These studies investigate the communicative parameters governing book production and distribution in the cultural discourse of West German postwar literature (1945-1989). The main focus is on the history and mentality of the period in question and literary/aesthetic preconditions existing at the time, and the way these forces combine to determine the competition-oriented interplay between authors, publishers, critics and readers. Three analyses of individual works (extending to dust-jacket blurbs and reviews) attempt to elucidate long-term developments discernible in the context of literary life.