La percepción de España como país invitado de honor en la Feria del Libro de Fráncfort de 2022. Resultados de una encuesta entre el público y unas observaciones breves acerca de la quimera de la diversidad cultural

Abstract

Between 2017 and 2022, we conducted more than 1,400 interviews with visi­tors to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which always involved questions regarding the so-called guest of honour. In this article, we contrast the results of the year 2022, with Spain as the guest of honour, to those of previous editions. Two phenomena are observed: first, the German public reads fewer books written by Spanish authors compared to those of authors from other countries. Second, there is a discrepancy between the official Spanish pro­gramme at the fair and the public's expectations regarding the representation of minority literatures from the Peninsula on the one hand, and Spanish-American literatures on the other. Thus, it is concluded that the rhetorical emphasis on the cultural diversity of Spain and the Spanish language, assumed by the organising committee, had little impact on the event.