Literature in the Nobel Era: Comparative, theoretical, and archival approaches to the Nobel Prize in Literature (en ligne)
Literature in the Nobel Era:
Comparative, theoretical, and archival approaches to the Nobel Prize in Literature
International Symposium (online)
August 25–27, 2021
Convenors:
Carlos Spoerhase, Jørgen Sneis, Jacob Habinek, Mats Malm, Sandra Richter.
A cooperation of Bielefeld University, Linköping University, the Swedish Academy, and the German Literature Archive.
Funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Swedish Academy.
In 1895, Alfred Nobel famously signed his last will and testament, establishing that most of his fortune should be used to fund a series of prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Literature. Since 1901 the Literature Prize has been awarded to a total of 117 individuals writing in 25 languages.
“The Nobel Prizes for science and literature are all-powerful”, Ludwig Marcuse once observed. He goes on to elaborate: The person who gets one “is no longer a physicist or a novelist” but a “Nobel Prize Winner”. Marcuse certainly has a point. Given the massive amount of attention that the Nobel Prize and Nobel laureates receive in the press all over the world each year, the cultural reach of this award seems to be beyond dispute. Yet the actual workings and various functions of the Nobel Prize remain little known and poorly understood. In what sense and in whose case can a literary award be seen as “all-powerful”? In what ways has the Nobel Prize enabled, informed, or changed the reception of certain authors and their works or even the ways in which we think about or engage with literature altogether? To what extent does the worldwide public awareness of the Nobel Prize coincide with its actual impact on the global literary field in the 20th and 21st centuries, with its ability to shape global discourses and influence the behaviour of authors, publishers, printers, booksellers, agents, translators, journalists, the media, academia, archives, and the reading public?
The study of the Nobel Prize raises a number of methodological questions. How does one approach a subject of such complexity? How does one account for its international scope? The impact of the Nobel Prize seems ultimately to hinge on the significance of certain authors and their works. To what degree does the Nobel Prize mark a turning point in the careers of its laureates or even just such authors who have been publicly associated with it? And vice versa, how does this group of Nobel authors retroactively shape the image of the award? The question of authorship in the Nobel era seems to be a natural starting point in determining the impact of the award. Yet at the same time, it seems fair to assume that “Nobel Prize effects” may take various forms and also involve the very conditions under which literature is written, published, translated, traded with, and read. For this reason, we have opted for an interdisciplinary, comparative, and theoretically founded approach to the Nobel Prize in Literature. Taking the collections of the German Literature Archive and the Swedish Academy as a starting point, we also wish to explore how an archival perspective can enrich the historical, critical, and theoretical inquiry into this award.
Our international symposium will bring together scholars in the fields of comparative literature and cultural studies, translation studies, sociology, book history and economic history, as well as other areas relevant to the study of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The main goal is to combine critical and archival research with theoretical and methodological reflection, to inaugurate a global network of Nobel Prize scholarship, and to spark innovative collaboration across disciplines.
