2019/10/11 Nobel prize in literature sets sights on ...res.tigerge.cn/20191016/补充2 Nobel prize in literature sets sights on diversity...According to Rocco, the exiled Chinese writer

2019/10/11 Nobel prize in literature sets sights on diversity after year of scandal | Books | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/05/nobel-prize-for-literature-2019-diversity 1/4

Nobel prize in literature sets sights on diversity after yearof scandal

Alison Flood

Maryse Condé and Margaret Atwood among those tipped for the prize as SwedishAcademy aims to restore its shattered reputation

Sat 5 Oct 2019 04.00 EDT

Next week, the Swedish Academy will announce not one Nobel literature laureate but two, asthe prize seeks to move on from a year of unprecedented scandal. The head of the award’scommittee is confident the prize can make a comeback by avoiding the “male-oriented” and“Eurocentric” perspective that has dominated judging in the past.

The Nobel prize in literature was postponed last year after a sexual abuse and financialmisconduct scandal, which led to a series of resignations at the Swedish Academy, which runsthe award. Jean-Claude Arnault, whose wife Katarina Frostenson was a member of theAcademy until she quit in January over breaches of secrecy, was convicted of rape in October2018 and jailed for two years.

With awards for both 2018 and 2019 set to be unveiled on Thursday, the Academy will behoping that the Nobel’s return is well-received by the global literary community. Worth 9mSwedish krona (£740,000), the prize goes to the writer who, in the words of Alfred Nobel’s will,is deemed to have written “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”.

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/alisonfloodhttps://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/17/the-ugly-scandal-that-cancelled-the-nobel-prize-in-literaturehttps://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/17/the-ugly-scandal-that-cancelled-the-nobel-prize-in-literaturehttps://uk.reuters.com/article/us-nobel-prize-swedishacademy/poet-quits-swedish-academy-after-being-found-to-leak-nobel-winner-names-idUKKCN1PC1MAhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/01/jean-claude-arnault-centre-nobel-scandal-jailed-rape



The Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya, the Guadeloupean novelist Maryse Condé and TheHandmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood are all believed to be in contention for this year’saward, particularly after Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel prize in literature committee,revealed how criteria this year have changed.

Given that the last two winners – Kazuo Ishiguro and Bob Dylan – both write in English and just14 of the 114 literature laureates are women, Olsson acknowledged this week the need for thejury to “widen our perspective”.

“We had a more Eurocentric perspective on literature and now we are looking all over theworld,” he said. “Previously it was much more male-oriented. Now we have so many femalewriters who are really great, so we hope the prize and the whole process of the prize has beenintensified and is much broader in its scope.”

Other names seen as strong contenders include Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai andPolish writer Olga Tokarczuk, as well as perennial candidates Haruki Murakami and Ngugi waThiong’o.

“If there are going to be two [laureates], one has to be a woman.” said Fiammetta Rocco,culture correspondent at the Economist and the administrator of the International Bookerprize, adding that “they’re likely to be from different continents”.

“Of the writers who deserve much wider readership,” said Rocco, “I would say Maryse Condé,the grand queen, the empress, of Caribbean literature. And in eastern Europe bothKrasznahorkai and Tokarczuk would be on anybody’s list.”

According to Rocco, the exiled Chinese writer Ma Jian is also in the frame, alongside theArgentine César Aira and the South African author Antjie Krog, “part journalist, partbroadcaster, part playwright, part poet – a great chronicler of the transition from apartheid toblack majority rule and what it meant”.

An author writing in English would be an “unlikely” prospect, Rocco added. “But our own NeilGaiman would be amazing. And I think anybody who’s making a list would put Margaret

‘The grand queen, the empress, of Caribbean literature’ ... MaryseCondé. Photograph: Sophie Bassouls/Corbis via Getty Images

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/12/alternative-nobel-literature-prize-maryse-conde-new-academy-prizehttps://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/05/kazuo-ishiguro-nobel-prize-novelist-all-times-john-mullanhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/13/bob-dylan-wins-2016-nobel-prize-in-literaturehttps://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/may/20/man-booker-international-prize-laszlo-krasznahorkai-who-he-is-and-why-you-should-read-himhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/20/olga-tokarczuk-interview-flights-man-booker-international



Atwood on it.”

