Nobel Prize For Literature Research Articles

The fourth interpretation of the novel “The Trial” by Franz Kafka

The article examines one of the most famous novels of the 20th century — “The Trial” by the Austrian writer Franz Kafka. Published in 1925 after the death of the author, this book constantly continues to attract attention because of the multiple meanings that can be found in the text. Literary critics throughout the world have developed several interpretations of “The Trial”. The dominant idea is that this novel is a metaphor for the life of a modern person, who is a pawn in the hands of subhuman (albeit self-created) institutions. The article gives a brief overview of the novel’s main interpretations developed over the decades since its publication. Concurrently, an attempt is made at another possible interpretation, for the purpose of which the final sentence of the novel is emphasized. According to this (the fourth) version, Kafka’s work is considered primarily through the prism of memory. It is proved that “The Trial” is a book about the loss of memory and the resulting consequences. The authors of the study propose an interpretation that Joseph K. (the main character) committed the crime he is accused of, but forgot about it, so his death is “shameful”. Given the specifics of Kafka’s entire work, the proposed article does not establish the final version of the interpretation. The study’s authors offer one of the options that may be either close to the Austrian writer’s intention or the farthest away from it. Ultimately, the presented article demonstrates in its own way that each of Kafka’s works, and “The Trial” in particular, has limitless possibilities for interpretations so that each subsequent generation of researchers will discover this novel from a new angle. The studies of Franz Kafka’s work, which are almost unknown in Ukraine, play an important role in the article. Among them is a book by Elias Canetti, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a compatriot of Franz Kafka who devoted almost half of his life to the study of his work. In addition, a literary encyclopedia is also taken into consideration, where it seems that all aspects of the life and work of one of the most famous writers of the 20th century are considered, but the interpretation of the novel “The Trial” proposed in this article is overlooked.

Slavery as a Cultural Legacy: Abdulrazzak Gurnah’s Paradise as a Case Study

Abdulrazak Gurnah is a Tanzanian-born British novelist who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in 1948 in Zanzibar, Tanzania (then the Sultanate of Zanzibar). He moved to the UK as a refugee in the 1960s after the Zanzibar Revolution. The vulnerability of slavery has been discussed by many writers. This paper is going to investigate slavery in Gurnah’s novel Paradise1994, particularly in the lives of the protagonist, Yusuf. This paper aims to follow the journey of Yusuf, a young man who is forced into servitude after his father pawns him. Through Yusuf’s experiences, Gurnah delves into how slavery has become a cultural legacy, shaping identities, relationships, and aspects of society. The paper will identify how the characters’ experiences are shaped by their ancestors’ history of slavery. It will also explore how the novel depicts the social, economic, and psychological impacts of slavery on the characters and their communities especially the loss of agency which can lead to feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness. The paper also shows Social Marginalization as a stigma associated with slavery. Individuals are treated differently based on their ancestry. Yusuf’s experiences illustrate how racial and social hierarchies can be perpetuated through cultural legacies.

Canon y Premio Nobel: un estado de la cuestión

This paper poses the following question: as a world institutional award, what is the influence of the Nobel Prize in Literature over the construction of the global canon? To answer it, we start from previous resea rch and analyze the studies on canon and Nobel Prize published in scientific journals indexed in the two main international databases: Web of Science, by Clarivate Analytics, and Scopus, by Elsevier, since both cover the current scientific production. After reading the articles which are relevant for the research objective, the centres of interest of this critical literature can be grouped into three large blocks: the concept of World Literature and its relationship with the Nobel Prize; the canonical characteristics of the works by Nobel Prize winners, and the influence of Nobel Prize in the process of creating the world canon. The conclusions question the monolithic and monumental character of the literary canon and advocate for a more transparent approach to its construction that considers economic and ideological aspects (beyond the formal or artistic value of the texts) as crucial for understanding its nature and evolution. For example, E. Lameborshi’s concept of ideological fluency and R. Walkowitz’s born translated novels are useful for understanding to what extent the common concepts of World Literature and canon have recently been redefined.

쉼보르스카의 미공개 초기작에 나타난 주요 모티브 연구

Wisława Szymborska, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a poet who perceives the true essence of objects through a penetrating insight, based on the mind’s eye. She established a unique style as a poet, characterized by concise yet clear language that encapsulated contemplation and introspection. Published in 2014 The Black Songs (Czarna Piosenka) is a collection of unpublished poems from the poet's youth. After her death, a bundle of manuscripts was found in a drawer, containing her earliest works from her youth. The restoration of this collection fills the seven-year gap between her debut in 1945 and the publication of her first book of poetry in 1952. It has been also revealed why Szymborska’s poems about World War II, despite her belonging to the “the War Generation,” were scarcely published until now. This paper examines the main motifs, images and themes of Szymborska’s unpublished early works, focusing on the works from The Black Songs and analyzes their connections to her later poems.

