1971 Nobel Prize in Literature
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Pablo Neruda | |
![]() "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams." | |
Date |
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Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
Presented by | Swedish Academy |
First awarded | 1901 |
Website | Official website |
The 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Chilean politician and poet Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) "for a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams."[1] Neruda became the second Chilean Nobel laureate in Literature after Gabriela Mistral in 1945.
Laureate
[edit]Pablo Neruda is known for his surrealist poems and historical epics which touches political, human and passionate themes. Among his well known works which are read throughout the world include Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada ("Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair", 1924), which established him as a prominent poet and an interpreter of love and erotica, and Cien Sonetos de Amor ("100 Sonnets of Love", 1959). A diplomat, his official journey in Asia affected him strongly, which is reflected in two volumes of poems titled Residencia en la tierra ("Residence on Earth", 1933 and 1935). Neruda's Communist sympathies reflect in his work Canto General (1939), an epic poem about the whole South American continent.[2][3][4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Neruda_-_Portada_Veinte_poemas_de_Amor_%281924%29.jpg/175px-Neruda_-_Portada_Veinte_poemas_de_Amor_%281924%29.jpg)
Deliberations
[edit]Nominations
[edit]In 1971, the Swedish Academy received 137 nominations for 91 writers. Neruda received 25 nominations since 1956 and received two nominations which eventually led to him being awarded the 1971 prize. Among the shortlist were Neruda, W. H. Auden, Patrick White (awarded in 1973), André Malraux and Eugenio Montale (awarded in 1975).[5]
The most number of nominations were for Jorge Luis Borges and Montale, both receiving 6 nominations.[6] André Malraux was the nominee who had been nominated for most years (22 years) up to 1971. 25 of the nominees were nominated first-time, among them Elie Wiesel (awarded the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize), José García Villa, James Baldwin, Arno Schmidt, Georges Schéhadé, William Golding (awarded in 1983) and Richard E. Kim. The oldest nominee was Jacques Maritain (aged 89) while the youngest was Richard E. Kim (aged 39).[6] Peruvian novelist José María Arguedas was nominated posthumously by the professor of Scandinavian languages, Elie Poulenard (1901–1985) from University of Strasbourg. Estonian poet Marie Under was the only female nominee.
The authors André Billy, C. D. Broad, Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Daniel de la Vega, Nels F. S. Ferré, Peter Fleming, Claude Gauvreau, Gaito Gazdanov, A. P. Herbert, Philippe Hériat, Raicho Hiratsuka, Anthony Ludovici, Ogden Nash, Allan Nevins, Reinhold Niebuhr, Naoya Shiga, Kenneth Slessor, Juhan Smuul, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Frank Underhill, Charles Vildrac, Waldo Williams, and Philip Wylie died in 1971 without having been nominated for the prize. The Indian novelist Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay and Dutch writer Simon Vestdijk died months before the announcement.
No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Edward Albee (1928–2016) | ![]() |
drama | Dieter Schaller (1929–2003) |
2 | Jorge Amado (1912–2001) | ![]() |
novel, short story | Laurent Versini (1932–2021) |
3 | Jerzy Andrzejewski (1909–1983) | ![]() |
novel, short story | Eeva Kilpi (born 1928) |
4 | Louis Aragon (1897–1982) | ![]() |
novel, short story, poetry, essays | Jean Gaudon (1926–2019) |
5 | José María Arguedas (1911–1969) (posthumous nomination) |
![]() |
novel, short story, poetry, essays | Elie Poulenard (1901-1985) |
6 | Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) | ![]() ![]() |
poetry, essays, screenplay |
|
7 | Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) | ![]() |
novel, drama, essays |
|
8 | James Baldwin (1924–1987) | ![]() |
novel, short story, essays, poetry, drama | Jacob Louis Mey (1926–2023) |
9 | Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1898–1971) | ![]() |
novel, short story, drama, essays, autobiography, songwriting | Krishna Kripalani (1907–1992) |
10 | Mykola Bazhan (1904–1983) | ![]() |
poetry, essays | Omeljan Pritsak (1919–2006) |
11 | Saul Bellow (1915–2005) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, short story, memoir, essays | Jara Ribnikar (1912–2007) |
12 | Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) | ![]() |
poetry, essays, translation, short story |
|
13 | Jawad Boulos (1900–1982) | ![]() |
essays | Camille Aboussouan (1919–2013) |
14 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) | ![]() |
novel, short story |
|
15 | Michel Butor (1926–2016) | ![]() |
poetry, novel, essays, translation | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
16 | Elias Canetti (1905–1994) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, drama, memoir, essays | Keith Spalding (1913–2002) |
17 | Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) | ![]() |
novel, short story, essays | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
18 | Lord David Cecil (1902–1986) | ![]() |
biography, history, essays | Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972) |
