engleski

Book strategies in a small market: contribution to culture above cash paradigm

Although the books have always been considered as amphibious organisms, the ones that live in and from cultural-economic dichotomy, in certain periods one of the two faces could surpass the other. Miha Kovač, for example, proved that socialist regimes insisted on cultural dimension of the book, while at liberal markets the good publisher was at the same time successful capitalist. This paper aims, using the example of Croatian book publishing market, to prove that small markets also praise the book as cultural artefact, and that they do not just neglect, but in some cases scorn its economic dimension. Thus, Croatian researches do not publish histories of publishing, but histories of books. Publishers in great extent buy and translate international bestsellers, but they also year by year insist on their cultural mission and, consequently, assert rights on subsidies and budget money. The bestseller published by a local starlet is mocked, and the decline in book sales (not reading) is at once equated with cultural breakdown of the nation. In modern economies such perception could have long lasting consequences on publishing market development, for e-books, lacking at the moment any cultural or symbolic trait, are almost completely out of scope for the most influential national publishers.

book publishing ; cultural-economic dichotomy ; Croatian book publishing

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