Allow me to use your wording for an analogy to explain why "there is a need for a change of heart" is an invalid assumption and faulty conclusion.

"There are millions of web sites filled with films of the pornographic variety even though to mainstream film makers and critics these videos are not considered very serious.  However, by their sheer number and expanding viewership, there is need for a change of heart."  In other words, according to your "popularity premise" would you advocate that porn should be "studied" for its artistic merits, it should be shown in public theatres, and porn videos should be considered for Academy Awards and Emmys?

If the answer is "no" (and it should be the answer of all good people) then the answer to your original question is also "no".

Quantity and popularity do not equate to quality and artistic achievement. 

I agree with John Wilhite that popularity is not sufficient to justify qualifying a genre as literature, but I cannot accept his broader premise.

The test must rest with the quality of the writing, and I would argue that in every genre, including probably even pornography, you can find writing that could and should be accepted as literature.  P D James works, for instance, in mystery novels, or Tolkien in Fantasy, to give just two examples.

The real problem lies with the reluctance of certain elements of the academic literati to accept the possibility that any works of popular fiction could classify as literature.

Although, there is also a trend towards academic acceptability of different writers with the passage of time.  Raymond Chandler's works, for instance, are a good example.

"Quantity and popularity do not equate to quality and artistic achievement" is my broader premise.  But I admit that it is unclear.  The statement refers to a particular work, not a specific genre.  Any writing of any or all the popular genres could reflect literary qualities and should not be "banned" from the hallowed halls of "real literature" based on its popular genre.  But that does not mean that all works from a popular genre should be considered literary in quality because a few books rose up to that standard.

One possibility is to let the students decide.  After teaching "the hallmarks of literary quality," a professor might assign a popular example and then a literary example of similar themes from a particular popular genre, fantasy or science fiction for example, and guide the students in a discussion of similarities and differences in style, vocabulary, voice, point of view, etc.

I sincerely think, it will stand against reason to attempt to clean the house without entering in. Off-handed dismissal of the popular genre without ascertaining the quality of work therein will be a disservice. A commitment to proper review and serious engagement of this genre can only deepen the study of literature and add value to learning. The need to separate the wheat from the chaff of-course is the hallmark of criticism.

I think everybody is agreeing here, as far as I am reading :-). The thriller needs to be analyzed and studied, always taking into account that there will be some works wit literary value and some without.

Thanks Rodriguez. Engaging the Thriller will compel the writers to clean up and by so doing more readers will have access to the works with literary values. This will also bring this critical mass into mainstream of literary education.