The study sets out to do three things: a) to urge a functional reorientation in the attitude of literary studies to stigmatized literature, b) to effect a specific expansion of the social-history approach to literature by focussing more attention on discourses relevant to the history of mentality, and c) to provide an instance of the methodological-cum-heuristic value of a consistently interdisciplinary perspective. The central aim is that of indicating the 'messages' in entertaining and popular texts that are relevant for the identification of the mentality of a given epoch. With these aims in mind, the study concentrates on Ludwig Fulda (1862-1939) as a prominent representative of 'midfield theatre' displaying an even balance between thematic innovation and formal traditionalism at the dramaturgical level. The customarily derogatory attitude with regard to the aesthetic qualities of such midfield products is challenged in the present study by an approach aiming at a functional reorientation in the critical analysis of literature designed to entertain. The guiding thesis is that popular literature is especially well suited to supplying information on the socio-historical and psychosocial conditions - and hence the mental and ideological dispositions - prevailing at a given time.