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Synopsis
Why is popular fiction loved by many and yet studied by few? Why is it despised by those who study "high culture"?
Popular narrative has not traditionally been well-regarded in academic institutions (the clearest expression of this disregard is silence.) Potboilers is an introduction to the main methods available for the analysis of popular fiction, regardless of the medium in which it appears. Popular fiction cannot be analyzed using the methods developed for understanding "literature," therefore new methods are essential.
Potboilers looks at the many forms of popular narrative in print, film, and television, and considers the ways they have been analyzed in literary criticism, sociology, communications, and media and cultural studies.
Jerry Palmer introduces and summarizes two decades of debate about mass-produced fictions and their position within popular culture. He focuses on both narrative analysis and the communications process, exploring generic conventions, the role of commercial strategies, and the nature of the audience with reference to crime fiction, soap opera, romance novel, and sitcom.
The analysis of the debates surrounding popular fiction gives a clear account of existing work and provides an invaluable guide for students and teachers of literature, communications, media, and cultural studies.