This subproject, situated at the intersection of Modern German Litera­ture and Book Studies, explores how the wide­spread dissemi­nation of scholarly texts in paper­back format trans­formed both the substance and the form of aca­demic know­ledge in postwar Germany. The rise of the paper­back as a medium for scientific and scholarly works marked a pivotal shift in the cultural history of know­ledge transfer. Beginning in the mid-1950s, readers in the Federal Republic could purchase academic paper­backs – such as Helmut Schelsky’s Sozio­logie der Sexua­lität (1955), Carl Fried­rich von Weiz­säcker’s Atom­energie und Atom­zeitalter (1957), or Thrasy­bulos Georgiades’ Musik und Rhythmus bei den Griechen (1958) – for as little as 1.90 DM at train station kiosks and depart­ment stores. Over time, the paperback shed its reputation as a disposable commodity or a vehicle for light enter­tain­ment, emerging instead as a legiti­mate and influential medium for serious intellec­tual discourse.
This develop­ment had far-reaching conse­quences for authors, publishers, and readers alike. Scholars – whose professional standing had tradi­tionally been insulated from commercial pressures – now faced the realities and oppor­tunities of mass-market dissemi­nation. Schelsky’s Soziologie der Sexualität, for instance, sold over 30,000 copies in its first year alone, illustrating the unprece­dented reach of academic texts in this new format. Unlike earlier forms of science popula­rization, which often simplified complex ideas for general audiences, postwar paper­backs retained scholarly rigor while embracing accessibility. Paradox­ically, they functioned simulta­neously as markers of intellectual prestige and as tools for demo­cratizing know­ledge. Our research investi­gates these dynamics through three key per­spectives: the scholars who adapted to mass-market publishing, the publishers who shaped academic paper­backs through content selection and branding, and the readers whose engage­ment with these texts was often mediated by paratextual elements like covers, blurbs, and series design.
By analyzing prominent paper­back series from both general-interest and specialized academic publishers – including S. Fischer, Oldenbourg, Francke, and Vanden­hoeck & Ruprecht – we recon­struct the material, social, and cultural processes that rede­fined know­ledge circu­lation in 20th-century Germany. Through archival research and case studies, we aim to illuminate how the paper­back not only expanded access to scholar­ship but also reshaped the very nature of academic communi­cation. Our over­arching goal is to provide a compre­hensive history of academic know­ledge dissemi­nation via paper­backs in postwar Germany, deepening our under­standing of the forces – social, cultural, and material – that have shaped modern scholarly discourse.