Istoriya perevoda na russkij yazyk proizvedenij Mo Yanya

This article examines the history of the development of the translation into Russian of the works of Mo Yan - one of the most famous modern writers of China. In 2007, his works began to be translated in Russia, although a wide range of readers have known about Mo Yan in 2012, when he won the Nobel Prize in literature. Since that moment, an average of one work by the Chinese writer has been translated and published in Russia almost every year.

Reymont as a Life. Voices and Glosses

The article offers an overview of the content of the present issue of „Tekstualia” and problematizesthe issue of Reymont’s status and meaning of his role as a writer in Polish and world literature sincehis Nobel Prize in Literature in 1924. The article also tries to offer an overview of the scientifi cpapers included in „Tekstualia” issue, but also (as an introduction) offers a kind of reconnaissancewhich focuses on different points of view and glosses about Reymont’s papers and works (especiallynovels, short stories, novellas, diaries, memoirs and adaptations of his great novel – The Peasants).

Thematic Analysis of Non-Violence in the Select Excerpts of Svetlana Alexievich and Thiruvalluvar

The universal prominence attained by English language has paved way for translation and thereby, offers access to world literature and comparative studies. India has witnessed a growth in the field of comparative studies since it received an impetus from Rabindranath Tagore's lecture delivered on the subject when he was invited by National Council of Education in 1907. Tamil Literature has endorsed stalwarts like Thiruvalluvar whose couplets focus on valuable topics that have not only stood the test of time but also has its influence across cultural, political, ethical and topographical diversity. His magnum opus titled Thirukkural is a masterpiece of human thought, equivalent to the Bible, Milton’s Paradise Lost and works of Plato. Svetlana Alexievich is a Belarusian writer who writes in Russian language. He works have been translated into 35 languages and more that 20 documentary films have been produced based on her testimonies collected from victims, survivors, and firsthand witnesses of war and disaster. Alexievich received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015, for her polyphonic writing skill which fetched her veneration in the 21st century. This research article aims to compare and contrast how two literary stalwarts belonging to two different centuries and completely dissimilar ethnicities have unified thoughts on human existence. Thiruvalluvar’s views about ‘war’ and ‘killing’ and Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s perception of the futility of war are analyzed in a novel attempt to corroborate that peace and harmony are themes validated since the origin of species and will continue to be valued as long as human civilization exists.

Unnatural World—the Study of Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five from the Perspective of Unnatural Narrative

As one of the most outstanding contemporary novelists, Doris Lessing, a famous British female writer, won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. Doris Lessing’s new work Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five has been studied at home and abroad mainly in the aspects of feminism and Sufism in the work. Based on the unnatural narrative theory of post-classical narratologists Jan Albert and Brian Richardson, this paper analyzes the unnatural narrative factors in the stories from three aspects: unnatural space, unnatural role and unnatural behavior. The unnatural of the novel is to prove the unnatural nature of the world in the novel from three aspects: impossible story space, story role and characters’ behavior, and analyze the author's intention behind these unnatural factors -- the world is an interconnected whole, and the progress of human civilization requires people of all countries to be open-minded, inclusive, communicate with each other and learn from each other, in order to jointly promote the overall progress and prosperity of world civilization.

The Nobel Prize in Literature: An Analysis of Success Stories and Development of Possible Recommendations

ABSTRACT The relevance of the research is determined by the interest of a wide readership in the criteria for selecting nominees and the choice of laureates of the Nobel Prize in Literature in the world, as well as the main factors that help to win. The purpose of this article is to study the creativity of writers and poets who received the award over the past three years from the viewpoint of national identity, language and its linguistic status, translation aspect, reception of creativity and influence on the world community, and readiness to solve global issues of humanity through their manifestation in texts. The methodological basis of the article is a theoretical and comparative approach to the linguistic analysis of the literary heritage of one author or another. This article points out the main issues that exist in the international community in determining the nominees and laureates of the Nobel Prize; it characterizes how national identity, the use of national language resources, and the presence or absence of translations of literary works influence the choice of the winner; it also considers how political and global processes can affect the selection of candidates, as well as how the main recommendations were formulated.

Hesitating, Lost, Reborn: Analysis of Female Images on “When We Were Orphans”

“When We Were Orphans” is a novel written by Ishiguro Kazuo, winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. In the novel, Banksy’s mother Diana, his girlfriend Sarah, and his adopted daughter Jennifer are representatives of different female types. Based on feminist literary criticism, this article interprets figures of the three females with distinct personalities and reveals the inevitability of their fates.

The ‘Most Ideal’ Peter Handke?

