LITERATURE
Popular Literature
AUTUMN LN162
Tuesdays
Tutor: Lori Comerford
Agatha Christie is estimated to have sold the same amount of books as William Shakespeare. This always sounds surprising, but it is one of the few times that a popular author is rivalled in sales by an author who is critically revered. The difference between the books that become best-sellers and the books that are studied is a complex and paradoxical aspect of our literary culture. While books such as the Harry Potter or Millennium series attract huge numbers of readers, they are seldom chosen for major literary awards and receive little critical attention. What makes a book popular and why is the popularity of a text often seen in a negative light? Why is there a difference between best-sellers and cultural value placed on literary fiction? This seminar will introduce students to the academic debate that surrounds popular fiction and to some of the defining genres this literature encompasses. Throughout the course we will discuss the cultural worth and place, if any, of these texts and in so doing establish a full picture of how our literary landscape is created.
| BELFIELD | Map | |
| 10 Tuesdays | Sep 25, Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20, 27 | 7.30pm - 9.30pm |
| Fee €190 | Print Open Learning Application Form 2012.13 or ring (01) 716 7123 for Laser/ credit card payment |
Tutor Details:
Lori Comerford is a PhD candidate in the UCD School of English, Film and Drama specialising in Victorian Visual Culture and Sensation Fiction. Prior to this she completed an M.Phil. in Popular Literature at Trinity. Lori has been working for the School of English since 2008. Courses she has previously co-ordinated include the Liberal Arts course in UCD on visual culture and identity in late 19th and early 20th century fiction.
Provisional list of key topics to be covered:
- An introduction to the theoretical discussion which surrounds Popular Literature.
- A detailed overview of various popular genres from the early nineteenth century to present day. Genres to include: Gothic fiction, Empire Fiction, Fantasy, Crime/Detective fiction, Horror, Romance, the Modern Bestseller.
- An examination of the relationship between the texts and their cultural and historical contexts.
Who is the course for?
This course is for people with an interest in fiction and the evolution of literary culture; perhaps people who have attended book clubs or courses which have dealt with ‘the classics’ or the literary canon, and have questioned why some authors are included and others dismissed. This course is definitely for people who have secret stashes of books under the bed which are read in private but another more respectable collection for public.
Reading List:
Following is the proposed reading list for this course. We recommend that you only acquire the book for the first class but do not purchase all the books listed in advance, as your tutor will discuss this list and how the course will be organised.
Early Science Fiction/Gothic Fiction-Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Victorian Domestic Magazine- “Good Lady Ducayne” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe (available online), “The Signal-Man” by Charles Dickens (available online)
Empire Fiction - King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Early Horror - “The Call of Cthulhu”, “The Rats in the Walls” and “The Haunter of the Dark” H.P. Lovecraft (all available online, also in Penguin’s The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft)
Fantasy-The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Romance Mystery- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Crime/Detection - A novel or story by Agatha Christie (tbd)
Historical Fiction - Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell/ Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel or The Subversive Best-Seller-Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Decision to be made in conjunction with class at start of course.
Modern Romance/ Chick Lit- This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
Modern Bestseller- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
