Comparing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Mainstream and critical literary judgments rarely intersect. Paradoxically, scholars often regard a novel’s popularity as indicative of its ‘unliterariness’, prompting fervent backlash. Likewise, ‘high’ literature is commonly viewed as inaccessible to the general populous. Nevertheless, Douglas Adams’ acclaimed 1979 novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is an anomalous example wherein critical consensus reflects mainstream judgments. Although academic and popular critics assess the novel via distinct, separate criteria, both agree upon its fundamental literary value. Accordingly, this essay will explore The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’s dynamic, multifaceted literary history, arguing mainstream and scholarly literary values are not inherently mutually exclusive, but rather can share a symbiotic relationship. While Adams’ ‘trilogy in five parts’ will occasionally be referred to collectively, focus will primarily centre on his original novel, facilitating a fluid timeline through which literary values are identified, justified, accepted, and re-evaluated. To substantiate these claims, four overarching topics will be addressed. Firstly, the series’ enduring cultural impact will be contextualised, outlining mainstream and academic interpretations of literary value. Thereafter, scholarly …show more content…
Rantf (200?, p.2) reiterates the division between high and low culture in assessments of the novel, stating, “in deciding what is high literature and what not, the Hitchhikers’ Guide would clearly fail if judged by its overlying language presumptions.” This informal prose is evident in the excerpt:
“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space” (Adams 1979,