Pulp around the world

[lostboy]

I'm no expert, but I think here in Spain there wasn't much that could be defined as "pulp" in the period 1920-1950; a few echoes of Tarzan, perhaps. That space in popular culture was filled by pseudo-medieval heroes like "El Guerrero del Antifaz" (the Masked Warrior), and "Capitan Trueno" (Captain Thunder). These were kid's comics which (very) distantly reflected the way that Franco liked to portray himself as a crusader and as a medieval warrior reconquering Spain. Any American influences would have been kind of no-go until the 1950s.

[warrenpeace]

I mean, we now look back on a whole range of stuff from (broadly) the 1930s/1940s (but maybe actually from the 1920's - 1950's) and classify it as pulp.

In fact, what we now term pulp covers lots of different sub-genres, from detective fiction, to Wild West, to Sword and Sorcery, to 'true' pulp - by which I mean adventure stories in the Thrilling Tales (I mean the magazine) vein...

I think that Pulp goes back further, as there were cheap magazines and books as early as the 19th Century.  But I agree with Captain Blood that the core period of what we call "Pulp" was in the 1920's to the 1950's. Edgar Rice Burroughs was writing before WW1.  Howard and Lovecraft in the 1920's.  Detective fiction and Westerns were really big before WW2, but continue to be read even today.  Some definitions of "Pulp" seem to include risque sex novels, at least as books are organized in some local bookstores in my city.  In a certain sense, all the cheap paperbacks on the shelf today in many genres are a continuation of the "Pulp" concept of writing for money and quick affordable entertainment, as opposed to "art" which is supposed to be taken more seriously.

There was a discussion many months back of some French "Pulp," but I haven't found the thread yet.

[lethallee61]

Yes we have had Pulp in Orstraylya. Most of the stuff mentioned here has been available, but one Pulp character in particular seems to appeal most to the Ozzie psyche. In fact, many Australians (wrongly) believe we created him.

Simply put, a man cannot call himself a man in Oz unless he has uttered the phrase:

"Phaarrrk! It's the Phantom..."


For me personally, I identify Pulp as anything which is read or seen where you think "Aw that couldn't actually happen - but I really wish it could...."

[Hammers]

Then there is of course Sven Hassel. Danish, but should perhaps be considered to belong in the international cadre of Pup authors, since books like "Wheels of terror" and "Legion of the Damned" has reached some notority. I always considered him a war glorifying sleaze bag on exactly the wrong side of how much litterary license  you are allowed when retelling historic events.