 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinclair Lewis | ||||
 "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters." | ||||
| Date |
| |||
| Location | Stockholm, Sweden | |||
| Presented by | Swedish Academy | |||
| First award | 1901 | |||
| Website | Official website | |||
| ||||
The1930Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to American novelistSinclair Lewis (1885–1951) "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."[1][2] He is the first American Nobel laureate in literature.
Sinclair Lewis was a prolific author having written 24 novels, more than 70 short stories, several plays and poetry collections. He is well known for the satirical novelsMain Street (1920),Babbitt (1922),Dodsworth (1929), andIt Can't Happen Here (1935) – all of which critical acknowledgments of Americancapitalism andmaterialism in the interwar period. His 1920 novel became a commercial success but did not win aPulitzer Prize, which disappointed Lewis much that he declined the Pulitzer Prize when it was awarded to his novelArrowsmith in 1925.[3][4]
.jpg)
Lewis had not been nominated before for the prize, making him one of the laureates who won on a rare occasion when they have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year they were first nominated.[5] He received only one nomination from Swedish Academy memberHenrik Schück (1855–1947).[6]
In total, the Swedish Academy'sNobel Committee received 47 nominations for 30 writers. Thirteen of the authors were first-time nominated among themTheodore Dreiser,Edgar Lee Masters,Frans Eemil Sillanpää (awarded in1939),Arvid Järnefelt,Paul Valéry,Lion Feuchtwanger,Rudolf Kassner, andClotilde Crespo de Arvelo. The highest number of nomination was for the French poet and essayistPaul Valéry with six nominations. There were three female nominees:Concha Espina de la Serna,Clotilde Crespo de Arvelo andEdith Wharton.[7]
The authorsArthur St John Adcock,Vladimir Arsenyev,Florence Bell,Edward Bok,Alice Williams Brotherton,Mary Whiton Calkins,Herbert Croly,Georges de Porto-Riche,Arthur Conan Doyle,Florbela Espanca,Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman,Thomas Nicoll Hepburn,Pavlos Karolidis,D. H. Lawrence,William John Locke,Vladimir Mayakovsky,Olena Pchilka,Maria Polydouri,Marion Manville Pope,George Haven Putnam,Karam Singh,Arthur Way,Lucien Wolf,Joseph Wright, andManuel Zeno Gandía died in 1930 without having been nominated for the prize.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rudolf Hans Bartsch (1873–1952) |  Austria | novel, short story, essays, drama |
|
| 2 | Rufino Blanco Fombona (1874–1844) |  Venezuela | essays, literary criticism | José Francos Rodríguez (1862–1931) |
| 3 | Georg Bonne (1859–1945) |  Germany | essays | Prince Maximilian of Saxony (1870–1951)[a] |
| 4 | Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) |  Soviet Union | short story, novel, poetry | Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937) |
| 5 | Clotilde Crespo de Arvelo (1887–1959) |  Venezuela | novel, poetry, essays | Manuel María Villalobos (1858–1929) |
| 6 | Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945) |  United States | novel, drama, poetry, essays | Anders Österling (1884–1981) |
| 7 | Hans Driesch (1867–1941) | Germany | philosophy |
|
| 8 | Olav Duun (1876–1939) |  Norway | novel, short story | Halvdan Koht (1873–1965) |
| 9 | Paul Ernst (1866–1933) | Germany | novel, short story, drama, essays |
|
| 10 | Concha Espina de la Serna (1869–1955) |  Spain | novel, short story |
|
| 11 | Édouard Estaunié (1862–1942) |  France | novel, literary criticism | Erik Staaff (1867–1936) |
| 12 | Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958) | Germany | novel, drama | Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt (1871–1942) |
| 13 | Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947) |  Finland Sweden | poetry, drama, essays | Johannes Sundwall (1877–1966) |
| 14 | Yrjö Hirn (1870–1952) | Finland | essays, literary criticism | Olaf Homén (1879–1949) |
| 15 | Arvid Järnefelt (1861–1932) | Finland | law, essays, drama | Oiva Tuulio (1878–1941) |
| 16 | Alois Jirásek (1851–1930) |  Czechoslovakia | novel, drama |
|
| 17 | Rudolf Kassner (1873–1959) | Austria | philosophy, essays, translation |
|
| 18 | Karl Kraus (1874–1936) | Austria | essays, drama, poetry | Charles Andler (1866–1933) |
| 19 | Manfred Kyber (1880–1933) | Germany | drama, short story, poetry, essays, literary criticism |
|
| 20 | Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) | United States | novel, short story, drama, poetry | Henrik Schück (1855–1947) |
| 21 | Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950) | United States | poetry, biography, drama, novel, essays | Martin Lamm (1880–1950) |
| 22 | Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865–1941) | Soviet Union | novel, essays, poetry, drama | Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937)[b] |
| 23 | Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) |  Greece | poetry, essays |
|
| 24 | Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935) | United States | poetry, drama | Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953) |
| 25 | Johann Rump (1871–1949) (pseud. Nathanael Jünger) | Germany | theology, essays | Fredrik Wulff (1845–1930) |
| 26 | Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) | Finland | novel, short story, poetry |
|
| 27 | Paul Valéry (1871–1945) | France | poetry, philosophy, essays, drama |
|
| 28 | Ernst von der Recke (1848–1933) |  Denmark | poetry, drama |
|
| 29 | Edith Wharton (1862–1937) | United States | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Tor Hedberg (1862–1931) |
| 30 | Anton Wildgans (1881–1932) | Austria | poetry, drama | Oswald Redlich (1858–1944)[c] |
The choice of Sinclair Lewis received mixed reactions. The British and European press were, in general, favourable. A Swedish newspaper stated that the prize decision was greeted with "general satisfaction", as theSwedish Academy for once had awarded a writer that was well known to the public. But in the United States reactions among critics and commentators were largely negative, dismissing Lewis' writing artistically and politically. Lewis rivalry with the American Nobel prize contenderTheodore Dreiser was much noticed.[8][9]
At the award ceremonyErik Axel Karlfeldt, permanent secretary of theSwedish Academy, gave a speech in praise of Sinclair Lewis:
The new great American literature has started with national self-criticism. It is a sign of health. Sinclair Lewis has the blessed gift of wielding his landclearing implement not only with a firm hand but with a smile on his lips and youth in his heart. He has the manners of a new settler, who takes new land into cultivation. He is a pioneer.[10]
At the banquet,Tor Hedberg of the Swedish Academy addressed Sinclair Lewis and said:
In your person we greet that [American] new building on its own American ground. It has been said that the Nobel Prize in Literature has found its way across the Atlantic far too late. If so, it has not been due to any indifference on the part of the Swedish Academy, nor to any lack of knowledge, but rather to an «embarras de richesse». (...) It is with living humour that you aim the blows of your scourge, and where there is humour, there is a heart too. It is not only the keen and lively intellect, the masterly design of human shapes and characters but also the warm, open, gaily-beating heart that we have appreciated in you.[10]
