Market logic and cultural consecration in French, German and American bestseller lists, 1970–2007

This paper analyzes how cultural classification has changed, during the period 1970–2007, in France, Germany and the United States for one particular case: fiction book bestseller lists. Drawing on recent studies in the material production (the publishing field) and symbolic production (the literary field) of literature, I examine the impact of the market logic and cultural consecration on the content of bestseller lists by (a) mapping trends, (b) comparing countries and (c) conducting multivariate analyses. To do so, I offer a nested, multilevel approach that attends to producers, authors and product types. The results show that, in all three countries, authors who have properties that signal the market logic become more dominant, while retrospectively consecrated authors less often make the lists. This trend is stronger for the US than for Germany and France. The differences between the latter two countries decline over time.

► This research compares fiction book bestseller lists in France, Germany and the US from 1970 to 2007.
► I examine changes in the presence of authors published under a market logic on these bestseller lists.
► I examine changes in the presence of cultural consecrated authors on these bestseller lists.
► In all 3 countries, the market logic has become more dominant while cultural consecration declines.
► This trend is strongest for the US; meanwhile, France and Germany increasingly resemble each other.