PROGRAM
Wednesday, 25 August 2021
14.30 h
Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy Sandra Richter, Director of the German Literature Archive
Welcome
14.45 h
Carlos Spoerhase, Jørgen Sneis, Bielefeld
Introduction: Literature in the Nobel Era
15.15 h
Break
15.30 h
Gisèle Sapiro, Paris (keynote lecture)
The symbolic economy of the Nobel Prize and its role in the making of World Literature
Moderation: Carlos Spoerhase, Bielefeld
16.30 h
Break
16.45 h
Fabien Accominotti, Madison, Wisconsin
Consecration as a Population-level Phenomenon
Phillipa K. Chong, Hamilton, Ontario Vaughn Schmutz, Charlotte, USA
(Nobel) Winner takes all? The Nobel Effect on Literary Reputation and Reviews
Jacob Habinek, Linköping
Disembedded Autonomy: The Social Structure of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Moderation: Jørgen Sneis, Bielefeld
17.45 h
Break
18.00 h
Public Evening Program (in German) with Nobel laureate Herta Müller
Thursday, 26 August 2021
10.00 h
Alexander Bareis, Lund
Most ideal – the Aesthetic Standards of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Methodological and Theoretical Perspectives
Rebecca Braun, Galway
Celebrating Literature? What Modes of Authorship Do to Literary Prizes
Tim Sommer, Heidelberg
Archival Economies: Valuing the Papers of Twenty-First-Century Nobel Laureates
Moderation: Günter Leypoldt, Heidelberg
11.00 h
Break
11.15 h
Nils Hansson, Düsseldorf
The Enactment of Physician-Authors in Nobel Nominations
Stevie Marsden, Derby
If they gave the Oscar to Books: Understanding Literary Prize Hierarchies
John Raimo, New York
Anti-Nobels: The Prix International des éditeurs and the Prix Formentor, 1960–1968
Moderation: Jacob Habinek, Linköping
12.15 h
Break
14.00 h
Clara Lévy, Paris
Patrick Modiano and the Nobel Prize in Literature
Jiřina mejkalová, Prag
Nobel Prize as a Cold War Product (?): The Case of Jaroslav Seifert
Stefanie Leuenberger, Bern
Awarding the Nobel Prize in 1919: The Case of Carl Spitteler
Moderation: Madeleine Brook, Marbach
15.00 h
Break
15.15 h
Alexander Nebrig, Urs Büttner, Düsseldorf
Nobel Prizes for Literature and the International Book Market
Nadine Rahner, Freiburg
Analogies and Differences: Analysis of the Publishing Peritext in German Editions of Selected Works by Pasternak, Sholokov, and Solzhenitsyn
Jana Rüegg, Uppsala
Prestigious Publishing: The Swedish Publishing of Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature 1970–2016
Moderation: Jørgen Sneis, Bielefeld
16.15 h
Break
18.00 h
James English, Philadelphia (keynote lecture)
The Nobel and the Economics of Literary Prestige in the 21st Century
Moderation: Günter Leypoldt, Heidelberg
Friday, 27 August 2021
10.00 h
Michael Ka-Chi Cheuk, Hong Kong
The Nobel Prize as Censorship
Takashi Inoue, Tokyo
Japan and the Nobel Prize in Literature
Afrida Aainun Murshida, Gangtok, Sikkim
Metaphor of Nationalism in Indian Nobel Laureates’ works: Comparing Tagore and Naipaul
Moderation: Carlos Spoerhase, Bielefeld
11.00 h
Break
11.15 h
Pablo Faúndez Morán, Valparaiso
Transformations surrounding the Nobel Prize: the case of Gabriela Mistral.
Coletta Kandemiri, Windhoek
Of “greatest benefit on humankind”: The Pragmatic Autopsy of African Nobel Prize Winners in Literature
Hülya Yildiz, Ankara
The Road To Nobel: A Comparative Study of Two Nobel Contenders
Moderation: Madeleine Brook, Marbach
12.15 h
Break
14.00 h
Kerstin Bohne, Oldenburg
The Relevance of Translations in the Awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Sandra Richter, Astghik Antonyan, Dîlan Çakir, Giovanna Carlesso, Jie Han, Maria Kraxenberger, Katharina Reeb, Achim Schmid, Merisa Taranis, Xiaocui Qiu, Stuttgart
Is there a Nobel Effect? Translations after the Nobel Prize
Kathrin Yacavone, Köln
Photographic Author Portraits: A Visual Pantheon of Literary Nobel Prize Laureates
15.00h
Break
15.15 h
Pieter Vermeulen, Leuven (closing lecture)
The Indie Nobel? Stockholm, New York, and the Geography of Value
Moderation: Mats Malm, Gothenburg
16.15 h
Carlos Spoerhase, Jørgen Sneis, Bielefeld
Outlook: Nobel Prize Scholarship
18.00h
Public evening program with Michael Krüger, Anders Olsson and Jan Bürger
Moderation: Jan Bürger, Marbach
*
Contact and Registration
Dr. Madeleine Brook – Acting Head of Research Department, DLA Marbach – E-Mail:
Birgit Wollgarten – DLA Marbach – Tel.: +49 (0)7144 - 848 - 175 – E-Mail: