Readers of Mass Literature, 1994-200: From Paternalism to Individualism?

Publication year
2003
Journal
Russian Studies in Literature
Volume
40.1
Pages
79-95
Comment

Turning to the survey data, one notices that readers of romance, detective, and adventure novels actually can be distinguished from other respondents as slightly more anxious, depressed, and pessimistic. When asked about the present political situation, they frequently give negative responses (“tense,” “critical”), and in assessing their own situation in life, they are somewhat more likely to choose the response “our poverty has become unbearable.” In this sense, the survey results support the view that such literature is escapist, a way of shielding oneself for a time from the stresses of real life or of benefiting psychotherapeutically from “working out” one’s own sensitivities and stresses through reading. (82)

The study finds differences between romance readers and readers of other genres in terms of gender, location, income levels and political attitudes.