bestsellers, has always provided a structure within which our lives can be understood” (2). Familiar plots with heroes and villains help us make sense of the world and ourselves. It also allows readers and authors an escape into an imaginary universe where boundaries can be safely crossed and where personal relations and alternate identities can be explored.
Sources
McCracken, Scott. Pulp: Reading Popular Fiction (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998).
Shaich, Morag. Discourses on Popular Culture: Class, Gender and History in Cultural Analysis, 1730 to the Present (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989).
Marilyn Michaud - Marilyn Michaud teaches English Literature and writing in Toronto. Her research interests include American history and culture, Gothic ...
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