An early modern mass medium: The adventures of Cartouche in Dutch penny prints (1700-1900)

This article demonstrates the social and cultural significance of eighteenth and nineteenth century Dutch penny prints – one of the first mass media in European history. By using a combination of media and cultural historical approaches (Henry Jenkins, John Fiske) and an anthropological perspective (Eric Hobsbawm) it asserts that, contrary to common notion, penny prints were not just part of a commercialized, conformist mass culture, but existed as a form of social resistance and protest as well. This new insight is based on the analysis of the adaption and publication history of the eighteent... Mehr ...