19 | Aimé Césaire (1913–2008) | ![]() |
poetry, drama, essays | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
20 | André Chamson (1900–1983) | ![]() |
novel, essays |
|
21 | Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca (1914–2008) | ![]() |
poetry | Yaşar Nabi Nayır (1908–1981) |
22 | Tsendiin Damdinsüren (1908–1986) | ![]() |
poetry, essays, novel, translation | Walther Heissig (1913–2005) |
23 | Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978) | ![]() |
essays, history, law, novel | Kazimir Geza Werner (1900–1985) |
24 | Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) | ![]() |
essays, novel, drama | Anders Österling (1884–1981) |
25 | Paul Demiéville (1894–1979) | ![]() ![]() |
essays, translation | Martin Gimm (born 1930) |
26 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | ![]() |
novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays | Haydn Trevor Mason (1929–2018) |
27 | Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) | ![]() |
drama, novel, short story, essays |
|
28 | Rabbe Enckell (1903–1974) | ![]() |
short story, poetry |
|
29 | Salvador Espriu (1913–1985) | ![]() |
drama, novel, poetry |
|
30 | Romain Gary (1914–1980) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, essays, literary criticism, screenplay | Walther Hinz (1906–1992) |
31 | Maurice Genevoix (1890–1980) | ![]() |
novel, essays | Yves Gandon (1899–1975) |
32 | William Golding (1911–1993) | ![]() |
novel, poetry, drama, essays |
|
33 | Günter Grass (1927–2015) | ![]() |
novel, drama, poetry, essays |
|
34 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | ![]() |
novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Mary Renault (1905–1983) |
35 | Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) | ![]() |
poetry, literary criticism |
|
36 | Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008) | ![]() |
poetry, drama, essays | Eeva Kilpi (born 1928) |
37 | William Heinesen (1900–1991) | ![]() |
poetry, short story, novel |
|
38 | Vladimír Holan (1905–1980) | ![]() |
poetry, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
39 | Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) | ![]() ![]() |
drama, essays | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
40 | Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) | ![]() ![]() |
essays | Jean Dubois (1920–2015) |
41 | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) | ![]() |
novel, short story | ![]() |
42 | Younghill Kang (1898–1972) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, memoir, drama | Robert Payne (1911–1983) |
43 | Erich Kästner (1899–1974) | ![]() |
poetry, screenplay, autobiography | Kazimir Geza Werner (1900–1985) |
44 | Richard Eun Kook Kim (1932–2009) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, short story | Baek Cheol (1908-1985) |
45 | Arthur Koestler (1905–1983) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, autobiography, essays | Georges Matoré (1908–1998) |
46 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | ![]() ![]() |
poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Gunnar Jacobsson (1918–2001) |
47 | Karl Krolow (1915–1999) | ![]() |
poetry, essays, translation | Emil Ernst Ploss (1925–1972) |
48 | Philip Larkin (1922–1985) | ![]() |
poetry, novel, essays | Jørgen Læssøe (1924–1993) |
49 | Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014) | ![]() |
novel, short story, essays, drama | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
50 | Väinö Linna (1920–1992) | ![]() |
novel |
|
51 | Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972) | ![]() |
novel, short story, drama, poetry, history, biography, essays, literary criticism, memoir |
Magne Oftedal (1921–1985) |
52 | Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982) | ![]() |
poetry, essays, drama, law | William Scovil Anderson (1927–2022) |
53 | Hugh MacLennan (1907–1990) | ![]() |
novel, essays | Lawrence Lande (1906–1998) |
54 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | ![]() |
novel, essays, literary criticism |
|
55 | Jacques Maritain (1882–1973) | ![]() |
philosophy | Charles Dédéyan (1910–2003) |
56 | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) | ![]() |
poetry, novel, drama, essays | Arthur Arnholtz (1901–1973) |
57 | Miquel Melendres i Rué (1905–1974) | ![]() |
essays, theology, poetry, memoir | Antoni Griera (1887–1973) |
58 | Arthur Miller (1915–2005) | ![]() |
drama, screenplay, essays |
|
59 | Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) | ![]() |
novel, drama, history | Anders Österling (1884–1981) |
60 | Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) | ![]() |
poetry, translation |
|
61 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | ![]() |
novel, literary criticism, essays, drama |
|
62 | Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) | ![]() ![]() |
novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir |
|
63 | Mikhail Naimy (1889–1988) | ![]() |
poetry, drama, short story, novel, autobiography, literary criticism |
|
64 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) | ![]() |
poetry |
|
65 | Fritiof Nilsson Piraten (1895–1972) | ![]() |
short story, novel, essays, law | Bertil Ejder (1916–2005) |
66 | Ezra Pound (1885–1972) | ![]() |
poetry, essays | Hans Galinsky (1909–1991) |
67 | Evaristo Ribera Chevremont (1890–1976) | ![]() |
poetry | Ernesto Juan Fonfrías (1909–1990) |
68 | Yannis Ritsos (1909–1990) | ![]() |
poetry, songwriting |
|
69 | Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922–2008) | ![]() |
