Surprising facts about the Nobel Prize in French literature

Actually, for French readers, the name Modiano is not strange. In the bookFrench Literature since 1968[1], the two authors Vercier and Lecarme included this writer in a rather interesting chapter: “Three faces of the current novel”, in which they affirmed that all three were very lucky with awards, they were the last bright faces in the second half of the 20th century in France. Of those three faces, except for George Perec, the other two: Patric Modiano and Le Clézio have all received the Nobel Prize up to this point. In 2008, when Le Clézio received the prize, French readers may not have been surprised, but many readers outside of France, such as Germany, Sweden, especially the US, “complained” that they did not even know his name, let alone his works. So, even in a great literature like France, each Nobel Prize for writers always causes surprise. Perhaps that is also considered “an interesting feature” for readers who admire them…

How many Nobel prizes does French literature have?

Since the first year the Nobel Prize for Literature was officially awarded (1901), the French writers who received the prize were: Sully Prudhomme (poet, 1901), Frédéric Mistral (poet, 1904), Romain Rolland (writer, 1915), Anatole France (writer, 1921), Henri Bergson (philosopher and literary critic, 1927), Roger Martin du Gard (writer, 1937), André Gide (writer, 1947), Francois Mauriac (writer, 1952), Albert Camus (writer, 1957), Saint - John Perse (poet, 1960), Jean Paul Sartre (writer, 1964), Claude Simon (writer, 1985), Jean Marie - Gustave Le Clézio (writer, 2008), Patrick Modiano (2014). Thus, up to this point (2014), France has had a total of 14 Nobel Prizes. However, the above number could be even higher, if we include other writers, although not of French origin, but at the time of winning the prize, they were still living in France (or had written in both French, English or French, Chinese) such as: Gao Xingjian (China, 2012), Beckett (Ireland, 1969), Bunine (Russia, 1918). Compared to American and British literature, two countries that share a common language considered the most popular today (English), and are also two of the great literary traditions in the world, France is still considered the country with more Nobel Prizes (14, or according to Wikipedia statistics, 13.5; England: 11; America: 10.5). Why is French literature not larger than America, nor older than England, but has such great success? Is it because of luck or bias towards French literature? Let me answer clearly: there is no luck or bias here. Because since the 17th century, compared to other literatures in America and Europe, French literature has been considered great. Paris since the 17th century has been the center of European culture, where giant names appeared that are difficult for any national literature to compare: Descartes, Boileau, Molière, Corneille, Racine... It is also the birthplace of the most literary movements in the world. French literature is often established on ideologies and philosophies, so writers often write great works of "human" scope, in accordance with the Nobel Prize criteria of the Swedish Academy. In the case of Japanese writer Murakami, who has so far "missed his appointment" with the Nobel Prize, perhaps besides the "sex" elements, his works have not necessarily reached the "human" scope for people to award the prize (?)...

A kind of “United States” in French Nobel writers

France's advantage in the Nobel competitions can also be explained by this reason: France is a major cultural center of Europe, and at one time it attracted many intellectuals and writers from many places: Asia, Europe and America. The policy of creative freedom right in the heart of France has truly brought success to the country's literature. But whether the Nobel Prize-winning writers are purely French or not, we also need to look at it in the most objective and fair way. For example, even the most recent winner, Patrice Modiano, is not necessarily purely French. Officially, his father, Albert Modiano, was a Jewish businessman; and his mother, Louisa Colpijn, was a Belgian comedian. In the case of the 2008 Nobel Prize, writer Le Clézio is even more "convoluted": he originally came from the island nation of Mauritius, Africa. He himself rarely stayed long in his own country, but often wandered and lived in seclusion in many places during the days of writing his works. Gao Xingjian is, in a way, also considered the “French Nobel” because he wrote and received the prize in a completely French space, but he was still Chinese after all. The fourth case, the absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett (Nobel, 1969), wrote in both French and English, was of Irish descent, but when he received the prize he was living in France. Samuel Beckett’s name has always been present in French literature textbooks for a long time. The last case, Ivan Bounin, a Russian-language writer and truly a Russian writer, but when he received the prize he was also residing in France and no longer had Russian nationality. Indeed, French literature has many interesting things! The Nobel is even more interesting!

How interesting is the French Nobel Prize in Literature?

In their life and writing, there are probably few writers who do not feel honored and happy when receiving the Nobel Prize. After all, the Nobel is still considered the most prestigious award, not only because of its professional "quality", but also because of its monetary value. Let's compare it like this: the Goncourt Prize awarded annually to French novelists is also a big "brand", but the accompanying material value is only "a few euros", while the amount of money accompanying the Nobel Prize is up to millions. And even though many years later people will still argue about the nature of the awards, whether it truly reflects the true value of a writer or not? (including the Nobel). But one thing cannot be denied, those who are awarded the prize are not only truly talented, whose works must surpass the international level, but they themselves must be people who set an example of "morality and virtue". That is why, even in French literature, writer Alain Robbe-Grillet, the leader of the New Novel school in the 60s, could have been awarded the prize, but because he also made films “containing many sexual elements”, that year (1985), the prize was transferred to writer Claude Simon, also a New Novelist but less famous. In the second case, according to Chinese researcher Ngo Nhac Them, writer André Malraux, should have also been very deserving of the prize, but because in 1947, people “favored” André Gide, the author ofCounterfeiters, because he was too old, Malraux was rejected. In 1958, when Malraux was the French Minister of Culture, the Nobel Prize Committee continued to reject him because public opinion had previously disagreed with awarding the prize to an "official" (British Prime Minister Chuckhill), so "official Malraux" once again missed the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Regarding money, are French Nobel laureates happy? Most of them do not say so, but it is difficult to say “unhappy”. However, among the French writers who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, there is one who has… firmly refused to accept it. That is the existentialist Jean Paul Sartre. There are many different explanations as to why Sartre did not accept the Nobel Prize. Some people think that it was because he was “self-conscious” because Camus, also an existentialist but “less talented”, had previously been awarded the prize in 1957. Sartre himself affirmed: “Why did I refuse to accept the prize? Because I considered that for a long time it had taken on a clear political color. If I had accepted the Nobel Prize – and if I had given an arrogant speech in Stockholm, which would have been absurd – I would have been taken away.”[2]. The story of Sartre refusing the Nobel Prize has indeed consumed a lot of ink, and the press at that time discussed it quite a lot, both in terms of “professionalism” and “money”. Jean Paul Sartre himself recounted that many readers later wrote to him, expressing “great indignation” over why he refused such a large sum of money. Some American readers even insulted him: “If someone offered me a hundred dollars and I refused, I would not be human”. Others wrote to “entice” him that if he did not want to accept it, they would be allowed to accept it on his behalf, because “we are very poor”, as a writer “you should know how to love the poor”?

In short, there are many interesting and surprising stories surrounding the Nobel Prize, a prestigious literary award in the world literature, not only in French literature. Let us remember that since 1943, when Vietnamese literature had just begun to reach out to the world, Nam Cao in his short storyredundant lifehas built the image of a writer named Ho who once openly expressed his desire to “write a Nobel Prize-winning work” so intensely? Glory in any profession is always the goal in life. For writers, writing and receiving the Nobel Prize is an even greater happiness.

                                                                                   The last days of 2014