Abstract The Nobel Prize in Literature to the Austrian writer Peter Handke in 2019 gave new attention to one of the basic, and historically highly disputed (cf. Espmark 2001, 2021), questions in relation to the practice of the world’s most important literary prize – on what grounds, aesthetic or otherwise, does the Swedish Academy award the prize? In the aftermath of the 2019 prize to Handke, there was an intense public debate about the aesthetic criteria in relation to ethical criteria, in particular in Swedish national newspapers. Several members of the Academy as well as members of the Nobel Prize committee, wrote articles and gave statements about their individual reasoning for awarding the prize to Handke. Using this debate about the prize awarded to Handke as a case study, I aim to discuss the methodological and theoretical implications connected to the question of which criteria guide the selection of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Japan’s Quest for the Nobel Prize in Literature and Its Aftereffects

Abstract This paper examines Japan’s quest for the Nobel Prize in Literature as a narrative “before” winning, and its aftereffect as a narrative “after” winning. It first draws from archival material to discuss the roles of diplomacy, the context of Cold War politics and translation techniques in Kawabata Yasunari’s win. Next, it explores how Oe Kenzaburo responded to the negative acceptance of his win in Japan, referring to the court decision on record and Oe’s manuscripts. Overall, this paper shows that the stereotypically held belief that laureates are commended solely for their literary superiority, and are therefore revered in their home countries, does not fully describe the complicated reality.

The Entangled Histories of the Nobel Prize in Literature and PEN

Abstract Drawing on archival records, this paper explores the interrelation and modes of interaction between two major institutions of world literature: the Nobel Prize and PEN, with special attention paid to Swedish PEN and its activities from 1950 into the 1970s. While the Nobel Prize lent prestige to the newly founded PEN Club in the 1920s, insofar as Nobel laureates were recruited as honorary members, PEN in turn – and Swedish PEN in particular – became a highly successful nominator of candidates for the Nobel Prize from 1950 onwards. A striking correspondence between the activities of Swedish PEN and the Swedish Academy’s decisions suggests that the academy oriented itself towards PEN and the circuits of recognition it (re)presented in awarding the Nobel Prize. It also points to the significance of networks and value brokers on a local level and what might be called the ‘glocal’ management of the Nobel Prize.

What Is a ‘World Academy’?

Abstract This article discusses one of the first books nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Franz Kemény’s Entwurf einer internationalen Gesammt-Academie: Welt-Academie (1901), and how it relates to questions about institutions and infrastructures of world literature. It demonstrates the thematic relationship between Kemény’s draft and early discussions on how to organize the selection process of the Nobel Prize and shows that the connection between text and prize consists of more layers than merely the formal nomination. Kemény’s book, as this article shows, addresses the prize founder as well as the executing institution in its paratextual framing, rates the Nobel Institute’s possible impact and gives further insight into how global infrastructures of literature were imagined at the time of the Nobel Prize’s establishment.

Research on Chinese Translation of the Beach Man s Words from the Perspective of Eco-translatology Theory

Patrick Modiano, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a famous contemporary French writer, whose works often take the beach man as the protagonist, and express the writer s thinking on the fate and existence of human beings, as well as the confusion about the identity of modern people. In the Caf of Lost Youth is the twenty-fi fth work written by Nobel Prize winner Modiano, and the protagonist Louki is one of the author s many beach men . From the perspective of the three-dimensional transf ormation of eco-translatology theory, this paper comprehensively interprets the translation strategy of Jinlongge s Chinese translation through Louki s words, trying to show the characteristics of the ecological existence of the translation, points out that the translator s role is very important, and the application of the three-dimension transformation benefi ts the improvement of the quality of translation, so as to achieve good communication effects.

The Penicillin saga: a different tale

The Sumerians, but also the ancient Egyptians, as well as Greeks and Indians, used extracts of some plants and fungi for the treatment of infections. Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz (1846 - 1916), the author of Quo Vadis, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905, in his novel “With iron and with fire” reports that during the 17th-century in Poland, wet bread was mixed with cobwebs (which often contained fungal spores) to heal wounds. In the same period, in England, in the book entitled Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, the apothecary and botanist John Parkinson (1567 - 1650) recommended the use of molds as a medical treatment for many infectious diseases that affect humans. These treatments often work since many organisms, including many species of mold, naturally produce antibiotic substances. However, ancient practitioners could not accurately identify or isolate the active components of these organisms. Similar experiences and evidence have been found in many other countries, including Italy. For example, Bartolomeo Bizio (1791 - 1862), found in 1821, that the red color assumed by “polenta” (a corn meal dish) was due to a bacterium that he named Serratia marcescens and that its development was inhibited by the presence of mold. After 1850, thanks to the progress of chemistry, the chemotherapy concept for the treatment of infectious diseases began to assert itself. Consequently, some effective chemical compounds were synthesized (for example sodium arsenylate by Antoine Béchamp in 1859 and used, at that time, against sleeping sickness and other trypanosomiasis. It was later abandoned due to its remarkable toxicity). However, thanks to Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895), in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century, the interest in substances of natural origin returned. Pasteur in fact highlighted both the inhibiting action of molds on the development of some bacteria and the antagonism between different bacteria. These observations were taken up by Arnaldo Cantani (1837 - 1893), who tried, with poor results, to apply Pasteur’s concept, developing bacteriotherapy (fight against pathogenic bacteria with other harmless bacteria) to treat tuberculosis.

