Books to the Masses! An Investigation of Russian WWI ‘Dime Stories’-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Books to the Masses! An Investigation of Russian WWI ‘Dime Stories’

Published:2023-04-08 Issue:2 Volume:3 Page:201-216
ISSN:2410-9789
Container-title:Literature
language:en
Short-container-title:Literature

Author:

Cortesi Luca¹^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30123 Venice, Italy

Abstract

The impact of WWI on Russian society was immediately disruptive. This effect affected every sphere of social and cultural environs. Although previous research has established that WWI was a major topic of the cultural discourse of that time, the way in which WWI literature, and in particular consumer literature, contributed to the representation of war among the mass population deserves further research. By drawing a parallel with the phenomenon of the American dime novel, this study is grounded on the analysis of the style, content, structure, and even of the ‘mere’ appearance of some 1914–1916 ‘mass’ publications aimed at the broader public. The goal of this article, therefore, is to stimulate a consistent re-evaluation of this strand of ‘consumer’ war literature and to focus on its importance as a culturological tool to have a better understanding of the cultural environment of that time.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2410-9789/3/2/14/pdf

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