Texty a formy: knihy vázané, brožované a elektronické pohledem českých beletristických nakladatelů
Texts and Forms: Hardcovers, Paperbacks and E-books in the Use of Czech Book Publishers

Summary/Abstract: Exaggerated discussions over electronic and paper books and the changes which such a modification of key communication medium could bring about for the definition of literature or the ways of reading are gradually calming down. The positions of p-book lovers and e-book lovers are defined both in their extreme and moderate variants; now, they merely peck at each other. It seems technology cannot dominate the realm of culture as straightforwardly as the proponents of techno-determinism have dreamt of. Nevertheless, these polemics are analytically highly inspiring: they may refer to some more general ruptures in the logic of contemporary literary fields and speci fically, together with the discursive fights over cultural populism, snobbism or omni vo rousness, call one’s attention to the ambivalent relation of material and literary aspects of books. In this paper, I focus on the ways book publishers, significant gatekeepers of literary field, approach this problem. I describe how they deal with hardcover, paperback or electronic books in terms of practical use and value judgement and also, what outer factors may influence these choices. I interpret their strategies and practices in the context of dominant trends in contemporary Czech literary field and suggest whether publishers see the current material and discursive changes in book culture as symptoms of its further democratization, or banalization.

• Details
• Contents