The Swedish Academy’s Surprise Definition of Literature

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KA 9 years ago

On Soyinka and Achebe for the Prize:
Anything said on it is mere speculation since the deliberations of the Academy are secret as you said. Achebe's total production is smaller than Soyinka's - one major reason if you believ ...
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On Soyinka and Achebe for the Prize:
Anything said on it is mere speculation since the deliberations of the Academy are secret as you said. Achebe's total production is smaller than Soyinka's - one major reason if you believe sections of the Swedish press (another speculation). Achebe, Soyinka, Ngugi, even our own Aryee Kwei Armah (if you believe Okoampa) where all at various times speculated to have been on the long or short list. But black Africa's lot was only one prize? The Academy couldn't bring itself to award it to another black man from the same country (Nigeria)??? All just speculation.

Tension between Soyinka and Achebe? I think that has been only in the imagination of readers and their countrymen. The two have gotten on quite well. Remember their collaborations especially in Abacha's reign of terror?

As a laureate, Soyinka had the chance to nominate Achebe. That is the only thing he could do and I believe he may have done that. But nominations are received from more than 600 sources so what can one man's nomination do?
Good that you quoted Soyinka's denunciation of those people making the comments...

Dylan's choice is controversial. We do not know what goes on in the deliberations of the Academy. In the end they vote for the winner. It is said Dylan has been on the list for some time - another speculation. Remember there are younger members of the academy these days and they may just be thinking differently from the older ones...

Interesting mention of du Bois in connection with the topic. It was the Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal that got to do that major study of American race relations resulting in the major publication - An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. The study was funded by Carnegie Corporation, New York. Everybody thought the funding should have gone to du Bois... Myrdal went on to win the prize for Economics (not a real Nobel Prize as you know) and his wife won the Peace Prize. Both were strong social democrats...

I have a few more things to say but let me not take this piece away from you. It is a well-informed piece as usual from you. And it's short - very short... (lol)

But why did the webmaster post it under Diaspora News? I think it deserves to be in the Opinion section.

Two inconsequential misses:
The committee awarded the prize to Dylan, they didn't NOMINATE him...

You meant the Swedish Academy rather than the Norwegian Nobel Committee...

Thanks for the piece. Great info...
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

KA,

Thanks. I specifically asked the editor to post this piece on the Opinion/Feature Homepage.

I will resend it tomorrow.

Thanks.

KA,

Thanks. I specifically asked the editor to post this piece on the Opinion/Feature Homepage.

I will resend it tomorrow.

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

KA

I think the Norwegian Nobel Committee is rather involved with the Nobel Peace Prize while the Swedish Academy deals with the other prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Literature!

What do you think?

Let me know in ...
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KA

I think the Norwegian Nobel Committee is rather involved with the Nobel Peace Prize while the Swedish Academy deals with the other prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Literature!

What do you think?

Let me know in advance before I re-send the piece to Ghanaweb again. I will like to make the necessary revisions first.

Meanwhile, I will look into the matter myself.

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

I just visited www.Nobelprize.org. Here is what I found on the Swedish Academy:

"The Swedish Academy. The Swedish Academy is responsible for choosing the Nobel Laureates in Literature. The Swedish Academy was founded in 17 ...
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I just visited www.Nobelprize.org. Here is what I found on the Swedish Academy:

"The Swedish Academy. The Swedish Academy is responsible for choosing the Nobel Laureates in Literature. The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by Swedish King Gustav III. The Swedish Academy. Web site of the Swedish Academy. The Swedish Academy. Prize Awarder for the Nobel Prize in Literature."
Blaque Marque 9 years ago

Superb observation, KA

Superb observation, KA
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Juts forgot to mention this and decided to bring it up just to complete your insightful inputs on Soyinka/Achebe:

It is interesting to see the Swedish Academy recognized the late Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee (now livin ...
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Juts forgot to mention this and decided to bring it up just to complete your insightful inputs on Soyinka/Achebe:

It is interesting to see the Swedish Academy recognized the late Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee (now living in Australia), both of South Africa and being white as well (Coetzee of Dutch ancestry, Nadine of Jewish ancestry).

