Pulp Fiction in the Press: 1990s Film Culture Writing and the Creation of Influence

Abstract: This paper argues that the enormous amount of 1990s in-print press coverage of Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction (1994) was a crucial factor in establishing the film's early legacy. Trade journalists, film reviewers, and cultural commentators all built a sense that Pulp Fiction was the defining indie film of the 1990s, aligning it with the financial and cultural expansion of the indie film sector throughout the rest of the decade. Through the privileged positions these writers held in film culture, they circulated opinions and knowledge about Tarantino and Pulp Fiction , all the while imbuing the film with immense cultural value.