Introduction

This is a time of renewed interest in all forms of popular culture. The need to understand different sources of pleasure and identification, whether in popular fiction or political populism, has led to a fresh and creative engagement with ‘the popular’. What are the ways in which people’s hopes and dreams, fears and fantasies, are invested in what they read and watch? And what needs, real or imaginary, are created and satisfied in the process? Suddenly, these questions have assumed a new importance.