1957 Nobel Prize in Literature

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Nobel prize medal.svg The 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature
Albert Camus
Camus Harcourt 1945.jpg
"for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times."
DateOctober 10, 1957
LocationStockholm
CountrySweden
Presented bySwedish Academy
Hosted byAnders Österling
First awarded1901
Website1957 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the French writer Albert Camus (1913–1960) "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times."[1] He is the ninth French author to become a recipient of the prize after Catholic novelist François Mauriac in 1952, and the fourth philosopher after British analytic philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1950.

Aged 44 when he received the prize, Camus is the second youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.[2]

Laureate

Main article: Albert Camus

Camus made his debut as a writer in 1937, but his breakthrough came with the novel L’étranger ("The Stranger"), published in 1942. It concerns the absurdity of life, a theme he returns to in other books, including his philosophical work Le mythe de Sisyphe ("The Myth of Sisyphus", 1942). He also worked as a journalist and playwright with Caligula (1944), which received praises from theatre critics. Because of his friendship with Jean-Paul Sartre, Camus was labeled an existentialist, but he preferred not to be linked with any ideology. His other successful novels include La peste ("The Plague", 1947), La chute ("The Fall", 1956), and an unfinished autobiography, Le Premier homme ("The First Man"), was published posthumously.[3][4]

Nominations

Albert Camus was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature on 11 occasions, the first time in 1949. He was nominated once in 1957 by a French professor of Anglo-Saxon language and literature from the Caen University, which he was awarded afterwards.[5]

In total, the Nobel committee received 66 nominations for 49 individuals, including Nikos Kazantzakis, E. M. Forster, Alberto Moravia, Georges Duhamel, Jules Romains, Ezra Pound, Saint-John Perse, Carlo Levi, Boris Pasternak and Robert Frost.[6] 12 of the nominees were nominated first-time among them Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in 1964), Lennox Robinson, Jan Parandowski, Samuel Beckett (awarded in 1969), Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, André Chamson, Väinö Linna and Carlo Levi. The nominee with the highest number of nominations – 4 nominations – was for André Malraux. Four of the nominees were women namely Gertrud von Le Fort, Karen Blixen, Henriette Charasson, and Maria Dąbrowska. French poet Valery Larbaud died before the only chance to be rewarded.

