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=== Definition === | === Definition === | ||
Pulp fiction is defined as a cheaply made magazines or novels made of cheap, wood-pulp-like material.<ref>Robinson, C. Solveig. ''The Book In Society: An Introduction to Print Culture''. Broadview Press, 2014, pg. 124.</ref> These stories ranged in genres such as westerns, science fiction, romance, and detective stories, which were popular genres around the time that pulp magazines were popular.<ref>"pulp fiction." Oxford Reference. . . Date of access 20 Sep. 2025, <<nowiki>https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100354415</nowiki>></ref> These stories were about imaginary characters and events and produced in large quantities, intended to be read by many people, though not very good in quality.<ref>"pulp fiction, ''noun.''" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. www.dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/pulp-fiction. Accessed 20 September 2025.</ref> | |||
Pulp fiction is defined as a cheaply made magazines or novels made of cheap, wood-pulp-like material.<ref>Robinson, C. Solveig. ''The Book In Society: An Introduction to Print Culture''. Broadview Press, 2014, pg. 124.</ref> These stories ranged in genres such as | |||
=== Pulp History === | |||
Pulp novels were magazine-like books being produced in mass numbers in the lates 1930s and early 1960s that were created during the paperback revolution. The idea of pulp novels were revolutionary. Novels that were originally for the elite and high-class could be repackaged for ordinary folk by being packaged as cheap paperbacks. These types of paperbacks travelled far beyond its audience of readers to people who needed quick entertainment and had a quarter to spare. | |||
Pulp novels did not exist without criticism, however. At the end of the paperback, pulp novels got critique for their signature alluring covers. However, this only helped the pulp market industry. The pulp novel companies took the scandal around the existence of novels and marketed it towards people who wanted a scandalous novel by putting on the cover "Not for Sale in the State of New York." By the end of the pulp era, it became a tool for the collaboration of politics, culture, and high art all in one flimsy piece of binded paper. <ref>Rabinowitz, Paula. ''American Pulp: How Paperbacks Brought Modernism to Main Street''. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, pg 23-27.</ref>[[File:Cover of one of the most popular pulp fiction magazines, Black Mask..jpg|thumb|Cover of one of the most popular pulp fiction magazines, Black Mask.<ref>Pagourgis. "What is Pulp Fiction?" ''A Melting Pot of Mayhem'', 20 May 2019, www.americanpulps.com/what-is-pulp-fiction.</ref>]] | |||
=== Black Mask === | |||
Black Mask was a pulp magazine launched in April 1920 by H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan. This magazine was published to support the loss-making but prestigious literary magazine ''Smart Set'', but it ended up not being the prized literary material it was promised to be. It was a comical adventure that was not exclusively in the crime genre. It was marketed to a wide audiences with promises of adventure, detective themes, romances, love stories, and occult all wrapped up into one magazine. | |||
Despite the poor quality of the magazine, the authors quickly made a return on their $500 investment. After eight publications, they sold to publishers Eltinge Warner and Eugene Crow for $12,500. After the acquisition, Black Mask was changed as it was written by a new team of tough crime fiction writers. The stories grew darker and more violent. Besides this, people loved the scandalous crime stories and circulation risen from 66,000 to over 103,000. <ref>''Black Mask History''. Black Mask, 2023, https://blackmaskmagazine.com/black-mask-history/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2025.</ref> | |||
=== Effect on Publishing Industry === | |||
Due to the cheap cost of production, pulp magazines and fiction became an accessible form of entertainment for everybody to enjoy. Since these magazines were cheap, they could be bought at grocery stores, train stations, or other highly-visited places for someone to enjoy a quick story on the go. The dark, gritty crime stories brought a new era of scandalous literature, veering away from the idea that literature could only be for the sophisticated and the elite. Pulp fiction created a pathway towards literature that could be used to entertain an audience in a non-conventional manner than for those reading to seek vital information. | |||
=== Citations === | === Citations === | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:Glossary]] | [[Category:Glossary]] | ||
Latest revision as of 06:20, 24 November 2025
Definition
Pulp fiction is defined as a cheaply made magazines or novels made of cheap, wood-pulp-like material.[1] These stories ranged in genres such as westerns, science fiction, romance, and detective stories, which were popular genres around the time that pulp magazines were popular.[2] These stories were about imaginary characters and events and produced in large quantities, intended to be read by many people, though not very good in quality.[3]
Pulp History
Pulp novels were magazine-like books being produced in mass numbers in the lates 1930s and early 1960s that were created during the paperback revolution. The idea of pulp novels were revolutionary. Novels that were originally for the elite and high-class could be repackaged for ordinary folk by being packaged as cheap paperbacks. These types of paperbacks travelled far beyond its audience of readers to people who needed quick entertainment and had a quarter to spare.
Pulp novels did not exist without criticism, however. At the end of the paperback, pulp novels got critique for their signature alluring covers. However, this only helped the pulp market industry. The pulp novel companies took the scandal around the existence of novels and marketed it towards people who wanted a scandalous novel by putting on the cover "Not for Sale in the State of New York." By the end of the pulp era, it became a tool for the collaboration of politics, culture, and high art all in one flimsy piece of binded paper. [4]
Black Mask
Black Mask was a pulp magazine launched in April 1920 by H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan. This magazine was published to support the loss-making but prestigious literary magazine Smart Set, but it ended up not being the prized literary material it was promised to be. It was a comical adventure that was not exclusively in the crime genre. It was marketed to a wide audiences with promises of adventure, detective themes, romances, love stories, and occult all wrapped up into one magazine.
Despite the poor quality of the magazine, the authors quickly made a return on their $500 investment. After eight publications, they sold to publishers Eltinge Warner and Eugene Crow for $12,500. After the acquisition, Black Mask was changed as it was written by a new team of tough crime fiction writers. The stories grew darker and more violent. Besides this, people loved the scandalous crime stories and circulation risen from 66,000 to over 103,000. [6]
Effect on Publishing Industry
Due to the cheap cost of production, pulp magazines and fiction became an accessible form of entertainment for everybody to enjoy. Since these magazines were cheap, they could be bought at grocery stores, train stations, or other highly-visited places for someone to enjoy a quick story on the go. The dark, gritty crime stories brought a new era of scandalous literature, veering away from the idea that literature could only be for the sophisticated and the elite. Pulp fiction created a pathway towards literature that could be used to entertain an audience in a non-conventional manner than for those reading to seek vital information.
Citations
- ↑ Robinson, C. Solveig. The Book In Society: An Introduction to Print Culture. Broadview Press, 2014, pg. 124.
- ↑ "pulp fiction." Oxford Reference. . . Date of access 20 Sep. 2025, <https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100354415>
- ↑ "pulp fiction, noun." Cambridge Dictionary. www.dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/pulp-fiction. Accessed 20 September 2025.
- ↑ Rabinowitz, Paula. American Pulp: How Paperbacks Brought Modernism to Main Street. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, pg 23-27.
- ↑ Pagourgis. "What is Pulp Fiction?" A Melting Pot of Mayhem, 20 May 2019, www.americanpulps.com/what-is-pulp-fiction.
- ↑ Black Mask History. Black Mask, 2023, https://blackmaskmagazine.com/black-mask-history/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2025.
