The process by which an author gains recognition in the literary field is characterized by the tension-ridden reciprocity of symbolic and economic capital. Rarely proceeding in a linear fashion, this process is the result of a complex interplay between a multitude of actors, whose numbers increase even more in the context of transnational circulation. Using the well-researched reception history of Bertolt Brecht in France as its point of departure, this essay examines the function of mediators and gatekeepers in processes of literary transfer: what kind of traits does one need in order to help position foreign-language authors within the cultural field? And how can one stave off (potential) competitors in the long run? In what follows, I seek to deconstruct the narrative of success in order to gain fresh insights into the relationship between academic and non-academic instances of evaluation as well as the general preconditions for the formation of transnational artistic networks.