On October 7, Beijing time, the Swedish Academy announced that it will award the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature to writer Abdulrazak Gurnah. "The 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Abdul-Razak Gürna for his firm and compassionate insight into the impact of colonialism and the situation of refugees caught between different cultures," the award reads. ”
This result not only surprised domestic readers and publishers, but even abroad, Gulner, although more well-known, is not a particularly famous writer (last year's Nobel Laureate Glick is also an unpopular in China, but in the United States belongs to the National Laureate Poet). Gurna's English writing and close relationship with English literature make this year's award results, although seemingly focused on Africa, still not get rid of the European-centered literary evaluation model.
In recent years, the selection of the Nobel Prize in Literature, which is deeply trapped in the whirlpool of public opinion, has promised to pay attention to "diversity" and "look at the world". Judging by Gurna's identity and the subject matter of his literary concerns, his award seems to confirm this commitment. This article browses and combs through a large number of foreign media reports, sorts out foreign media comments on abdul-Razak Gürna's writing and awards, and also discusses whether the Nobel Prize in Literature is "moving toward pluralism".
Many foreign media commentators pointed out that Gurna's works themselves also have a unique literary charm, and their discussion of profound propositions such as the identity of immigrants and refugees, and the historical trauma brought by colonialism is in line with the propositions that deserve our attention in the current era. Exile, personal memory, and post-colonial self-identity may be important factors in supporting Gürner's award and compensating for African memory in European literary systems.
Gurna in the speech.
01
Gürner is not just writing about Africans who have lost their homes,
It's each and every one of us
In the list of predictions of major domestic and foreign media before the announcement of this year's Nobel Prize, Gulner was almost never mentioned. The odds list released on September 28 also features African names, but the Kenyan writer Ngugi WaTiango. There are no Chinese translations of Gulner's works, but some of them have already attracted attention. His most famous novel, Paradise, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and in 2020 he also published his latest novel, Rebirth (tentative translation, originally titled Afterlives).
Born in 1948 on the island of Zanzibar off the coast of East Africa, Gulner fled political persecution to Britain in 1968. This experience almost set the theme and tone of Gürner's writing, namely the concern for the experiences of colonialism, refugees, and immigrants. His first three novels, Memories of Departure (1987), The Pilgrimage (1988) and Dotty (1990), document the migration experience of contemporary Britain from different perspectives.
In addition to the brutal rule of the imperialist countries in the colonies and the loneliness and psychological trauma suffered by immigrants, Gulner's novels also contain many very special and delicate immigrant psychology. For example, in the novel "The Seaside", the protagonist who has lost his original wealth and status will adopt the strategy of "pretending not to speak English" to make himself "more likely to find shelter". In Gürna's view, this is a special cultural trauma that has arisen in the hearts of immigrants as a result of colonization.
As the Swedish Academy's review reads: "When Gürner deals with the 'refugee experience', the focus is on his identity. The characters in his books often find themselves somewhere between culture and culture, continent to continent, past life and emerging life— a state of insecurity that can never be settled." This description is very similar to what the sociologist Zimmer called "marginalized people", and Gurner's writing was mostly done during his "exile", but all related to his homeland. Perhaps it is this marginality of Gurna's literary writing that makes the official comment of the Nobel Prize in Literature: "Memory will always be an important theme in Gurna's writing."
Gurna's new book Afterlives, published in 2020
The theme of memory is vividly reflected in Gulner's new book Afterlives, published in 2020. The Guardian's book review argues that Germany's colonial history of Africa is often overlooked in contrast to the many colonial histories that have been frequently written, and Gurna's book tells the continuing impact of German colonization on Africa through the perspective of the protagonist. The author of the book review "sincerely hopes that the book will be translated into German as soon as possible".
A Review by The London Magazine in September noted that Gulner's writing was often like "patching together pieces" and that "his memory is broken, but he strives to make it complete". The writing and publication of Afterlives is timely for the contemporary era, as "England and Germany are facing a new and further examination of their history in recent years". Dr. Florian Stadtler, a student of Gürner and a professor of postcolonial literary theory at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, also believes in an interview that Germany still faces a serious problem from time to time: how can a country that has created great literature, art and ideas coexist with the terrible cruelty it once created? And Gulner's work helps people to restate and face it.
In addition to the emphasis on memory, the 2012 research paper Becoming Foreign: Tropes of Migrant Identity in Three Novels by Abdulrazak Gurnah points to a common thread in Gurna's novels: the alienation and loneliness that arises deep within international migrants, and the meaning of "home" for each of us in a post-colonial era. The author argues that Gürna's important contribution is that he, as an immigrant of sufficient prestige, draws attention to those who are fellow immigrants but struggle to survive in "displaced, neglectful, hostile, indifferent environments."
At the same time, Gurna's novel is considered by the author to be an attempt to transform the "imperial narrative" of colonial action into a "personal narrative" — Gulner's desire to tell history in the colonized people's own language. Gulner was very concerned about the way of "telling history", and in a 2010 interview, Gulner talked about the philosopher Derrida's influence on him, especially the emphasis on "difference" and how "difference" is formed. The historical background of the speaker's presence behind the different languages has always been emphasized by Gürner. The London Magazine review noted that Gulner often used swahili words in his work, and that his writing "prompted the reader to constantly recognize the relationship between language and colonization, and the influence of language on telling colonial history". In an era of globalization, these topics are also of universal significance. The review concludes: "Gurna is concerned not just with african immigrants who may be obscure, but with each and every one of us.