How funny?
KA 9 years ago

And where will you put Naguib, the Egyptian who got it just 2 years after Soyinka? Naguib got it more for the Arab world than the African one but it's still Africa almost on the trot. And Doris Lessing with her links to Rhode ...
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And where will you put Naguib, the Egyptian who got it just 2 years after Soyinka? Naguib got it more for the Arab world than the African one but it's still Africa almost on the trot. And Doris Lessing with her links to Rhodesia... She got it for the U.K. but she was born in Iran and lived in Rhodesia which she left in strange (?) circumstances leaving her chn behind...
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

You are right. But I guess Lessing was born in Iran, right (I WROTE THIS BEFORE I EVEN FINISHED READING YOUR COMMENTS IN ITS ENTIRETY)? Lol!

Anyway I mentioned Lessing and Naguib Mahfouz in the Part 2 of "The Gandhi Statu ...
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You are right. But I guess Lessing was born in Iran, right (I WROTE THIS BEFORE I EVEN FINISHED READING YOUR COMMENTS IN ITS ENTIRETY)? Lol!

Anyway I mentioned Lessing and Naguib Mahfouz in the Part 2 of "The Gandhi Statue Petition Had Nothing To Do With J.B. Danquah?

I remember another author saying that Wole Sonyinka, Doris Lessing, Danine Gordimer, Naguib Mahfouz and J.M. Coetzee are the only Africans who have so far been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

But that is even misleading. You are right that the Prize was given to Mahfouz more as an Arab than as an African.

Anyway I am resending the article to Ghanaweb. I have added a few important info to the original.

Thanks.
KA 9 years ago

Albert Camus, who won the prize in 1957, the year of our independence. was born in (French) Algeria. I don't know if Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah sent him a congratulatory note... He was the first African born writer to win i ...
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Albert Camus, who won the prize in 1957, the year of our independence. was born in (French) Algeria. I don't know if Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah sent him a congratulatory note... He was the first African born writer to win it.

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, winner 2008, claims French-Mauritian citizenship.

Albert Camus died in 1962, barely 46 years old. Frantz Fanon, who was a member of the Algerian National Liberation Front, died a year earlier than Camus, aged only 36.

Ok, let's see if we get something more to say when your revised piece appears...
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Here is what I also found on www.nobelprize.org (The Norwegian Nobel Committee:

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee
Prize Awarder for the Nobel Peace Prize"

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for selecting the Nob ...
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Here is what I also found on www.nobelprize.org (The Norwegian Nobel Committee:

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee
Prize Awarder for the Nobel Peace Prize"

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for selecting the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

"By the terms of Alfred Nobel's will the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 1901. Alfred Nobel left no explanation as to why the prize for peace was to be awarded by a Norwegian committee while the other four prizes were to be handled by Swedish committees.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is composed of five members appointed by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament). The Committee's composition reflects the relative strengths of the political parties in the Storting, and is assisted by specially appointed expert advisers."

Am I missing something? Please let me know.

Thanks.

KA 9 years ago

No, that's the right info. Sweden and Norway were in a union until 1905 so when Nobel's will was written, this union was still on... the prizes were established in 1895

Oslo awards only the Peace Prize - a day before the o ...
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No, that's the right info. Sweden and Norway were in a union until 1905 so when Nobel's will was written, this union was still on... the prizes were established in 1895

Oslo awards only the Peace Prize - a day before the other prizes are given out in Stockholm on Alfred Nobel's birthday.
francis kwarteng 9 years ago

Thanks then.

I will resend the article tomorrow.

Enjoy the weekend, and thanks for your insightful inputs.

Thanks then.

I will resend the article tomorrow.

Enjoy the weekend, and thanks for your insightful inputs.
Tweea 9 years ago

A Bunch Of Liberals Punks. The Nobel Cartel Is.

A Bunch Of Liberals Punks. The Nobel Cartel Is.

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The Swedish Academy’s Surprise Definition of Literature

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