Abstract
The aim of the study is to relate the genre of the ancient novel to the category of so-called popular literature. Due to limited evidence concerning the ancient readership of novels (a topic which is, however, also discussed in the study), foremost attention is paid to the texts themselves; in this respect, concepts created within the field of popular literature and culture by contemporary literary theory – especially John Fiskes’ analyses and his “producerly text” construct – have proved themselves to be very useful tools even in spite of the different character of literacy in antiquity.
From a reader’s point of view, the genre appears to be characterized by continuous interplay between the formula and its multiple variations and innovations. Also of extreme interest are the changing attitudes of the scientific community towards the genre of the novel as such.