Abstract
The book applies recent cocenpts of popular literature and pulp/trash literature to the distinct temporal eras and geographical areas of ancient and medieval literature of the world. It analyses textual features that can be considered as popular or pulp across the wide area of ancient Egyptian papyrus of Torino, ancient love novels, Christian hagiographies, medieval Passion plays, Byzantine parodies of liturgical rites, old Scandinavian epics and lying sagas, Arabic maqamas or Spanish blind ballad chapbooks.
The analyses result in a unifying notion that the border line between the high-brow and low-b row literature is not that distinctive as usually thought. The book proves that low-brow features like schematism allow the use of adaptive and creative variations, the interplay of convention and invention offers a rich and wide space for modifications.
Such a conclusion throws new light upon traditional assumptions. The monograph covers a coherent field of subversive and parodic attitudes that challenge the dominant rules and soften the asumed stability of canonized tradition.