In October, The Swedish Academy awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature to French-Mauritian author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio. Le Clezio has authored over forty novels, essays, and children’s books. His first novel, Le Proces-verbal (The Interrogation), and Desert are among his most famous. Le Proces-verbal is about a deranged young man living on the fringe of modern society who ends up in a mental hospital. Desert follows the life of a young woman from a nomadic tribe in North Africa who immigrates to France. The book describes urban Europe from the eyes of an unwanted immigrant. The Swedish Academy describes Le Clezio as “an author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy.”
Le Clezio was born in France to a Mauritian doctor and a French mother. He spent much of his youth in Africa. After finishing college, he spent years in Central America, including four years with an Indian tribe in Panama. His world travels is reflected in the diverse settings of his novels. His themes have evolved drastically between periods of his life and even between consecutive books, so he is unable to classify.
Before the announcement of Le Clezio as the winner, The Swedish Academy was the subject of considerable controversy due to statements made by its permanent secretary of literature, Horace Engdahl. Engdahl asserted that American literature was “too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature.” Engdahl went further in saying that “Europe still is the center of the literary world.” Critics contend that Engdahl’s comments clearly demonstrate a bias against American writers, who haven’t won the prize since 1993 (Toni Morrison). The announcement of Le Clezio as the 2008 winner further exacerbated the controversy, as he was virtually unknown even among academics. Many of his works had never been translated into English. In researching the author, I found some rare English copies for sale online for upwards of $1,000 – presumably by opportunistic entrepeneurs hoping to cash in before the award-inspired translations and reprints hit the market.
While the fact that Le Clezio is almost inaccessible in the States may support Engdahl’s argument that American literature isn’t worldly enough, a closer examination of past winners can lend to the argument that there is a bias at the foundation. Most are as unrecognizable to me as Le Clezio. It makes sense that, in a a flat world where borders mean less and globalization reigns supreme, the most relevant writing will come from worldly authors like Le Clezio and other past winners. At the same time, indicators of bias are glaring. I am currently reading 2007 winner Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing about a murder in apartheid South Africa. While it did come ten years prior, it is no To Kill a Mockingbird. On the other hand, Lessing was a fervent activist for causes including communism and ending apartheid. Click here to read an article in which Lessing says that 9/11 was “not that bad.” She contended it was less severe than the IRA terror against the UK, which culminated in the 1984 bombing of parliament that killed five. Lessing went on to say that Americans are “a very naive people.”
Being an American, I am inclined to conclude that there is a bias in the selection of the Nobel Prize for Literature. As a bibliophile, I am unbiased in concluding that Lessing is no John Updike, Mario Vargas Llosa, or Salman Rushdie – none of whom have won the award and happen to represent four countries on as many continents.
