La littérature sous emprise ? L’édition, débats actuels et résistances dans le champ littéraire

Participants: Vanessa Springora, Jean-Yves Mollier, Nicola Denis
Moderation: Lena Seauve

Joint event: Frankreichzentrum, Freie Universität Berlin; Centre Marc Bloch; ZfL

“Nine billionaires control over 90 percent of the private media.” This phrase has been used in France for years to describe the growing concentration of media ownership. It refers to the consolidation of newspapers, television and radio stations, publishing houses, and digital media platforms by a few owners. The political, cultural, and social consequences of this trend have long been debated in France. Particular attention was drawn to the reorientation of the long-established publishing house Fayard following its acquisition by the Bolloré Group. This acquisition sparked a broad debate about political influence in the publishing industry.

The debate took on new urgency in April of this year when Olivier Nora, the highly respected publisher of Grasset, was fired by Vincent Bolloré. This triggered an unprecedented mobilization: More than 250 authors announced their intention to leave Grasset in protest and formed the group États généraux des artistes-auteurs du livre to reclaim the rights to their works.

This conflict highlights a growing trend in both France and Germany. It’s not just a matter of ownership, but also its impact on diversity of opinion, cultural production, and the democratic public sphere. In the context of the Bolloré Group, for example, ideological shifts in the media landscape are evident, primarily manifesting as a rebalancing of political topics and increased visibility of right-wing to far-right positions. The debate centers on the consequences of these consolidation processes for cultural production. How do they alter the scope of action for authors, publishers, and bookstores? What effect do they have on the diversity of published voices, literary criticism, and the policies governing awards and media recognition for writers? What differences or parallels can be observed when comparing France and Germany?

Vanessa Springora is a writer and publisher. Her book Le Consentement (2020; German edition: Die Einwilligung, 2020) sparked a major debate about abuse and power dynamics in the literary world. She is one of the most prominent voices in the current debate over the independence of the publishing industry and one of the initiators of the États généraux.

Jean-Yves Mollier is a historian and a renowned expert on the history of publishing, the history of the book, and cultural industries in France. His work analyzes the long-term interplay between media concentration, the public sphere, and cultural production, as seen in Une autre histoire de l’édition française (2015).

Nicola Denis is a literary translator, writer, and prominent mediator and observer in the Franco-German cultural sphere. She translates works by authors such as Honoré de Balzac, Éric Vuillard, and Adèle Rosenfeld. Her second novel, Wo die Kaffeekirschen leuchten, was recently published by Matthes & Seitz Berlin (Friedenauer Presse, 2026).

Lena Seauve is a literary scholar at Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Rostock, specializing in Enlightenment literature, cultures of memory, and the representation of violence in French- and Spanish-language literature. Her current research interests also include literary narratives and the metapolitics of the transnational New Right.