Nobel Prize in Literature 2020 Speculation

[Bartleby]

The Birdcage’s M. Mary’s final thoughts on this year’s Nobel prize in Literature. A very long post

Final Thoughts on the Nobel Prize in Literature 2020

A blog about literature, translated literature, book reviews and literary news.

morose-mary.blogspot.com

My tastes and hers don’t always align, but I always find interesting what she writes (notwithstanding the many orthographic and grammatical errors in her writing, which I’ve grown accustomed to), her views, her ideas on the prize itself and how it’s run being, to my mind, very lucid and hitting the mark.

 

[Ater Lividus Ruber & V]

The Birdcage’s M. Mary’s final thoughts on this year’s Nobel prize in Literature. A very long post

Final Thoughts on the Nobel Prize in Literature 2020

A blog about literature, translated literature, book reviews and literary news.

morose-mary.blogspot.com

My tastes and hers don’t always align, but I always find interesting what she writes (notwithstanding the many orthographic and grammatical errors in her writing, which I’ve grown accustomed to), her views, her ideas on the prize itself and how it’s run being, to my mind, very lucid and hitting the mark.

Thank you for that. She made me want to pick up a handful of Magdalena Tulli's novels:

"The literary family tree of Magdalena Tulli houses the apples of: Bruno Schulz, Daniil Kharms, Franz Kafka, and Jorge Luis Borges. The roots firmly anchor this tree deep into the earth. The apples are often warped, surreal, and carry the tinge of cynical bitterness, riddled with the absurd, and at times the surreal. When one drops and begins the slow process of decay, one can spy in its fermenting juices and rotting peels, a world ending. A city of steel, brick, and glass collapses. The sky once distant now encases in closure. The sidewalks crack; while the roads warp. The seeds remain as postmodern jewels, offering inclinations of the fragmented realities, narratives, and stories beneath the last material, which has yet to decay. The world of Magdalena Tulli is continually in a state of postmodern creation and maintenance; disrepair and repair. Her novel “Dreams and Stones,” recounts the creation myth, through the postmodern lens, and creates a narrative that has neither narrator, character(s), story, narrative, or plot; but rather recounts through the objective perspective of some distant and haphazard voice, in the most poetic documentary tone, the creation of a city, being either created or rebuilt through the wishes and dreams of the populace. The novel is characterized in a polarizing fashion. Some have described it a work of poetic prose (or prose poem); while Magdalena Tuli maintains with singular certainty that it is a novel. It has been called a critique of the traditional creation myth, as well as dissertation on the apocalypse. Others have deemed it an allegorical rendering of the rebuilding of Warsaw, after the Second World War. The author offers no elucidation to either claim, and instead promotes the interpretation readers and critics entertain. These metafictional qualities, first established in “Dreams and Stones,” would follow later on in her other novels: “Moving Parts,” “Flaw,” and “In Red,” where gradually traditional elements of novels were introduced, though always with postmodern twists, and often playfully; until finally settling on the most conventional notion of a novel—at least by Magdalena Tulli’s fashion. Her latest works, yet to be translated, take a more autobiographical approach to her literary. They are introspective journey’s, where Tulli traces the shadow of the Second World War and the Holocausts impact on her mother, who had survived the concentration camps, but carried the shadow into her life afterwards, and subsequently endowed it on to her own daughter, who grappled with notions of guilt, grief, and death from an early age. The works of Magdalena Tulli are true feats of a literary master mind. Her production is little and slow, but the quality is world class. Her literary language is dense, poetic, and lush. It riddles with vibrant images, metaphors, and symbolism. She is able to deconstruct the world with surgical precision, and in its ruin reconstruct yet another world of a completely different shape and form. In Magdalena Tulli’s literary work perception creates and shapes reality and defines how an individual interacts with it. Magdalena Tulli is talented, as much as she is a literary genius. A truly remarkable writer, who is deprived of the appreciation she deserves. However, the recent Nobel no provided to Olga Tokarczuk will hinder Tulli’s chances in the immediate future."

 

[pinkunicorn]

Also, a whole bunch of names were just added to Ladbrokes.

Aaaaand, they've definitely been reading this thread

Linton Kwesi Johnson, Houellebecq, Mukasonga, Gluck, Simic...

Here's the complete list of additions from the second batch. There are no changes in odds for anyone already on the list; all changes are additions.

