Paul Tenngart

The Nobel Prize and the Formation of Contemporary World Literature (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

An exploration of the history, ambitions, and impact of the Nobel Prize in literature as it gained a central position in 20th-century global literary culture.

Few scholars would deny that the Nobel Prize is the most prestigious literary award in the world. But what mechanisms made it possible for 18 Swedish intellectuals to become the world's most influential literary critics? Paul Tenngart argues that the Nobel Prize in literature has become a special kind of international canonization: exerted from a non-central, semi-peripheral position, the award sometimes confirms and reinforces hierarchical relations between literary languages and cultures, and sometimes disturbs established patterns of dominance and dependence.

Drawing from a wide range of contemporary theories and methods, this multifaceted history of the Nobel Prize questions how the Swedish Academy has managed to keep the prize's global status through all the violent international crises of the last 120 years; how the selection of laureates shaped the idea of 'universal' literary values and defined literary quality across languages and cultures; and what impact the prize has had on the distribution and significance of particular works, literatures and languages.

The Nobel Prize and the Formation of Contemporary World Literature explores the history and impact of the Nobel Prize in literature from the first award in 1901 through recent controversies involving Bob Dylan and #MeToo, arguing that the prize is a unique performative act that has been - and still is - central in our continual and collective construction of world literature.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 264
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. Oktober 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781501382130
• Artikelnr.: 68953467

Autorenporträt

Paul Tenngart is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Lund University, Sweden. He has published several books and articles on Swedish and French poetry, politics and ideology in 20th century Swedish literature, literary translations from Swedish to English, translation patterns from and to semi-peripheral positions and Anthropocene fiction. His latest book is Northern Crossings: Translation, Circulation and the Literary Semi-periphery (Bloomsbury 2022), co-written with Chatarina Edfeldt, Erik Falk, Andreas Hedberg, Yvonne Lindqvist and Cecilia Schwartz.

Inhaltsangabe

1. The Stockholm Consecration Relative Contemporaneity Culture, Capital,
Crown - and Science Cosmopolitan Dreams Canon Formation from the Side 2.
Entering the Cosmopolitan Scene: The Rise of the Prize Early Breakthroughs
and Setbacks (1901-1913) Position Re-Established (1914-1929) A Broader
Significance (1930-1939) World Consecration (1944-1953) Breaking News (The
1950s and Onwards) Concluding Remarks 3. Encompassing Everything: The Scope
of the Prize World Ambitions The European Template Between Universalism and
Pluralism The Problem of Access The Nominations The Actual Distribution of
Awards Concluding Remarks 4. Making History: The Impact of the Prize
Impactful Awards The Unawarded The Already Canonized An Alternative
Literary History Nobel Effects and the World Literary System Shaping the
Cosmopolitan Space Political Consequences Concluding Remarks 5. Defining
Literature: The Poetics of the Prize Prize Motivations The Role of the
Author and the Purpose of Literature The Poetics of Genre Poetics and
Politics Nobel Lectures Concluding Remarks 6. Looking Ahead: The Survival
of the Prize Crises Endured The Balancing Act Literary Canonization in an
Age of Polarization Acknowledgment Appendix: Nobel Laureates in Literature
1901-2022 References Index