Is it nonsense to have “winners” in the arts? Yesterday, French novelist Annie Ernaux won literature’s highest honour. But some believe that prizes go against the very nature of art.
Nobel prize for literature goes to Annie Ernaux
Is it nonsense to have "winners" in the arts? Yesterday, French novelist Annie Ernaux won literature's highest honour. But some believe that prizes go against the very nature of art.
Prize fools
Yesterday, at precisely 1pm, a soft-spoken man walked into the Swedish AcademyThe Academy is made up of 18 writers and critics who are elected to this post by their peers. In addition to judging the Nobel, in the style of the Academie Francaise, it also produces a dictionary intended to promote "the purity strength and sublimity" of Swedish. in StockholmStockholm is the capital of Sweden, a country in northern Europe. It is Sweden's largest city. It is also the country's center of culture, education, and business. Stockholm is known for its natural beauty.. The room went silent. The assembled journalists waited for the key line: "The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature is Annie Ernaux". Then, they furiously tweeted the news.
The Nobel Prize is one of five1 awards founded in the will of the Swedish magnateA wealthy and influential businessman or businesswoman. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite2. It has since become the biggest trophy in the world of books.
The winners are viewed as the greatest living writers. Yet while publishers and commentators celebrate Ernaux's victory, there are many who think the prize is nonsense.
The winner is chosen by the Swedish Academy. It has made some odd choices. Some of the 20th Century's greatest writers missed out, while many of the actual winners have been forgotten. Few today read Sully Prudhomme, Bjornstjerne Bjornson and Pearl Buck.
Art's power and importance should depend on how we encounter it. Calling one work of art better than another ignores how art works.
Others disagree. Art has always been competitive. The Ancient Greeks had poetry and music contests. The Italian RenaissanceThe "rebirth" of Western learning began in the late 15th century, as European scholars rediscovered ancient manuscripts and began to make developments in science and art. reached new heights as painters tried to outdo each-other.
Today's prizes are best understood as a tool. Prizes and shortlists are tips. They pick out highlights from a huge mass of things released each year. They can help us to discover new authors, musicians and artists.
They also help the creators. In the seven weeks after Austrian novelist Peter Handke won the 2019 Nobel, his German publisher sold 150,000 copies of his books. Another publisher describes the surprise victory of Egyptian author Naguib Mafhouz in 1988: "We had sold 300 copies in three years - and then 30,000 in three minutes."
Yes: Prizes are worse than nonsense. They turn artists into gong-hunters desperate for medals, rather than artistic excellence. We should throw prizes in the bin.
No: Tens of thousands of books, records and paintings are produced every year. Fewer reach the public. Just by being released, the arts that we encounter are all winners.
Or... It depends on the sort of winning. Prizes are forgotten. Artists rise and fall. In today's world, the true winners are all those artists with the money to keep on creating.
Is it nonsense to have "winners" in the arts?
Keywords
Swedish Academy - The Academy is made up of 18 writers and critics who are elected to this post by their peers. In addition to judging the Nobel, in the style of the Academie Francaise, it also produces a dictionary intended to promote "the purity strength and sublimity" of Swedish.
Stockholm - Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, a country in northern Europe. It is Sweden's largest city. It is also the country's center of culture, education, and business. Stockholm is known for its natural beauty.
Magnate - A wealthy and influential businessman or businesswoman.
Renaissance - The "rebirth" of Western learning began in the late 15th century, as European scholars rediscovered ancient manuscripts and began to make developments in science and art.
Nobel prize for literature goes to Annie Ernaux
Glossary
Swedish Academy - The Academy is made up of 18 writers and critics who are elected to this post by their peers. In addition to judging the Nobel, in the style of the Academie Francaise, it also produces a dictionary intended to promote "the purity strength and sublimity" of Swedish.
Stockholm - Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, a country in northern Europe. It is Sweden's largest city. It is also the country's center of culture, education, and business. Stockholm is known for its natural beauty.
Magnate - A wealthy and influential businessman or businesswoman.
Renaissance - The "rebirth" of Western learning began in the late 15th century, as European scholars rediscovered ancient manuscripts and began to make developments in science and art.