It's a busy time for the literary world: the Booker Prize winner and the new Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced in a few days.
The buzz this year says: Haruki Murakami, Nuruddin Farah, Amoz Oz and Claudio Magris. It seems unlikely that an American author will be awarded the prize. As a matter of fact, Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize jury, said that "the US is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining". Read articles here and here. So there is no hope for Philip Roth, John Updike or Joyce Carol Oates?
The buzz this year says: Haruki Murakami, Nuruddin Farah, Amoz Oz and Claudio Magris. It seems unlikely that an American author will be awarded the prize. As a matter of fact, Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize jury, said that "the US is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining". Read articles here and here. So there is no hope for Philip Roth, John Updike or Joyce Carol Oates?
In my humble opinion, I think that every country should have the right to be awarded this prize. America should have the same possibilities as Japan, Somalia, Israel or Italy. It is true, nonetheless, that certain authors don't need a boost of popularity. Is an author like Farah, who comes from a third world country that has been ravaged by civil war for decades, more eligible than let's say Philip Roth? Are we talking simply of literature or also of geopolitics and balance between different parts of the world? What is the significance of the Nobel Prize in Literature? Honestly, I don't think that American literature is isolated and insular: there are good and bad writers in every country of the world. And Americans shouldn't be angry if they haven't received the prize in 15 years. Do you know how many countries never received one?
Do you have any guesses? My bet is on Amoz Oz, just like that... without any particular reason.
purtroppo si', ormai da qualche anno il premio nobel e' diventato una questione piu' politica che letteraria.
ReplyDeletesinceramente non conosco abbastanza l'opera dei possibili candidati, ma per la "carriera" e la fama anch'io come te direi Amos Oz... boh, vedremo!
un pò di difficoltà con la lingua straniera ma ne ho colto il senso. devo dire che il tuo blog mi incuriosisce sempre di più. è particolare, non se ne vedono così in giro. brava
ReplyDeleteciao e a presto
Calogero, chiedimi pure se vuoi chiarimenti. Mi rendo conto che i post in inglese possano risultare un po' ostici.
ReplyDeleteIn due parole, si discuteva dei possibili candidati al Nobel per la Letteratura, che verrà assegnato fra pochi giorni. Un segretario della giuria ha detto che gli autori americani hanno poche possibilità di vincere, perché sono isolati e non partecipano al discorso letterario mondiale. Io non sono d'accordo e, piuttosto, mi sembra che il Nobel sia diventato più un gioco di equilibri geopolitici che un premo letterario. Spesso viene assegnato il premio ad autori impegnati in campagne legate ai diritti civili o provenienti dal cosiddetto terzo mondo, nel tentativo di dargli più visibilità.
Boh, vedremo, come dice Clauds.
I just read who won the Nobel Prize in Literature so I thought of you. I am not familiar with his works. You?
ReplyDelete