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A.M. GORKY INSTITUTE OF WORLD LITERATURE
OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Literature of the Americas

JOURNAL OF LITERARY HISTORY

Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1,, 121069 Moscow, Russia

Tel. +7 10 495 690-50-30

editor@litda.ru,  literaturа.da@gmail.com

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  • Issue:

    №19 2025

  • Received: 30 Aug. 2025
  • Approved after reviewing: 25 Oct. 2025
  • Date of publication: 25 Dec. 2025
  • УДК / UDK: 821.111(73).0
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • DOI:

    https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-7894-2025-19-88-103

  • EDN:

    https://elibrary.ru/DXMWCA

  • Author: Nataliya V. Kireeva
  • About the author:

    Nataliya V. Kireeva, Doctor Hab. in Philology, Professor of Russian Language and Literature Department, Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, Lenina st., 104, 675000 Blagoveshchensk, Russia.

    ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7354-5181.

    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

  • Abstract:

    This article analyzes the institutional mechanisms through which popular literature becomes part of the contemporary literary canon. Using the case of Stephen King’s transformation from a marginal horror writer to a recognized figure in the academic and cultural mainstream, the author identifies three key strategies of institutionalization: self-legitimation, media recognition, and academic reception. The proposed distinction between canonization, legitimation, and institutionalization, along with the introduction of an analytical model of institutional strategies, constitutes a theoretical contribution to current studies of the literary canon in the postmodern era.

  • Keywords: Stephen King, literary canon, canonization, institutionalization, legitimation, authorial reputation, academic reception, popular literature, postmodernism, sociology of literature.
  • For citation:

    Kireeva, Nataliya. “Stephen King and the Contemporary Literary Canon: Strategies of Institutionalization and Legitimation.” Literature of the Americas, no. 19 (2025): 88–103. https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-7894-2025-19-88-103

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