novel, short story, essays, screenplays | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
70 | Tadeusz Rózewicz (1921–2014) | ![]() |
poetry, drama, translation | Gunnar Jacobsson (1918–2001) |
71 | Hans Ruin (1891–1980) | ![]() ![]() |
philosophy | Arthur Arnholtz (1901–1973) |
72 | Georges Schéhadé (1905–1989) | ![]() |
poetry, drama, novel | Camille Aboussouan (1919–2013) |
73 | Arno Schmidt (1914–1979) | ![]() |
novel, short story, biography, essays | Lars Gyllensten (1921–2006) |
74 | Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) | ![]() |
poetry, essays | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
75 | Robert Shih [Shi Jieyun] (1926–1983) | ![]() |
essays | Étienne Lamotte (1903–1983) |
76 | Claude Simon (1913–2005) | ![]() |
novel, essays | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
77 | Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) | ![]() |
novel, essays | Sylvère Monod (1921–2006) |
78 | Zaharia Stancu (1902–1974) | ![]() |
poetry, novel, philosophy, essays | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
79 | Marie Under (1883–1980) | ![]() |
poetry | Algirdas Landsbergis (1924–2004) |
80 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | ![]() |
novel, poetry, essays, translation | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
81 | José García Villa (1908–1997) | ![]() ![]() |
poetry, essays |
|
82 | Gerard Walschap (1898–1989) | ![]() |
novel, drama, essays |
|
83 | Mika Waltari (1908–1979) | ![]() |
short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplay | Inna Koskenniemi (1923–1995) |
84 | Sándor Weöres (1913–1989) | ![]() |
poetry, translation | Áron Kibédi Varga (1930–2018) |
85 | Patrick White (1912–1990) | ![]() |
novel, short story, drama, poetry, autobiography |
|
86 | Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) | ![]() ![]() |
memoir, essays, novel, drama | Gerd Høst-Heyerdahl (1915–2007) |
87 | Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) | ![]() |
drama, novel, short story |
|
88 | Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) | ![]() |
drama, novel, screenplay, short story, poetry | Kazimir Geza Werner (1900–1985) |
89 | Henry Williamson (1895–1977) | ![]() |
novel, short story | Petronella O'Flanagan (?) |
90 | Angus Wilson (1913–1991) | ![]() |
novel, short story, essays | Gerhard Nickel (1928–2015) |
91 | Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977) | ![]() |
drama, screenplay |
|
Prize Decision
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Neruda_1971.png/200px-Neruda_1971.png)
The Academy's archives later revealed in 2022 that Pablo Neruda was almost denied the Nobel Prize because of his "communist tendencies" and odes to Stalin.[5] While Anders Österling of the Nobel committee praised Neruda's "poetic natural power and dynamic vitality", he questioned whether the increasingly dominant communist tendency in his poetry is compatible with the purpose of the Nobel prize. In the archives, Österling wrote that "a writer's way of thinking – whether Marxist, syndicalist, anarchist or something else – belongs to his free right. However, Neruda is fully politically involved, including through his hymns to Stalin and other purely propagandistic achievements. On that basis, I have reservations about his candidacy, without, however, wanting to firmly reject it in advance..."[5] Österling had previously spoken out against the candidacy both of Ezra Pound and Samuel Beckett, but was eventually persuaded with Neruda's and Beckett's merits later awarded them the prize, but not Pound.[5]
Reactions
[edit]Bo Strömstedt, cultural editor of the newspaper Expressen, suggested ironically that Neruda's appointment to the Paris embassy might have been decisive factor for him being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, describing it as "Pension for Diplomats".[7] In an interview, he pointed out that three laureates in the last decade had been diplomats: Saint-John Perse of France, Giorgos Seferis of Greece and Miguel Ángel Asturias of Guatemala. "I call it a Nobel old-age pension for diplomats," he said. "I think Pablo Neruda is a great poet and a greater artist than Patrick White but like choices that come too late, it's a bit dull. I'm for choosing younger persons who are in the midst of their work."[7]
Nobel lecture
[edit]Pablo Neruda delivered a Nobel lecture entitled "Towards the Splendid City" on 13 December 1971, in which he raises some great points about the craft of writing poetry and the poet's relation to society. Neruda expressed: "I believe that poetry is an action, ephemeral or solemn, in which there enters as equal partners solitude and solidarity, emotion and action, the nearness to oneself, the nearness to mankind and to the secret manifestations of nature."[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "Nobel Prize in Literature 1971". nobelprize.org.
- ^ Pablo Neruda – Facts nobelprize.org
- ^ Pablo Neruda britannica.com
- ^ Pablo Neruda poetryfoundation.org
- ^ a b c d Alison Flood (5 January 2022). "Nobel winner Pablo Neruda was almost denied prize because of odes to Stalin". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ a b Nomination archive – 1971
- ^ a b John L. Hess (October 22, 1971). "Neruda, Chilean Poet-Politician, Wins Nobel Prize in Literature". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Nobel lecture nobelprize.org
External links
[edit]- Award Ceremony speech nobelprize.org
- Nobel diploma nobelprize.org
- Banquet speech nobelprize.org