Jamaica Kincaid 20.00 (NEW)
Charles Simic 25.00 (NEW)
Friederike Mayrocker 25.00 (NEW)
Louise Gluck 25.00 (NEW)
Scolastique Mukasonga 25.00 (NEW)
Both Strauss 33.00 (NEW)
Hilary Mantel 33.00 (NEW)
Homero Aridjis 33.00 (NEW)
Karl Ove Knausgaard 33.00 (NEW)
Linton Kwesi Johnson 33.00 (NEW)
Michel Houellebecq 33.00 (NEW)
Milan Kundera 33.00 (NEW)
William T Vollmann 33.00 (NEW)
Stephen King 50.00 (NEW)
Richard Osman 100.00 (NEW)

I wonder, though, what prompted them to put Stephen King on there. I'll happily say that he has published some work that is brilliant, but it's also obvious that he would need a much harsher editor telling him what should not be published. As it is, his published works span the entire spectrum from brilliant to dreck.

As for the rest of this bunch of additions, there are only a handful of names here that I have actually read anything by apart from King. I think the complete list is Knausgaard, Houellebecq and Kundera, apart from the fact that I'm currently reading a book by Jamaica Kincaid. There are also some names on here that I've never even heard of (Mukasonga, Strauss, Aridjis, Osman).

 

[namelesshere]

My tastes and hers don’t always align, but I always find interesting what she writes (notwithstanding the many orthographic and grammatical errors in her writing, which I’ve grown accustomed to), her views, her ideas on the prize itself and how it’s run being, to my mind, very lucid and hitting the mark.

This has the flavour of text that's been published using dictation software. My uncle uses something like this sometimes and it generates similar errors, and because he's visually impaired he can't correct them.

 

[namelesshere]

Here's the complete list of additions from the second batch. There are no changes in odds for anyone already on the list; all changes are additions.

Jamaica Kincaid 20.00 (NEW)
Charles Simic 25.00 (NEW)
Friederike Mayrocker 25.00 (NEW)
Louise Gluck 25.00 (NEW)
Scolastique Mukasonga 25.00 (NEW)
Both Strauss 33.00 (NEW)
Hilary Mantel 33.00 (NEW)
Homero Aridjis 33.00 (NEW)
Karl Ove Knausgaard 33.00 (NEW)
Linton Kwesi Johnson 33.00 (NEW)
Michel Houellebecq 33.00 (NEW)
Milan Kundera 33.00 (NEW)
William T Vollmann 33.00 (NEW)
Stephen King 50.00 (NEW)
Richard Osman 100.00 (NEW)

I wonder, though, what prompted them to put Stephen King on there. I'll happily say that he has published some work that is brilliant, but it's also obvious that he would need a much harsher editor telling him what should not be published. As it is, his published works span the entire spectrum from brilliant to dreck.

As for the rest of this bunch of additions, there are only a handful of names here that I have actually read anything by apart from King. I think the complete list is Knausgaard, Houellebecq and Kundera, apart from the fact that I'm currently reading a book by Jamaica Kincaid. There are also some names on here that I've never even heard of (Mukasonga, Strauss, Aridjis, Osman).

We've said before I know but someone has definitely been reading this forum; I've not seen Aridjis, Mayrocker or Strauss mentioned anywhere else.

 

[namelesshere]

They've added Edna O'Brien to the odds list. She has two books checked out and would also fit the "first female laureate from her country" bill.

Speaking of Irish writers, I wonder if anyone has any jiggery pokery up their sleeve this year akin to last's: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...ne-booker-prize-winner-targeted-by-phone-hoax

 

[peter_d]

They've added Edna O'Brien to the odds list. She has two books checked out and would also fit the "first female laureate from her country" bill.

That would make her the oldest laureate ever. One year older than Lessing was in 2007 when she got it.

 

[DouglasM]

The Brazilian literary newspaper Rascunho started publishing yesterday a series of Nobel guesses written each day by a different local writer. The first one was Ronaldo Bressane and he brought some curious reflections. In addition to the mandatory and expected mentions of Brazilian authors like Milton Hatoum and Chico Buarque, some names: Achille Mbembe, Margaret Atwood, Javier Marías and Alan Moore. I'm going to share his view of two of these names and you tell me what you think.

Regarding Achille Mbembe, his words are: “For the power, originality and sophistication of his speech, for having coined the term that defines contemporary fascism, 'necropolitics', and for having written the most important book of our time, Critique of Black Reason, which proposes historical reparation and minimum universal income as conditions for humanity to remain alive". For those who are not familiar with his name, Mbembe is a very influential Cameroonian philosopher today, which brings us back to the discussion of possible philosophy laureates.

