Die Regeln der Zirkulation: Erfolgsnarrative im Kontext transnationaler literarischer Transferprozesse am Beispiel von ›Brecht in Frankreich‹

Résumé En

The process by which an author gains recognition in the literary field is characterized by the tension-ridden reciprocity of symbolic and economic capital. Rarely proceeding in a linear fashion, this process is the result of a complex interplay between a multitude of actors, whose numbers increase even more in the context of transnational circulation. Using the well-researched reception history of Bertolt Brecht in France as its point of departure, this essay examines the function of mediators and gatekeepers in processes of literary transfer: what kind of traits does one need in order to help position foreign-language authors within the cultural field? And how can one stave off (potential) competitors in the long run? In what follows, I seek to deconstruct the narrative of success in order to gain fresh insights into the relationship between academic and non-academic instances of evaluation as well as the general preconditions for the formation of transnational artistic networks.