Popular Literature and Its Readers

In the article there are presented initial results of empiric researches on reception of the popular literaiure. The researches were based on an example of the social reception of one of its basic types - the detective story. Presentation of researches findings is preceded by a short description of the type of messaqe being subject to reception. The researches were carried on a small purposing sample. The author conducted 80 free interviews with respondents differentiated mainly with regard to their educational background. The object of the analysis was this fragment of colloquial responses in which different reception attitudes and different trends in readers' areas of interest were revealed. They were connected with a procedure of partial autonomization of different components of a literary work being performed by readers in the course of reading as weil as with organization of the reception around different substantiation norms. The analysis pointing at clear limitation of the social reception conditions in relation to popular novels simultaneously shows that from the point of view of reception, readers, attitudes, and real functions it is not a homogeneous and fully standardized area.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę