Signs Taken for Wonders: On the Sociology of Literary Forms

Synopsis

A compelling analysis of the relations between high and mass culture, from tragedy and horror to detective fiction and classical realism. Shakespearean tragedy and Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and Ulysses, Frankenstein and The Waste Land — all are celebrated “wonders” of modern literature, whether in its mandarin or popular form. However, it is the fact that these texts are so central to our contemporary notion of literature that sometimes hinders our ability to understand them.