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The Nobel Prize successful Literature is 1 of the astir prestigious literate prizes successful the world. The Swedish Academy has awarded it since the prize’s inception successful 1901. It recognizes authors’ bodies of enactment and brings their enactment to worldwide audiences. It’s besides had scandals and controversies, including disapproval for favoring European authors.
The award’s founder, Alfred Nobel, was a Swedish inventor who was calved successful 1833. He invented dynamite and blasting caps. In 1888, French newspapers erroneously published his obituary. One header read: “Le marchand de la mort est mort” (“The merchant of decease is dead.”) Some historians speculate that this mistake whitethorn person made Nobel see his bequest and however his inventions had been utilized successful warfare. We’ll ne'er cognize his nonstop motivations, but helium had a lifelong involvement successful the arts and sciences.
When was the Nobel Prize successful Literature archetypal awarded?
Before his decease successful 1896, Nobel willed astir of his luck of 31 cardinal Swedish kronor to beryllium “distributed annually successful the signifier of prizes to those who during the preceding twelvemonth person conferred the top payment to mankind.” These guidelines are intentionally vague and subjective, allowing wide interpretations. Nobel’s funds created the Nobel Prizes successful chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, and peace. An Economics prize was added successful 1969. In 1901, French writer Sully Prudhomme received the archetypal Nobel Prize successful Literature.
The Nobel Prize successful Literature is traditionally presented annually connected December 10, the day of Nobel’s death. There person been respective years for which nary Nobel Prize successful Literature was awarded, astir precocious 1943. In 2019, aft being postponed for a year, the awards for 2018 and 2019 were announced together.
What state has the astir Nobel Prize winners?
As of 2022, France has the astir winners of the Nobel Prize successful Literature, with 16. This illustration lists 17, counting Jean-Paul Sartre, who declined the Nobel successful 1964, on with immoderate different awards helium was offered. Many radical person criticized the Literature Prize arsenic male-dominated and Eurocentric, saying that antheral authors and European authors, peculiarly Scandinavian authors, are over-represented compared to the remainder of the world.
How bash you triumph a Nobel Prize for Literature?
Every year, the Nobel Committee sends hundreds of letters to radical qualified to nominate different writers for the lit prize. One cannot nominate oneself. Qualified nominators see members of the Swedish Academy and akin organizations, assemblage lit professors, and past Nobel laureates. Then the nominators nonstop their nominations to the Academy. The Academy narrows this down to a agelong list, past to 1 laureate.
The information process is secretive. Details of the nominations are not revealed until 50 years later.
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How overmuch wealth is the Nobel prize for literature?
In 2022, the Literature Prize amount was 10 cardinal Swedish kronor. When I checked the speech complaint successful January 2023, this was astir $959,000 USD.
Legacy and Controversies
The Nobel Prize successful Literature is an planetary touchstone with a immense interaction connected the publishing industry. So, inevitably, it has been arguable since its inception. It has been contentious for its omissions arsenic overmuch arsenic its choices. This 2012 Wall Street Journal article lists James Joyce, Marcel Proust, and Leo Tolstoy among the galore acclaimed writers who ne'er received a Nobel Prize.
The Prize is often criticized arsenic Eurocentric. In 2008, Swedish Academy caput Horace Engdahl exacerbated this contention by saying, “You can’t get distant from the information that Europe still is the halfway of the literate world.” Engdahl had been the imperishable caput but was replaced the adjacent year.
In 2016, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize successful Literature. I’m personally a large instrumentality of Bob Dylan, Toni Morrison, Kazuo Ishiguro, and galore different Nobel laureates. Dylan’s lyrics are fascinating and tin beryllium work arsenic poetry. However, there’s nary Nobel class for music. So, similar galore different fans, I considered him a baffling prime for the lit prize. I don’t deliberation immoderate senses oregon creation forms are amended than others, but Dylan’s superior mean is songs that harvester euphony and lyrics, not penning alone.
In 2018, the Literature Prize was postponed for a twelvemonth aft Jean-Claude Arnault, the hubby of Academy subordinate Katarina Frostenson, was accused of intersexual assault successful 2017. Arnault was aboriginal convicted connected 2 counts of rape. Other contributing factors were the accusations of fiscal misconduct and conflicts of involvement wrong the Swedish Academy.
One of the astir arguable Nobel lit laureates was the 2019 winner, Austrian novelist Peter Handke. He had publically denied and minimized the 1990s Bosnian genocide. Handke was a protagonist and apologist of President Slobodan Milošević and adjacent spoke astatine his funeral.
Winning a Nobel Prize tin bring an author’s enactment to a broader planetary audience, ensuring their penning is translated and successful people for years to come. When Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Literature Prize successful 2021, his astir caller novel, Afterlives, was not yet disposable successful the U.S. That changed lone aft helium became a Nobel Laureate. Overall, astir Nobel winners are inactive European men, but the awards are becoming much divers successful the 21st century.
Read astir the latest Nobel Laureate successful Literature, French writer Annie Ernaux.
English (US) ·