In:Directions in Empirical Literary Studies: In honor of Willie van Peer
Edited by Sonia Zyngier, Marisa Bortolussi, Anna Chesnokova and Jan Auracher
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 5] 2008
► pp. 317–328
The Apology of Popular Fiction: Everyday Uses of Literature in Poland
Published online: 15 May 2008
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.5.26mar
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.5.26mar
Popular fiction is expelled from literary canons and is usually treated as a form of ludic or emotional relaxation and an escape from daily problems (Nell 1988; Radway 1984). Drawing on the results of my study on Polish readers, I claim that reading popular fiction, as an everyday-life activity, is much more than a simple leisurely activity, and plays a vital role in the way readers cope with their surrounding environment. Employing the framework of phenomenological sociology I argue that reading popular fiction can be described in terms of a rational action undertaken in order to achieve specific pragmatic goals, such as emotional tuning or search for subjectively important information.
Keywords: canon, life world, phenomenological sociology, Poland, popular fiction, reading
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