BY QUITTERIE GOUNOT

In print | Published August 26, 2010

For many people, the words “pulp fiction” evoke a very specific and immediate association: the 1994 movie by Quentin Tarantino. Both an example and a parody of the film noir genre, Pulp Fiction immerses the viewer into the fragmented yet interconnected lives of Las Vegas mobsters and small time criminals.

Fewer people, however, know about pulp fiction, the genre which gave the famous film its name. Perhaps it is the very nature of the genre that is to blame. After all, pulp fiction is not the kind of literature that teachers like to pass out for students to study. Known for their lurid stories, filled with gratuitous and explicit sex and violence, pulp magazines are not exactly considered art. As students in 2010, is there anything for us to learn from the cheap entertainment popular in the early part of last century?

This is a question that has been on the mind of Hilary Trout ’13 for some time and developed into the current McCabe exhibit, “Sex, Action, and Social Commentary: Pulp Magazines in America.” Spanning some eight cases all around the entrance and lobby of the library, this exhibit brings together over thirty specimens of the pulp fiction genre, and other original documents such as letters concerning alleged copyright violations. This collection, donated to Swarthmore College by Philadelphian author David H. Keller’s family, includes many of his own stories.

However, the collection also features stories, essays, and poems by a variety of other authors such as John Murray Reynolds, H.P. Lovecraft, and Ray Avery Myers. Visitors might be surprised to see mentions of famous literary figures like Ursula LeGuin and Isaac Asimov. “Under the grim and grime of pulp, you get some major household names,” Trout said.

In fact, many well-known American writers of the past century launched their literary careers that way. For example, both Ray Bradbury and Tennessee Williams published their first stories in pulp magazines.

Pulp fiction might seem out of place at an institution like Swarthmore, as it is first and foremost cheap entertainment, deriving its name from the low-grade wood pulp paper on which it was printed. With a varying but always low price, pulp magazines did not pretend to compete with the so-called classier entertainment of the “slicks,” more expensive publications recognizable due to their glossy covers. The writing was often amateur and almost always verbose because writers were typically paid by the word. All the same, it is precisely this commonplace quality that made the pulps such a staple of American newsstands from their appearance in the late 1890’s to their decline in the 1950’s.

“It was popular because it was cheap,” Trout said. “It was something everyone could afford, entertainment everyone had access to as long as they could read or get someone to read it to them.”

Beyond shockingly racist cover art and depictions of scantily clad women, pulp fiction can be seen as a vehicle for social and political ideas. Stories that might strike us as profoundly sexist in their portrayal of gender roles are countered by many examples more sympathetic to a feminist audience. Pulp fiction encompasses views as diametrically opposed as socialism and capitalism. The modern audience is called to sift through and identify for him or herself those ideas that are worthy. “The authors are beginning to work through questions like racism, sexism and technological mayhem on the page, though not always in ways progressive people would like to see,” librarian Melanie Maksin said. “It’s a medium that is far out there in many ways, including socially and politically.”

As the exhibit makes clear, pulp fiction reflects the prevalent anxieties of its time, such as the advent of technological warfare, the excesses and inefficiencies of governments, and the depletion of natural resources. “The pulps were a small glimpse into what was going on in the cultural subconscious,” Trout said.

Through the pulps, writers of all social origins, professions, and political persuasions delivered a raw bulk of stories and ideas. Much like Wikipedia today, the pulp can be blamed for its inconsistent quality, the “anything and everything” that seem to make it up. But it can be praised for its wonderful accessibility and integration of popular involvement.

One thing is sure: the significance of pulp fiction has been seriously overlooked.

“By showcasing our collections, we want students to think about what else may be lurking in the library,” librarian Pam Harris said.

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