L.008.32720 Merchants of Culture: Publishing and the Literary Marketplace

Lehrende: Yvonne Kristin Jende

Veranstaltungsart: Seminar

Orga-Einheit: Anglistik/Amerikanistik

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Semesterwochenstunden: 2

Unterrichtssprache: Englisch

Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: - | 33

Ziel der Veranstaltung:

Inhalt:

First established in the 15th century thanks to the inventions of a goldsmith from Mainz, book printing and publishing still is, to a certain extent, a blank spot on the map of the creative industries today. While books continue to command a good deal of our attention and constitute a staple source of inspiration for films and other forms of entertainment, the processes and conditions of their production remain largely mysterious.

Consequently, in the first half of this class, we will look at John B. Thompson’s ecology of publishing fields (2011) and explore the publishing chain of trade books. We will ask questions about the origination, production, sale, and distribution of this cultural commodity to reconstruct how a vague idea slowly becomes a specific product. As we explore how a trade book is gradually produced by authors, agents, and publishers, and transmitted via distributors and retailers to an end user who purchases and ‘consumes’ it, we will consider the task and function each of the chain’s links performs in the process and ask: Can culture be produced and marketed, and if so, who, then, are its merchants?

As this class is part of the Project and Exploration module, in the second part of this class, you will present your own research project exploring the publishing industries and the literary marketplace. In line with this, this class will require you to engage in a self-chosen research project on which you must work independently and produce a project presentation by the end of the semester.

• B.Ed. students who enrolled during or after the Winter Term 2022/2023 (PO 2022/2023) must have successfully completed the Methods and Strategies module before taking this class.
  
• B.Ed. students who enrolled prior to the Winter Term 2022/2023 (PO 2016/2017): It is highly recommended that you have successfully completed the Introduction to Literary Studies, Introduction to Cultural Studies, and the Methods and Strategies module before taking this class.
  
• B.A. students (ZFBA, EFBA) must have successfully completed the Introduction to Cultural Studies before taking this class.
  

Literatur:
All reading material will be provided on PANDA.

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