The Cultural Value of The Analogue Fiction Book in the Digital Age

This thesis addresses the cultural value of the analogue fiction book in Germany in the digital age. It highlights crucial issues in the debate about the materiality of objects. Previous research on the digitisation of the analogue book tends to focus on the digitisation of texts and its consequences on reading and comprehending texts. Alternatively, contemporary research on digitisation in the book market has focused on the economic implications of the digitisation of the book trade, but not on the analogue book as a material object in relation to contemporary German fiction. To explore how digitisation affects the cultural value of the analogue fiction book, I examine how producers of fiction books (authors and publishers), consumers of fiction books (readers) and intermediaries (booksellers) in Germany value the analogue fiction book in the digital age. I do this by drawing on interviews and focus-group discussions with members of the aforementioned three groups. The data is interrogated by applying Griswold's (2013) 'cultural diamond' to help understand the relationship between cultural objects, their creators, recipients and the social world in which they exist. I argue that the analogue fiction book in the digital age is understood as a cultural good that is particularly valued as a counterpart to the advancing digitisation of media. The limiting material features of the analogue book are considered assets in the digital age. The analogue book is perceived as a medium that stands against digital media, which is perceived as full of distractions. The analogue book evokes nostalgic feelings and is seen by a particular group of readers and authors as a medium that needs to be protected against its decline. I conclude that the media and cultural studies would benefit from focusing on the materiality of the fiction book to research the further development of cultural value in the course of digitisation