We are delighted to share information about a new publication by one of our associated scholars.
Dr. Elisabeth Böker (MA in Buchwissenschaft and History from JGU Mainz, PhD in Scandinavian Studies from Göttingen University within the Framework of the DFG Graduiertenkolleg 1787 – Literatur und Literaturvermittlung im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung) has just published her dissertation with ther German academic Publisher Königshausen and Neumann. Her dissertation deals with the literary transfer of Scandinavian books to the German market.
Names like Jussi Adler-Olsen, Jonas Jonasson, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, Nesbø or Karl Ove Knausgård are very visible on German bestseller lists – and even on British bestseller lists, which is a notoriously difficult market to enter as a translated author. In her monograph, Böker analyzes the surging interest in Scandinavian books in translation with a special focus on the reception of Scandinavian titles in Germany. She discusses which mechanisms and actors in the book industry have led to this surge of translations from Scandinavian countries and whether the boom is over or a long-term development. Convincingly, she argues that the hype is ongoing. While the stereotype of successful Scandinavian authors are thriller and crime writers (“Nordic Noir”), she shows that the trend goes beyond certain genres.
The book (€49,80) can be ordered directly from Königshausen and Neumann.
Book History and Print Culture Network 