Book contents
- Institutions of Literature, 1700–1900
- Institutions of Literature, 1700–1900
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction Literature and Institutions
- Chapter 1 Knowledge Exchange in the Seventeenth Century
- Chapter 2 ‘Supporting Mutual Benevolence’
- Chapter 3 Institutions without Addresses
- Chapter 4 Eighteenth-Century Musenhof Courts as Bridges and Brokers for Cultural Networks and Social Reform
- Chapter 5 Becoming Institutional
- Chapter 6 Circulating Libraries as Institutional Creators of Genres
- Chapter 7 Lecturing Networks and Cultural Institutions, 1740–1830
- Chapter 8 Catalogues as Instituting Genres of the Nineteenth-Century Museum
- Chapter 9 Charles Lamb and the British Museum as an Institution of Literature
- Chapter 10 A Disruptive and Dangerous Education and the Wealth of the Nation
- Chapter 11 ‘The Ladies’ Contribution’
- Chapter 12 ‘[L]etters Must Increase’
- Chapter 13 Networks, Nodes, and Beacons
- Chapter 14 The Book as Medium
- Index
Chapter 6 - Circulating Libraries as Institutional Creators of Genres
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2022
- Institutions of Literature, 1700–1900
- Institutions of Literature, 1700–1900
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction Literature and Institutions
- Chapter 1 Knowledge Exchange in the Seventeenth Century
- Chapter 2 ‘Supporting Mutual Benevolence’
- Chapter 3 Institutions without Addresses
- Chapter 4 Eighteenth-Century Musenhof Courts as Bridges and Brokers for Cultural Networks and Social Reform
- Chapter 5 Becoming Institutional
- Chapter 6 Circulating Libraries as Institutional Creators of Genres
- Chapter 7 Lecturing Networks and Cultural Institutions, 1740–1830
- Chapter 8 Catalogues as Instituting Genres of the Nineteenth-Century Museum
- Chapter 9 Charles Lamb and the British Museum as an Institution of Literature
- Chapter 10 A Disruptive and Dangerous Education and the Wealth of the Nation
- Chapter 11 ‘The Ladies’ Contribution’
- Chapter 12 ‘[L]etters Must Increase’
- Chapter 13 Networks, Nodes, and Beacons
- Chapter 14 The Book as Medium
- Index
Summary
This essay examines Romantic-era circulating libraries as a case study in the ways that institutions rather than individual authors create literary subgenres. The argument draws upon sociologically oriented research in literary and media studies and draws analogies between the history of the novel and the history of cinema. The growth of circulating libraries in the late eighteenth century created new markets for popular fiction, and this in turn spurred the creation of novelistic subgenres and formulas such as the gothic novel, the historical novel, and the season novel as means to respond to readerly demand for new titles. Circulating library catalogues and the novels themselves provide evidence of the ways that novelistic titles and subtitles signal generic affiliation to readers through keywords.
Keywords
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- Institutions of Literature, 1700–1900 , pp. 120 - 134Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022