Unerwünschte Popularität?

Hedwig Courths-Mahler’s novels have often been accused of lacking literary quality. However, this article is not primarily concerned with high/low valuations of the author’s works. Instead, it focuses on how value judgments relate to her huge success, i. e. how Courths-Mahler’s popularity has been discussed. It will be explored how the debate has alternated between legitimising the author’s (quantitative) popularity and problematising this popularity.