Sociologie

Samenvatting

This article analyses the practices of Dutch literary editors involved in the acquisition of translation rights for English fiction. Combining neo-institutionalist and field theory we show how editors cope with three main problems in the acquisition of new books: excess of new titles; uncertainty over the nature and quality of new titles; and strong competition. They manage these challenges through decentralized organization, trust in their (transnational) network and their own expertise, and building symbolic capital through the catalogue. The catalogue, especially, is an important means of communication, and simultaneously a marker of status and identity, in the transnational literary arena. The focus on these catalogues, however, along with the constant reliance on information from others, leads to increasing isomorphism between national fields.