The press as a prescriber of readings. Recommendations of Spanish cultural supplements specialized in literature

Abstract

This research aims to study the literary recommendations of the specialized cultural press, which prescribes content and is responsible for setting the cultural agenda. The object of study was the best books lists drawn up at the end of each year by the main cultural supplements of the Spanish written media (ABC Cultural, from ABC; Babelia, from El País; El Cultural, from El Mundo, and Cultura|s, from La Vanguardia). The analysis period was set between 2010 and 2021 (n = 1,286). The results reflect a marked preference of the supplements to include authors of Spanish nationality or, at least, works written in Spanish, although the strength of the United States and English is increasing in the historical series. There is also a clear dominance of the major publishing groups over the independents: in recent years, Planeta and Penguin Random House alone have contributed almost half of the selected works. In addition, the majority are older authors —in fact, more books by deceased authors are recommended than by those under 40 years of age—, with the limitations that this implies for the projection of literature written by young people.