Jenseits des Narrativs des Scheiterns

This article looks into the reception of Wolfgang Hilbig's work in France, drawing on analyses of the sociology of literature (Bourdieu, Sapiro), cultural transfers and cultural mediators (Colin). The aim is to estimate the degree of recognition of Hilbig's work in France. The article proceeds chronologically, distinguishing two periods in the reception of Hilbig's work in France: the first from 1988 to 2004, and the second from 2002 to 2024. The chronological approach is combined with a thematic approach devoted to the different figures of mediators of Hilbig's work in France and their different functions: that of the “gatekeeper” in the world of French publishing (Bernard Lortholary), that of the “tastemaker” like the Franco-German mediator Nicole Bary, that of the hybrid mediator acting in the fields of translation, literary criticism and academia, particularly in German Studies as practiced at the Sorbonne University, and finally the writers as charismatic instances of consecration (Bergounioux, Claro). The notion of failure and its representations appears as a key notion, brought into play and discussed at several levels.