Greek popular literature magazines for children and teenagers (1950 - 1967)

Abstract

Although many academic scholars in the fields of literature and history, especially from the 90s onwards, have shown an advanced interest for 19th century Greek popular novel, popular literature of the 20th century remains a little-researched academic field. More specifically, the flourishing era of the 50s and the 60s is still unexplored. During that period, popular press in Greece developed and was organized, mainly via magazines and booklets oriented to children and teenagers. So, in this case, the reflection about popular literature is combined with the problematic on children literature. But, popular and children’s fiction have a long and parallel presence in Modern Greek cultural history, which dates back before the 19th century. In this study, we make a spherical presentation of the Greek popular magazines for children and teenagers during the 50s and the 60s. Therefore, the intertextual analysis of the fictional characters is connected with the social, political and economic aspects of the magazines: the reactions of intellectuals, the ecclesiastical circles and the main political forces of that time; the dominant and versatile influence of American popular culture on the Greek press, music and cinema; above all, the readership’s identity and mindset.