Gisèle Sapiro awarded the Biguet Prize of the Académie française

We are delighted to announce that Gisèle Sapiro has been awarded the Biguet Prize (in sociology) of the Académie française for her book Qu’est-ce qu’un auteur mondial? Le champ littéraire transnational (Gallimard/Seuil/EHESS, Hautes études Collection, 2024). The book is forthcoming in English (Polity Press), Spanish (Fondo de Cultura Economica, Argentina), Croatian (Meandar), Russian (NLO), Bengali and Hindi (Sampark).

About Qu’est-ce qu’un auteur mondial? Le champ littéraire transnational 

Until recently, the notion of “universal classic” was a received idea. The canon of world literature has come under critical scrutiny due to the predominance of white Western male-authors. By what mechanisms was “world literature” created? How is international literary fame achieved?

Based on archives, interviews, observations, and quantitative studies, this book analyzes the conditions of access to literary consecration beyond national borders: the factors that promote or hinder it, and the actors who contribute to it. Three socio-historical moments are discussed: the interwar period, marked by the internationalization of exchanges, first within Europe, and then with the United States; the geocultural opening after 1945, against the backdrop of the Cold War, with a slow progression of linguistic diversity, simultaneous with feminization; and finally, their intensification in the era of globalization. While book fairs and festivals are multiplying, the growing domination of English and the consolidation of publishing houses are generating resistance.