World Literature and Publishers’ Series

Dr. Evi Heinz (HU Berlin, Centre for British Studies)

Since the late nineteenth century, publishers' series such as Reclam’s Universalbibliothek, Grant Richards/OUP’s World's Classics, or Boni & Liveright/Random House’s Modern Library of the World’s Best Books have significantly shaped and continue to shape notions of canonical or 'classical' literature as a collection of texts drawn from different national and linguistic contexts. The use of the concept of 'world literature' as a category for publishing and marketing literature in translation, – both historically and today – thus raises important questions about real and imagined borders in the international circulation of literary texts and the role that publishers play in the process of literary canon formation. This seminar seeks to approach these questions through a specific case study: the Propyläen-Verlag’s Werke der Weltliteratur (1920-1925). Participants are invited to analyse the conception, promotion and material production of the series to explore how the use and meaning of the term ‘world literature’ in the early twentieth century was both shaped by and transmitted through contemporary book culture. This workshop is part of the Postgraduate Class Book Studies.