Das Ordnen literarischer Felder, Systeme und Akteure

Ein Werkstattbericht über die Arbeit am Handbuch Literaturvermittlung

Abstract

In this contribution, Julia Ingold and Christoph Jürgensen introduce the concept of the Live Handbuch Literaturvermittlung, which is set to be published by J. B. Metzler in 2025. As important as literature mediation is with its forms and functions for more or less all processes in the literary field, it has been relatively underexplored and not comprehensively overviewed so far, with only a few attempts to even partially delineate the field. Systematics, attempts at organization, and individual aspects can be found under the keywords “Literaturbetrieb”, “Literaturdidaktik”, “Buchmarkt”, “literarisches Leben”, “Literatursystem”, “literarisches Feld” und “Literaturszene”. A comprehensive presentation that combines theory and practical relevance has not yet been provided. In response to this historical and methodological gap, Ingold and Jürgensen are planning to create this Handbook of Literature Mediation.

From a synchronous perspective, their interest focuses on the current mediation of literature in the narrower sense, i.e., fiction. Heuristically, they understand the concept of literary communication broadly, encompassing everything that is mediated in the form of materials, actors, and events between literary texts and the readership. The first achievement of the handbook is to provide a comprehensive map of the nearly inexhaustible field of literature mediation in the German-speaking context. In contrast to 'typical' handbooks, the objects in question are observed in an ongoing process where diachronic and synchronic developments interact. To bring order to the presentation of these closely interconnected structures and actors, the structure follows the chronology of the paths of the texts from their creation to the readership.