Of Babel, Books, Libraries and other Ghosts: Foreign Books in the U.S. Marketplace

Abstract

My master thesis deals with the north-American publishing industry (present day, spring 2015) focusing specifically on its attitude toward foreign literature. As far as fiction and poetry are concerned, every year less than 3% of all the titles published in the U.S. is translated from a foreign language. The first section aims to provide the reader with an accurate landscape of the present situation. The second section deals with who (and how and why) cares for foreign literature in the US - a small niche fostered by small publishing houses (no profit, indie, university presses). The third section presents a case-study: one of the most astonishing literary sensations of the last decade, namely Roberto Bolaño's posthumous success in the US. This last chapter will provide essential information about the unpredictable case in which everything falls in its right place - quality of the book, its marketing and promotion.