The Swedish-Greek journalist and author Alexandra Pascalidou, who last year helped foundthe one-off New Academy prize in literature – won by Condé – to fill the void left by the Nobel,was also keen to see a female winner such as the “amazing” Antiguan-American writer JamaicaKincaid. “Since the prize was founded in 1901 only 14 women have received it,” she said.

Maureen Freely, chair of English PEN and judge of this year’s International Booker, suggestedthe French author Annie Ernaux – who “writes in a genre all her own, defying the unwrittenrules of the novel and the memoir to create new spaces for collective reflection” – andColombian Juan Gabriel Vásquez, who “defies history itself, showing its official chroniclers tobe charlatans and its actors to be lost in a maze of half truths”.

Jacques Testard of the British press Fitzcarraldo – which publishes 2015’s Nobel winnerSvetlana Alexievich – said it was “great” to have the Nobel back. “Can Xue or ScholastiqueMukasonga would be interesting choices. In Latin America I’d love to see someone like ElenaPoniatowska get it. Closer to home, I’ll be rooting for the two authors we publish who thebookies seem to think are in with a shout: Olga Tokarczuk and Jon Fosse. And I’d like to thinkAnnie Ernaux would be a worthy winner.”

For the Swedish Academy, Olsson is looking forward to Thursday’s announcement. “Twoprizes in literature, that is something exceptional,” he said.”

Pascalidou believes this is only the start of a slow rebuilding process. “I think the SwedishAcademy lost a lot with not only the accusations of sexual harassment and sexism, and theman who ended up in jail for rape, but also in how they handled the situation with their ownmembers,” she said. “It will take time to regain trust and respectability. The catharsis has notoccurred yet. The untouchable patriarchs are still ruling but I hope they learned somethingafter the mess they caused. It was a manmade catastrophe that punished literature.”

Since you’re here…… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading and supporting The Guardian’sindependent, investigative, and global journalism than ever before. And unlike many newsorganisations, we have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our journalism accessible toall, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. But we need your ongoing support tokeep working as we do.

The Guardian will engage with the most critical issues of our time – from the escalating climatecatastrophe to widespread inequality to the influence of big tech on our lives. At a time whenfactual information is a necessity, we believe that each of us, around the world, deserves accessto accurate reporting with integrity at its heart.

Our editorial independence means we set our own agenda and voice our own opinions.Guardian journalism is free from commercial and political bias and not influenced bybillionaire owners or shareholders. Our progressive values mean we can give a voice to thoseless heard, explore where others turn away, and rigorously challenge those in power.

We need your support to keep delivering quality journalism, to maintain our openness and toprotect our precious independence. Every reader contribution, big or small, is so valuable.Support The Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

https://www.dennyaakademien.com/https://www.theguardian.com/books/the-writing-life-around-the-world-by-electric-literature/2015/oct/28/a-special-kind-of-performance-can-xue-on-the-course-of-a-chinese-writerhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/20/olga-tokarczuk-interview-flights-man-booker-internationalhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/20/olga-tokarczuk-interview-flights-man-booker-international



Support The Guardian

TopicsNobel prize in literatureAwards and prizesnews
https://support.theguardian.com/us/contribute?REFPVID=k1m7j5pyugqtwsg5qty0&INTCMP=gdnwb_copts_memco_2019-10-10-contribs_US_epic_globalprogressive_v3_both&acquisitionData=%7B%22source%22%3A%22GUARDIAN_WEB%22%2C%22componentId%22%3A%22gdnwb_copts_memco_2019-10-10-contribs_US_epic_globalprogressive_v3_both%22%2C%22componentType%22%3A%22ACQUISITIONS_EPIC%22%2C%22campaignCode%22%3A%22gdnwb_copts_memco_2019-10-10-contribs_US_epic_globalprogressive_v3_both%22%2C%22abTest%22%3A%7B%22name%22%3A%222019-10-10-contribs_US_epic_globalprogressive%22%2C%22variant%22%3A%22v3_both%22%7D%2C%22referrerPageviewId%22%3A%22k1m7j5pyugqtwsg5qty0%22%2C%22referrerUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbooks%2F2019%2Foct%2F05%2Fnobel-prize-for-literature-2019-diversity%22%7Dhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/nobel-prize-literaturehttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/awards-and-prizeshttps://www.theguardian.com/tone/news

Documents

2019/10/11 Nobel prize in literature sets sights on ...res.tigerge.cn/20191016/补充2 Nobel prize in literature sets sights on diversity...According to Rocco, the exiled Chinese writer