Ebook: Potboilers: Methods, Concepts and Case Studies in Popular Fiction

Potboilers looks at the recent re-evaluation of popular forms within literature, sociology, communications, media and cultural studies. The book introduces and summarises two decades of debate about mass-produced fictions and their position within popular culture. It assesses the way commercial strategies and generic conventions have influenced these forms and explores issues of taste, narrative and gender with reference to crime fiction, soap opera, romance and TV sitcom. Distinctions between high' and low' culture have relegated many popular forms to the trashcan of great' literature. This book takes stock of the methods and concepts used to analyse popular culture and argues for a non-elitist approach to the study of literature, film and television.