Being an Author: Literary Identities of Work in the Contemporary German Literary Field

Abstract

This article considers the normative conceptions and images that contemporary German fiction authors associate with their own work. On the basis of twenty narrative interviews, the article examines the extent to which the different self-reflections of authors manifest themselves in subjective interpretations and literary practices, which in turn reflect the economic and social structure of the literary field. This study aims at an empirical reconstruction of typical notions of authorship.