Ost-West-Forum des Buchhandels. Die Internationale Warschauer Buchmesse 1958-1989

Abstract

This article presents the history of the Warsaw International Warsaw Fair from its inception to 1989. The analysis focuses on the institutional infrastructure of the fair and the dynamics of its development. Data from German archives enables a description of the literary environment and the economic and political-cultural expectations that the exhibitors from both German states had to meet. Based on Polish archival documents, the censorship mechanisms applicable at the fair and the function of the fair in the transfer of Polish literature abroad have been partially reconstructed. The final section proposes theoretical and methodological reflections on the role of book fairs in the circulation of literature during the cultural Cold War.