Bressane's words on Alan Moore: “It's time for the Nobel Prize for Literature to look at the comics, and who is the best comic writer, the most influential, the most politically engaged, the most libertarian, the one who actually transferred the imagetic load from the comic books to the streets from all over the planet?”.

Today it was Cíntia Moscovich's turn to post her thoughts. She mentions relatively unknown Brazilian short-story writer Sergio Faraco and adds the names of Ian McEwan and Jeanette Winterson.

 

[namelesshere]

The Brazilian literary newspaper Rascunho started publishing yesterday a series of Nobel guesses written each day by a different local writer. The first one was Ronaldo Bressane and he brought some curious reflections. In addition to the mandatory and expected mentions of Brazilian authors like Milton Hatoum and Chico Buarque, some names: Achille Mbembe, Margaret Atwood, Javier Marías and Alan Moore. I'm going to share his view of two of these names and you tell me what you think.

Regarding Achille Mbembe, his words are: “For the power, originality and sophistication of his speech, for having coined the term that defines contemporary fascism, 'necropolitics', and for having written the most important book of our time, Critique of Black Reason, which proposes historical reparation and minimum universal income as conditions for humanity to remain alive". For those who are not familiar with his name, Mbembe is a very influential Cameroonian philosopher today, which brings us back to the discussion of possible philosophy laureates.

Bressane's words on Alan Moore: “It's time for the Nobel Prize for Literature to look at the comics, and who is the best comic writer, the most influential, the most politically engaged, the most libertarian, the one who actually transferred the imagetic load from the comic books to the streets from all over the planet?”.

Today it was Cíntia Moscovich's turn to post her thoughts. She mentions relatively unknown Brazilian short-story writer Sergio Faraco and adds the names of Ian McEwan and Jeanette Winterson.

Alan Moore - arguably the Nobel could/should award a graphic novelist at some stage, but not so soon after Dylan (I imagine the same case can be made re comics as it can for songs). I don't think this will happen for 20 years though by which time I think Alan Moore won't be a contender.

Jeanette Winterson - yes! Great shout. I always forget her and I shouldn't. I think she's deserving and probably likely to be in contention within the next 5/10 years alongside writers like Ali Smith & Hilary Mantel. No idea who would come out on top though. Winterson is the less famous and popular of the three, so probably her knowing the contrarian SA!

And Ian McEwan is just... no. edit: I should elaborate on this. McEwan's work after Atonement has too much of a quality of grasping at greatness, for me. Self-consciously topical themes (climate change, AI), but none of them matched by sufficient talent. I don't get the sense at any point that what drove him was the desire to create a good, artful narrative - they all felt very mechanical to me, and I could see too much of McEwan at the levers in the behaviour of the characters. The closest he's come since Atonement to something with a heart was On Chesil Beach which had a nice sensibility but was just... too unbelievable, from a human perspective. He has done great work, but not for a long time. For me the choice of Ishiguro over McEwan was vastly the right one, for these reasons.

 

[Nirvrithi]

William T Vollmann 33.00 (NEW)
Stephen King 50.00 (NEW)
Richard Osman 100.00 (NEW)

Inclusion of Vollmann is interesting. He is perhaps the only American writer I can vouch with confidence as off beat, experimental, transcending genres and yet solidly grounded. The mammoth seven volume study on violence is a monumental feat. I could only get the single volume abridged version (Rising Up and Rising Down); but that is quite indicative of what would be there in those seven volumes. "Whores for Gloria" was shockingly experimental, but he could carry it off with elan. His Seven Dreams series of historical fiction has no parallels anywhere as far as I know. Of the few books by him I have read, I am sure he could be in the reckoning in the near future although there are many detractors who would dismiss him as fundamentally journalistic in his approach. But this is a sweeping observation and is very superficial in its intent, I would say. Read alongside Karde's famous statement justifying Handke's choice where she said "the task of literature is other than to confirm and reproduce what society's central view believes is morally right.", it makes sense to take his inclusion seriously. Elsewhere, she speaks about deep set honesty that emboldens writers to speak a voice that would sound very brave and challenging to conventional thinking. Vollmann fits all that description entirely. Besides, he has come out with his latest novel, "The Lucky Star, a voluminous work early this year which has received good reviews already.

 

[redhead]

I can’t find anything now, but I’m pretty sure Winterson had some books out at the library in 2017. If she was actually in the running, I expect Ishiguro winning might have pushed her candidacy aside for the time being, but maybe in a few years she could win?