The authors Umberto Saba, Gilbert Murray, Wyndham Lewis, Ralph Barton Perry, Barbu Lăzăreanu, Aleksey Remizov, Christopher Morley, Oliver St. John Gogarty, Joyce Cary, Malcolm Lowry, Alfred Döblin, Arturo Barea, José Lins do Rego, Mait Metsanurk, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Eric Alfred Knudsen, Rose Fyleman, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Dorothy L. Sayers died in 1957 without having been nominated for the prize.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize
No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)
1 Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969)  Belgium novel, short story
2 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)  India philosophy, essays, law
3 Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957)  Greece novel, philosophy, essays, drama, memoir, translation
4 Albert Camus (1913–1960)  France novel, short story, essays, philosophy, drama Sylvère Monod (1921–2006)
5 Armand Godoy (1880–1964)  Cuba
 France 		poetry, translation
6 Zalman Shneour (1887–1959)  Belarus
 United States 		poetry, essays Simon Rawidowicz (1897–1957)
7 Jules Supervielle (1884–1960)  France
 Uruguay 		poetry, novel, short story Maurice Le Boucher (1882–1964)
8 Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970)  United Kingdom novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism
9 Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)  Ireland novel, drama, poetry Robert-Léon Wagner (1905–1982)
10 Jean Giono (1895–1970)  France novel, short story, essays, poetry, drama
11 Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971)  Netherlands novel, poetry, essays, translation The Belgian PEN-Club
12 Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970)  Norway poetry, novel Sigmund Skard (1903–1995)
13 Lennox Robinson (1886–1958)  Ireland drama, poetry The Irish PEN-Club
14 Hu Shih (1891–1962)  China essays, philosophy, history, poetry, pedagogy The Chinese PEN-Club
15 Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973)  France philosophy, drama Charles Dédéyan (1910–2003)
16 Robert Frost (1874–1963)  United States poetry, drama The American PEN-Club
17 Jules Romains (1885–1972)  France poetry, drama, screenplay
18 Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968)  Spain philology, history
  • Gunnar Tilander (1894–1973)
  • Hans Rheinfelder (1898–1971)
  • André Burger (1896–1985)
19 Mark Aldanov (1886–1957)  Ukraine
 France 		biography, novel, essays, literary criticism Samson Soloveitchik (1887–1974)
20 André Malraux (1901–1976)  France novel, essays, literary criticism
21 Seán O'Casey (1880–1964)  Ireland drama, memoir Oscar Cargill (1898–1972)
22 Väinö Linna (1920–1992)  Finland novel Rolf Lagerborg (1874–1959)
23 Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970)  Switzerland history, essays, biography, memoir Pierre-Henri Simon (1903–1972)
24 George Macauley Trevelyan (1876–1962)  United Kingdom biography, autobiography, essays, history Elias Wessén (1889–1981)
25 Karen Blixen (1885–1962)  Denmark novel, short story, memoir
26 Carlo Levi (1902–1975)  Italy memoir, novel, short story Mario Praz (1896–1892)
27 Alberto Moravia (1907–1990)  Italy novel, literary criticism, essays, drama Gennaro Perrotta (1900–1962)
28 Ignazio Silone (1900–1978)  Italy novel, short story, essays, drama
29 Henriette Charasson (1884–1972)  France poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism, biography Serge Barrault (1887–1976)
30 Saint-John Perse (1887–1975)  France poetry Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961)
31 Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972)  France essays, novel, drama Eugène Napoleon Tigerstedt (1907–1979)
32 Herman Teirlinck (1879–1967)  Belgium novel, poetry, essays, drama
33 Johan Falkberget (1879–1967)  Norway novel, short story, essays Norwegian Authors' Union
34 Valery Larbaud (1881–1957)  France novel, poetry, literary criticism Pierre Costil (?)
35 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)  France philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay Jacques Scherer (1912–1997)
36 Knuth Becker (1891–1974)  Denmark poetry, novel Sven Clausen (1893–1961)
37 André Chamson (1900–1983)  France novel, essays Jean-Baptiste Fort (?)
38 Georges Duhamel (1884–1966)  France novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism André Plassart (1889–1978)
39 Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971)  Germany novel, short story, essays, poetry Poetry Department of the Prussian Academy of Arts
40 Mircea Eliade (1907–1986)  Romania
 United States 		history, philosophy, essays, autobiography, novel, short story Ernest Koliqi (1903–1975)
41 Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958)  Germany novel, drama Viktor Klemperer (1881–1960)
42 Frank Thiess (1890–1977)  Latvia
 Germany 		novel Kasimir Edschmid (1890–1966)
43 Maria Dąbrowska (1889–1965)  Poland novel, short story, essays, drama, literary criticism Charles Hyatt (1931–2007)
44 Jan Parandowski (1895–1978)  Poland essays, translation
45 Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980)  Poland poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novel
46 Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985)  Italy novel, drama, essays
  • Mario Fubini (19001–1977)
  • Alfredo Schiaffini (1895–1971)
  • Paolo Toschi (1893–1973)
47 Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)  Russia poetry, novel, translation Harry Martinson (1904–1978)
48 Ezra Pound (1885–1972)  United States poetry, essays Ingvar Andersson (1899–1974)
49 Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889–1975)  United Kingdom history, philosophy Claude Backvis (1910–1998)

Award ceremony speech

Camus in Stockholm for the Nobel Prize

In his award ceremony speech on 10 December 1957 Anders Österling, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said of Camus: "Active and highly creative, Camus is in the centre of interest in the literary world, even outside of France. Inspired by an authentic moral engagement, he devotes himself with all his being to the great fundamental questions of life, and certainly this aspiration corresponds to the idealistic end for which the Nobel Prize was established. Behind his incessant affirmation of the absurdity of the human condition is no sterile negativism. This view of things is supplemented in him by a powerful imperative, a nevertheless, an appeal to the will which incites to revolt against absurdity and which, for that reason, creates a value."[7]

References

  1. ^ "Nobel Prize in Literature 1957". nobelprize.org.
  2. ^ "Camus and his women". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "Albert Camus". Britannica.
  4. ^ Albert Camus – Facts nobelprize.org
  5. ^ "Albert Camus Nomination archive". nobelprize.org.
  6. ^ "Nomination archive". nobelprize.org.
  7. ^ "Award Ceremony speech". nobelprize.org.

External links

Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=1957_Nobel_Prize_in_Literature&oldid=1116191686"