Literature, Markets and Media in Germany and Austria Today

Eighteen essays by scholars from Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom examine the interrelationships between literature, markets and media in contemporary Germany and Austria. A series of studies of individual writers (Baumann, Jurek Becker, Jürgen Becker, Brinkmann, Enzensberger, Grass, Hettche, Menasse, Ransmayr, Reichart, Rühmkorf, Strauß, Tekinay, Wander, Wolf) is complemented by broader analyses of the responsibilities of the intellectual in this context, the operation of the 'Literaturbetrieb' (the function of literary prizes between the fields of culture and the economy; the perspectives of the publisher in identifying new trends; the book as market commodity), and the impact of 'Medienwirtschaft' on literature, society and the theatre. Writers are shown to exploit their knowledge of market and media practices, not least those of the critics in the feuilleton. Responses to the different publics of film, television and literature are illuminated. Discussions of recent works of considerable complexity which reflect and subvert the discourses of the technological age testify to a German-language literature at the turn of the century which is vibrant and attuned to a changing world.