High-quality literature in Germany relies on subsidies and mixed funding (faz.net)

• High-quality literature in Germany depends on subsidies and cross-subsidization.
• The main threat is shrinking readership, not commercialization by publishers.
• The novel is losing cultural centrality to competing media formats.

"Professor Günter Leypoldt argues that high-quality literature has always depended on mixed funding, not just due to modern publishing conglomerates. The real threat is not commercialization but shrinking readership, especially the loss of 'midlist' and less-educated readers, which endangers the entire ecosystem."