2012•The Encyclopedia of Romantic LiteratureRequires access
Popular Romanticism
Gary M. Kelly
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Abstract
‘Popular’ here can mean ‘of the people’ (variously defined); ‘much followed, favoured, or frequented'; ‘having certain characteristics or traits associated with “the people” (however defined) or the “much favoured” or both'; and ‘cheap’ (variously defined). What is popular can be determined not by universal criteria but by time, place, and application. What was popular during the Romantic period with the titled and fashionable may not have been popular with plebeians, and may have been relatively little frequented and not cheap. Yet what is popular with one social group may be popular with another, or all, if the price is right. What is popular with a subculture, counterculture, or avant‐garde, as appropriated elements of the much favoured and frequented, may be very little frequented or favoured by ‘the people’ at large, even if cheap.