“Your eyes and ears on this side of the ocean”: Complicating S. J. Greenburger’s Role as Literary Scout and US Representative for Rowohlt Verlag in the 1960s

Abstract

As institutions of authorship, publishers rely on their own networks of gatekeepers and contacts to source texts from around the world for their lists. These far-flung gatekeepers can be influential and instrumental in the circulation of literature, but have remained largely invisible in the field and within literary and book historical scholarship. Using archival materials from Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach and Mainzer Verlagsarchiv, this contribution explores the extraordinary role of Sanford J. Greenburger as a literary scout for the German publisher Rowohlt in the 1960s. Greenburger is of particular relevance as a case study for transatlantic gatekeeping, having scouted authors and texts for Rowohlt’s prize-winning portfolio of translations from the U.S. Besides making Greenburger’s labor for Rowohlt visible and thus restructuring our understanding of Rowohlt’s U.S. interests, the contribution also offers insights into the value of publishing archives and archival research.