"The B.B.C. claim to have discovered a new type, the 'middlebrow'. It consists of people who are hoping that some day they will get used to the stuff they ought to like."
Punch, 23 December 1925.

Middlebrow:
An Interdisciplinary Transatlantic Research Network

The Middlebrow Network is an AHRC-funded project that provides a focus for research on the loaded and disreputable term 'middlebrow' and the areas of cultural production it purports to represent. The network is both transatlantic and interdisciplinary: we work to foster discussion and collaboration across geographical and disciplinary divides.

Through network events and publications we are stimulating debate about the term 'middlebrow' itself, considering how it is understood in different fields, whether it necessarily implies aspiration and imitation, and how its definitions travel across the Atlantic. We also advance interdisciplinary research into the material production, dissemination and reception of middlebrow films, music, books and journals, and into middlebrow and middle-class taste.

So far, our network includes over 190 academics, archivists, independent scholars and editors, working in the disciplines of history, English and American literature, comparative literature, film studies, art history, book history and music. Researchers who can expand this range of disciplines would be very welcome. Contact us.

Readerships and Literary Cultures 1880-1950

Sheffield Hallam University is building an archive of popular fiction which will be ready for use in 2010.  During the period when the ‘battle of the brows’ gathered intensity, certain authors and particular novels became markers of a range of tastes, the value of which could be hotly contested. We aim to encourage scholars within the academy and readers in the community to explore our collection of texts which are now out of print but whose pleasures can still be appreciated and whose contribution to our cultural inheritance is huge. Please contact Mary Grover for any suggestions about contents and potential use.

Database of Researchers

One of the most important elements of our work is putting people in touch via our searchable database of researchers in the field. To add details of your research interests, current projects and publications to our database of researchers, click here.

Join the Mailing List

To join our mailing list to receive details of planned events, calls for papers, new publications etc. email the network administrator, Erica Brown at: middlebrow@hotmail.co.uk.