""Pre-Pulp" fictional Heroes/Heroines" Topic

Between the Victorian Era and the 1930s there must have been fictional heroes in literature.

Most of us have have at least passing knowledge of the 1930s "Pulp Era" writings I suspect.

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link indicates outer limits 1896 through 1950s…

So, is the Pulp Era hero set include fictional literary heroic characters of the 1920s? the 1910s?

This is a result of the threads about Tarzan elsewhere on TMP. Since many see Tarzan as a 1930's style hero yet his establishment in literature was earlier this drew my interest.

When do you see the first real ground swell of heroic figures in fictional literature that the "literate masses" read and who were they?

I would think that John Buchan's novels set around the eve of WWI would fit the Pulp framework. H.R. Haggard's stories seem to walk a line between Victorian Colonial and Pulp.

For anyone interested in 'pulp' characters, I recommend the "Crossovers, a secret chronology of the world" volumes 1 and 2. These books link practically every character you have heard of, and a lot you haven't, from 6 million years BC through to the far future.
In relevance to the question, Biggles was around in the 20s, as were Bulldog Drummond and Sexton Blake.

Depends on how you define "Pulp", of course, and when "the masses" became "literate"…

Cowboy heroes as portrayed in the "Dime Novels".
Sherlock Holmes.
Jules Verne's various heroes (and villains, who are much more memorable).
Van Helsing's Scooby gang from Dracula.
Kipling's various heroes (Kim, Stalky & Co.)
Dickens's various heroes (Oliver Twist, etc.)

I'm not conversant with Regency or earlier fiction, at least until you get back to medieval times with Arthur & Charlemagne – but then "the masses" were scarcely "literate" (in Europe, anyway), so I guess they don't count…

Though written in the 1900s, Sir Percy Blakeney's adventures as the Scarlet Pimpernel are set in the late eighteenth century, and are as plainly punky as a very plainly punky thing.

R. R.,

Exactly.

Much as I think Wikipedia has large flaws…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy

Given:

"… United States[edit]
Main article: Literacy in the United States

In 1820, 20% of the entire adult white population was illiterate, and 80% of the African American population was illiterate[citation needed]. By 1900 the situation had improved somewhat, but 44% of African American people remained illiterate. There were significant improvements for African American and other races in the early 20th century as the descendants of former slaves, who had had no educational opportunities, grew up in the post Civil War period and often had some chance to obtain a basic education. The gap in illiteracy between white and black adults continued to narrow through the 20th century, and in 1979 the rates were about the same.[36]

Full prose proficiency,[37] as measured by the ability to process complex and challenging material such as would be encountered in everyday life, is achieved by about 13% of the general, 17% of the white, and 2% of the African American population.[38][39] However 86% of the general population had basic or higher prose proficiency as of 2003, with a decrease distributed across all groups in the full proficiency group vs. 1992 of more than 10%, consistent with a general decline…"

Let's set the literacy for the masses (IN Europe and America) around 1900 although that glosses over who could read and to what level. From what people are saying it seems that prior to the Victorian time frame that most "heroes" for "most people" were expressed in verbal based folk heroes?

Arbitrary? Yes. But it seems a date might clarify part of my question.

More:

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Raffles and The Thinking Machine come to mind – link
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A good source is the first few books in the "Yesterday's Faces" history of the pulps by Robert Sampson; read them in the late 90s but didn't keep good enough notes! They should be in the library system, my local university had them. He starts with the dime novels and early pulps (as well as some of the glossies) pre-dating the 1920s and 30s.

The 1920s would be pretty rich too, with the start of hard-boiled private eyes, and most of Robert E. Howard's non-Conan fantasy.

Here's a link I found to the "Greatest 12 characters of the 1910s" it also has links going back and forward --
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How about Fred Burnaby?

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Jim

cplcampisi,

Do you have the slightest idea how much time I lost reading and researching things from that link?

Thanks.

ColCampbell.

Thanks!