The Performances - Autumn @ St. Andrew's 2006
The Best Writer In The World The first Nobel Prize for literature was awarded in 1901 to “the author of the most important literary work of an idealist tendency.” Moreover, the winner was chosen “without regard to nationality.” In other words, this was the first world-wide multi-cultural writing contest open to every country and a babel of languages. Sully Prudhomme, that first winner, wrote in French. French constitutes 13% of the 105 winners so far, while English holds top rank with 25% of the chosen. Altogether, there are 23 languages and 37 countries represented by the winners. The range of taste, aesthetics, forms and style is, by itself, mind-boggling. If we wanted to give a prize to the best pole-vaulter, for example, we could agree on the measuring standard: metric or English/American, or whatever. Alfred Nobel left the measuring sticks to the Swedish Academy and a committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament, the judges. Their choices seem to have been based, so far, on European aesthetic standards, but are also strongly influenced by current wars and the endless flux of racial, religious, and social attitudes and standings. ONE PERFORMANCES ONLY! |
