Abstract
The introductory study has two goals: fi rst, it seeks to summarize the debate on the nature and development of popular literature (as a specific part of the literary field); second, it presents the strategy of the volume as a whole. Some clichés repeated in the debate about popular literature are cited, followed by an analysis of the writers' and readers' strategies, and of the social role played by the phenomena of popular culture within society; the complex issues of aesthetic evaluation and the question of the origins of popular culture/ literature are examined as well.
After reaching the conclusion which is the point of departure of the book - i.e. that we can speak of phenomena later designated as "popular" already in classical antiquity and in the Middle Ages - the general strategy of the contributing authors is specified, one based on the multi -methodological and holistic approach, with the text in its various contexts standing always in the centre of our attention. In order to assemble some more specific tools for examination, we have decided to focus on the following aspects of the texts: variation and innovation within the genre; language, style and its social status; self -parody; fantasy - fiction - lie; Sitz im Leben(i.e. to what extent one can deduce the role these texts played in society); and period reception and classification of the texts.
The studies are dealing with texts from ancient Egypt (2000 BCE), from ancient Greece of the imperial age, and from the first Christian centuries, as well as with the medieval passion plays and with texts already from the era of print. Old Norse literature is presented in several studies, and neither Byzantine nor Arabic cultural traditions are neglected.
The essay concludes by demonstrating some general features of the texts under scrutiny, with their impressive variety of genres.