Literary Judgement and the Fora of Criticism

Who decides what good literature is? And in which spaces are these decisions made in a digitized world? Literary judgement is the starting point for the evaluation, selection and even canonization of a literary work. In the 18th century, educated citizens exchanged ideas, formed public opinion, and promoted common narratives in debates about literature. Today, criticism is shaped in many diverse public spheres and sub-spheres, operating in an economy regulated by attention and in a globalized book market. What does this mean for the roles of critic, author, and reader? »Literary Judgement and the Fora of Criticism« addresses questions relating to the forms, functions, and significance of literary judgement; the conditions and consequences for criticism in the current media landscape; the medialization of criticism as review and its rhetorical and generic effects; the ascription and dissemination of literary value for a growing but diverse global readership; the implications and consequences for writer, critic, and reader of the digitization of criticism. With contributions by: Amit Chaudhuri, Phillipa Chong, James English, Florencia Garramuño, Richard Jacquemond, Mats Jansson, Christopher Odhiambo Joseph, Rebecka Kärde, Daniel Kehlmann, Zóltan Kulcsár-Szabó, Camille Laurens, B. Venkat Mani, Laura McGrath, Mark McGurl, Ronya Othmann, Irina Prokhorova, Sandra Richter, Lionel Ruffel, Gisèle Sapiro, Zeruya Shalev, Galin Tihanov, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Magnus William-Olsson and Xu Xi. Der Band erscheint vollständig in englischer Sprache.

Auteur
Mats Jansson is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Gothenburg. He has been a visiting scholar at St. Edmund's College, Cambridge University, and at the Scandinavian Department, UC Berkeley. Most recent publication: Att skriva med ljus. 13 essäer om litteratur och fotografi (2020). Sandra Richter, geb. 1973, Direktorin des Deutschen Literaturarchivs Marbach und Professorin für Neuere Deutsche Literatur an der Universität Stuttgart, Studium der Literaturwissenschaft und Politik an der Universität Hamburg, Promotion 1998 an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen.Veröffentlichung u. a.: Eine Weltgeschichte der deutschsprachigen Literatur (2017). Sandra Richter Gisèle Sapiro is Professor of Sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and Research director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique.Most recent publication: Qu'est-ce qu'un auteur mondial? Le champ littéraire transnational (2024).