An Analysis of Feminist Narrative in Doris Lessing's The Story of a Non-Marrying Man

British novelist Doris Lessing was born in 1919 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007. She is also known as the "greatest female writer since Virginia Woolf". Her The Story of a Non-Marrying Man was published in 1972, and this short story was first published in The London Magazine. The story takes place in the second half of the last century and tells the first-person narrative of the life of a white man who adventures in South Africa and his love-hate entanglement with several local women. This short story has very different narrative characteristics from previous feminist literary works. The author criticizes the oppression of females by males and the self-restraint of women in traditional patriarchal marriages through a circular narrative method and a unique narrative voice. By analyzing Lessing's narrative methods in this short story, this paper interprets the feminist ideas she intends to express through her work. Thus, it is concluded that Lessing believed that a significant portion of women's suffering came not only from male oppression, but also from their own constraints and paralysis of themselves.

Intertestualità dantesca in Electric Light (2001) di Seamus Heaney

ABSTRACT Critics have often acknowledged Dante’s influence on the poetry of Seamus Heaney, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. During the conflict in Northern Ireland, Dante’s political and linguistic thinking showed Heaney a way of cultural reconciliation between the British and Gaelic traditions. From the early 1970s to the late 1990s, political (dis)harmony, linguistic unity, faith and poetics are some of his major themes, often explored through the reworking of passages from the Commedia. After the end of the Troubles in 1998, Dante’s poetry may have taken on a new significance for the Irish author. This article therefore aims to explore Dantean intertextuality in Heaney’s first peacetime collection, Electric Light (2001). Through the revival of settings, themes and motifs (particularly in the remake of ‘Guido, i’ vorrei’), Dante’s presence seems to act as an analytical lens that shapes the poetic self, filters his literary experience, and redefines descriptive imagery.

Exodus and Return: A study of spaces in The Summer Before the Dark

British writer Doris Lessing (1919-2013) is praised as an epicist of the female experience. In 2007, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Summer Before the Dark, published in 1973, is one of Lessing’s best-selling books. It has been mostly studied from the perspectives of feminism, psychoanalysis, and narratology. This paper adopts an innovative perspective of space theory to analyze the work. Kate, the heroine of the novel, has long suffered from the patriarchal gaze. Kate resorts to a variety of spatial means to escape her original suffering. She tries to get rid of spiritual slavery through her exodus. In the journey, she discovers that only by establishing a firm self can she truly emerge from her spiritual dilemma. Lessing’s pioneering exposition of women’s experience continues in this novel. She points out that the private feelings of women are difficult to find expression in the male-dominated world. The story finally leads to the woman’s psychological liberation and reunion with her family.

The nomadic principle in the novel “Flights” by Olga Tokarczuk

The article deals with the novel “Flights” by Olga Tokarczuk, Polish writer, awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, in the context of nomadological theory of postmodernism. The article’s theoretical basis draws from poststructuralist studies by J. Deleuze and F. Guattari. Their work proposes a new approach to the concept of modern human existence, introducing the concepts of “nomad” and “rhizome”. The analysis of Tokarchuk’s novel “Flights” reveals its nomadological basis, which is determined by the compositional principles of decentralisation, dynamism, and variation of the artistic form and content of the text. The conceptual foundations of both the novel “Flights” and Tokarczuk’s entire literary work are set out in her book “Czuły narrator”, in which she argues for the introduction of a new type of narrator into prose – the fourth-person narrator, who is able to incorporate the point of view of each character, to see more and further, and to exist outside of time. The “Flights” contains allusions to Russian culture, specifically to the worldview of the “runners” (beguny) (or “wanderers”), Old Believers who believed that movement was the only way to salvation. The existential status of the novel’s characters is determined by the fluid nature of personality and explained by the narrator’s statement of the instability of human identity. The artistic specificity of not only the analysed novel but also of Tokarchuk’s entire oeuvre is determined by themes such as migration, escape from traditions and stereotypes, the psychological and social aspects of the nomadic way of life.