Curna's Edition of Salman Rushdie (Cambridge University Press, August 2007) book cover. Rushdie is also an immigrant writer whose work shows the dual influence of Eastern and Western cultures.
02
The Nobel Prize is increasingly fulfilling the promise of "looking at the world"?
In 2018, a scandal caused the Nobel Prize in Literature to be suspended for a year: Claude Arnault, who was close to members of the Swedish Academy of Sciences who awarded the Nobel Prize, was exposed to a sexual assault scandal. Subsequently, in 2019, the prize was awarded to two authors at the same time: Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk and Austrian writer Peter Handik. However, Handke was later criticized for his political stance on the Balkan conflict. The ensuing controversy has also plunged the Nobel Prize in Literature into the whirlpool of public opinion.
As an African writer, Gurna's award will surely spark media discussion about the diversity of the Nobel Prizes – which is probably the most discussed of many recent Controversies over the Nobel Prize in Literature. The criticism of "Eurocentrism" and "male-centrism" has always accompanied the Nobel Prize selection – of course, this is also a cliché. In the early years, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature were mostly European male writers. Horace Engdahl, the historian and permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize in Literature jury in 2009, publicly declared that "Europe remains the center of world literature" and that "the United States is too isolated, too few translations, and does not participate in a real literary dialogue." At that time, Slate, an American cultural media, also said that "the Nobel Prize jury knew nothing about American literature."
Since 1987, Gulner has been the contributing editor of the English literary magazine Wasafiri.
To reverse this impression, in 2009, Horace N'Doyle's successor, Peter Englund, said in 2009 that when he was permanent secretary of the Nobel Prize in Literature Jury, he said that "among the vast majority of language speakers around the world, authors who are eligible for the Nobel Prize can be found, including the United States and the Americas as a whole." Since 2010, the proportion of Nobel laureates outside of European culture has also risen sharply among Nobel laureates for more than a decade, including Peruvian writer Llosa, Canadian writer Alice Monroe, Chinese writer Mo Yan, and so on. Just last year, Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Prize literary committee, also publicly promised that the selection of the prize would gradually dilute the characteristics of "European and American center" and "male center".
In recent years, the media still believe that the diversity of the Nobel Prize in Literature has room for improvement in gender, geography and other aspects. French media France 24 pointed out in its comments before this year's Nobel Prize selection that in addition to Europe and North America, literature in Asia, Africa and other regions seriously lacks attention. According to statistics, of the 117 literary prize winners since the first Nobel Prize in 1901, 95 (more than 80 percent) are Europeans or North Americans, France alone has won 15 times, and of the winners, 101 are men and only 16 are women. The comments argue that polish writer Tokarczuk and American poet Louise Glick, who won the prize in 2019 and 2020 respectively, may indicate that the Nobel Prize has increased in gender diversity, but "in terms of expanding geographical scope, the promise has not been fulfilled."
But while the Nobel Prize in Literature is never separated from politics, it is by no means the only one. In the latest interview with The New Republic, President Olsen said, "In the final analysis, literary merit is always the absolute and only criterion for the judgment of the Academy."
A new commentary published in the weekly magazine also notes that the Swedish Academy's own left-wing political leanings often influence its selection of winners. The authors argue that the emphasis on "political pluralism" has made the Nobel Prizes in recent years somewhat "overcorrected" and "the quality of the praise is becoming less pronounced."
Abdul-Razak Gürna
In an interview, Pablo Valdivia, a professor of European literature and culture at the University of Groningen, argues that if we look back at the original intent of the Nobel Prize, we will find that the concept of ideal literature may have changed over generations. Nobel believes that both science and literature that deserve the prize should equally pursue "to be part of a world that improves people's lives", with a certain moral significance for promoting sustainable human development. Although in today's days, literature that readers perceive as good is sometimes not necessarily consistent with these moral principles. Therefore, in reality, there are many outstanding writers who will not be awarded the Nobel Prize."
Is Gurna's award a deep fulfillment of this promise? The answer to this question remains to be commented on. However, judging from the above comments, Gulner may not only receive enough attention because of his special status, but also the moral weight and epochal value of his works deserve the attention of each of us. For example, in a rethinking of imperialism, in an earlier interview, Gürner mentioned the contradictions of imperialism itself that he hoped to explore through his writing: "On the one hand, it contains violent coercion, and on the other hand, it wants to promote the formation of a new morality of public character." He also mentioned that "the atmosphere of the current global society has always been full of hostility towards others, especially strangers, and I think we should have a continuous counterattack against this."
Reference Links:
https://spainsnews.com/the-nobel-prize-for-literature-is-not-always-for-the-best-writer-in-the-world/
https://www.thelondonmagazine.org/essay-abdulrazak-gurnah-on-afterlives-and-colonial-hypocrisy/
https://magill.ie/society/interview-abdulrazak-gurnah
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230358454_3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulrazak_Gurnah
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/30/afterlives-by-abdulrazak-gurnah-review-living-through-colonialism
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/07/abdulrazak-gurnah-wins-the-2021-nobel-prize-in-literature
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2021/bio-bibliography/
https://newrepublic.com/article/163872/will-win-2021-nobel-prize-literature
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211007-2021-literature-nobel-may-look-to-new-horizons
Author| Liu Yaguang, Xu Yuedong, Li Yongbo
Editors | walk away
Proofreader | Yang Xuli