10-13-2008, 01:16 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Not about literature</b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
<b>Nobel Prize once again tainted by politics</b>
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has been named the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for literature amid pettiness. This prize has had its share of controversy and this year has been no different. The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy that awards the prize, Mr Horace Engdahl, said a week before the announcement of the winner that the United States was too insular and ignorant to challenge Europe as the centre of the literary world. In his view American writers were too sensitive to their own mass culture. Though Mr Engdahl was speaking generally about American literature, it is not difficult to infer a bias in his comment. Many American writers felt that the remark meant that they would be precluded from consideration for the prize this year. Not surprisingly, their predictions have come true. Perhaps the Swedish Academy can be forgiven for its emphasis on cosmopolitanism. Yet it has traditionally been biased in favour of European writers. In the early history of the prize the winners were largely Scandinavian, coming from the same part of the world as the judges themselves, and were little known even at that time. Even though the prize has become more international over the years, this Euro-centric attitude still prevails. Though the Swedish Academy would deny this, it is perhaps no coincidence that for several years now no American writer has won the Nobel Prize for literature, the last being Toni Morrison in 1993. This despite the fact that American literary output is the largest in the world with some highly rated writers.
It is also true that too many obscure writers have been judged winners of this prestigeous award. For example, the Italian Dario Fo won it in 1997, the Chinese Gao Xingjian in 2000 and Austrian Elfriede Jelinek in 2004. All of these writers were fairly unknown. Whereas, many notable writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, James Joyce, Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov and Graham Greene were never deemed worthy. They, who were excluded for political reasons or for causes that that had little to do with literature, had a better reputation as writers than some those who have actually won the award. In fact, there have been complaints that the whole process of selection by the Swedish Academy is politicised and often considerations other than literary merit weigh heavily in deciding a winner. This is far from the ideals on which this award was founded and can hardly be expected to promote excellence in literature. The entire selection process should be made more accountable.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
<b>Nobel Prize once again tainted by politics</b>
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has been named the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for literature amid pettiness. This prize has had its share of controversy and this year has been no different. The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy that awards the prize, Mr Horace Engdahl, said a week before the announcement of the winner that the United States was too insular and ignorant to challenge Europe as the centre of the literary world. In his view American writers were too sensitive to their own mass culture. Though Mr Engdahl was speaking generally about American literature, it is not difficult to infer a bias in his comment. Many American writers felt that the remark meant that they would be precluded from consideration for the prize this year. Not surprisingly, their predictions have come true. Perhaps the Swedish Academy can be forgiven for its emphasis on cosmopolitanism. Yet it has traditionally been biased in favour of European writers. In the early history of the prize the winners were largely Scandinavian, coming from the same part of the world as the judges themselves, and were little known even at that time. Even though the prize has become more international over the years, this Euro-centric attitude still prevails. Though the Swedish Academy would deny this, it is perhaps no coincidence that for several years now no American writer has won the Nobel Prize for literature, the last being Toni Morrison in 1993. This despite the fact that American literary output is the largest in the world with some highly rated writers.
It is also true that too many obscure writers have been judged winners of this prestigeous award. For example, the Italian Dario Fo won it in 1997, the Chinese Gao Xingjian in 2000 and Austrian Elfriede Jelinek in 2004. All of these writers were fairly unknown. Whereas, many notable writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, James Joyce, Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov and Graham Greene were never deemed worthy. They, who were excluded for political reasons or for causes that that had little to do with literature, had a better reputation as writers than some those who have actually won the award. In fact, there have been complaints that the whole process of selection by the Swedish Academy is politicised and often considerations other than literary merit weigh heavily in deciding a winner. This is far from the ideals on which this award was founded and can hardly be expected to promote excellence in literature. The entire selection process should be made more accountable.
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