And I totally agree about Vollmann, Nirvrithi. He’s probably the most interesting American prose writers still actively working at his best. He can be pretty uneven at times, but I can forgive some of his missteps for the sheer ambition of his tomes and his productivity. I’ve read five of his books and one shorter travelogue, and still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of his oeuvre. I have Rainbow Stories and The Dying Grass on my shelf. I keep meaning to get to them, as I know they’ll be great, but due to their length I keep putting them off ?

 

[redhead]

There are also some names on here that I've never even heard of (Mukasonga, Strauss, Aridjis, Osman).

Strauss and Aridjis came up in this thread when Isa went through the library. I’m not too familiar with Mukasonga, but I think she came up as well. As for Osman, the reason you haven’t heard of him before in these discussions is that he’s a British television personality. I think his debut novel just released, which might be why he’s on the odds list.

 

[pinkunicorn]

Bressane's words on Alan Moore: “It's time for the Nobel Prize for Literature to look at the comics, and who is the best comic writer, the most influential, the most politically engaged, the most libertarian, the one who actually transferred the imagetic load from the comic books to the streets from all over the planet?”.

Alan Moore would be an awesome choise! Not that it's going to happen, but still.

 

[JCamilo]

Alan Moore - arguably the Nobel could/should award a graphic novelist at some stage, but not so soon after Dylan (I imagine the same case can be made re comics as it can for songs). I don't think this will happen for 20 years though by which time I think Alan Moore won't be a contender.

I am all for Comic books being considered and this should be unrelated to Dylan, but Bressane is just showing he does not have a broader knowledge of comic book culture outside the Marvel/DC superheroes world, I guess. Moore problem is, despite being good enough, is that he is a notorious grump anti-stabilishment rebel and I bet he would not just refuse the Nobel, but curse them with his long beard. Not to mention that to his own displeasure, he is linked to the pop marvel/dc world of superheroes and an award would seem to be awarding this specific culture for Disney pleasure. IOW, Moore is that kind of persona which importance is bigger without a Nobel.

The best name was easily Quino, but without him, someone like Rumiko Takahashi would just fit nicely. There is quite a lot of dickens in her capacity to create characters and explore comic sittuations even in more serious works.

 

[namelesshere]

I am all for Comic books being considered and this should be unrelated to Dylan,

Just to clarify that when I said not so soon after Dylan I meant that SA won't consider it so soon after, rather than that I think that is necessarily the right approach. I didn't write that clearly.

 

[JCamilo]

Yeah, I agree with you that is more likely what is going to happen.

 

[Marba]

From my local newspaper there were two Nobel-related articles today.

The first one was on how a Nobel prize has the political power to function as a sort of armour against a regime, as it has done for Svetlana Alexievich during the protests in Belarus (she is the only member of the opposition council formed after the presidential election who is neither jailed nor in exile), and that the Swedish Academy should make a choice that upholds this value of the prize (ie. not give it to a rock star who does not seem to care about it).

The other one was an essay on Anne Carson, who the article writer says there is no wonder she is one of the favourites because of her unique merging of antiquity and contemporary as well as of art and life. It was only from this article that I have learnt that Rebecka Kärde, one of the external members of the Nobel Committee, has translated Carson. I do not know how (or if in any way at all) it could affect Carson's chances. If she is in the running they maybe want to wait until next year when Kärde is out of the NC to avoid accusations of bias.

 

[redhead]

Knowing them, potential accusations of bias won’t stop them. Malmqvist translated both Gao Xingjian and Mo Yan

 

[Marba]

Knowing them, potential accusations of bias won’t stop them. Malmqvist translated both Gao Xingjian and Mo Yan

Yes, I believe the same as it has happened many times that SA members also have been translating awarded writers. Still there is a difference in this case as Kärde is just on the NC for this year too, whereas Malmqvist was a permanent member of the SA. But I agree with you that it most likely will not matter to them.

 

[pinkunicorn]

[...] Bressane is just showing he does not have a broader knowledge of comic book culture outside the Marvel/DC superheroes world, I guess. Moore problem is, despite being good enough, is that he is a notorious grump anti-stabilishment rebel and I bet he would not just refuse the Nobel, but curse them with his long beard. Not to mention that to his own displeasure, he is linked to the pop marvel/dc world of superheroes and an award would seem to be awarding this specific culture for Disney pleasure. IOW, Moore is that kind of persona which importance is bigger without a Nobel.

You may well be correct in your speculation as to Moore's reactions to the award. His major works, though, have nothing to do with the Marvel/DC universes. V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell, etc.