 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boris Pasternak | ||||
 "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition." | ||||
| Date |
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| Location | Stockholm | |||
| Country | Sweden | |||
| Presented by | Swedish Academy | |||
| First award | 1901 | |||
| Website | Official website | |||
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The1958Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Soviet-Russian authorBoris Pasternak (1890–1960) "for his important achievement both in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition."[1] He is the secondRussian-language writer to be awarded with such honor.[2]
Pasternak first accepted the prize honour, but was then pressured by the Soviet Union authorities to decline the prize. In 1988, Pasternak's son accepted the prize on his behalf.[3]
Boris Pasternak's modernist-leaning poetry first came to light in the 1910s and 1920s, when he published collections of poems such asSestra moya—zhizn ("My Sister, Life", 1922) andVtoroe rozhdenie ("A Second Birth", 1932). He began to emphasize social issues more and use clearer, simpler language in the 1930s. The existential is another theme in Pasternak's writings, covering nature, life, humanity, and love. The renowned 1957 novelDoctor Zhivago, which takes place between thesocialist revolution of 1905 andWorld War II, demonstrates this.[4]
Pasternak earned 9 nominations in total. He was first introduced for the Nobel Prize in1946 by English literary criticMaurice Bowra. In 1958, after receiving three recommendations fromRenato Poggioli,Harry Levin and Ernest Simmons, he was eventually awarded thereafter.[5]
In total, theNobel Committee for Literature received 70 nominations for 42 authors such asRiccardo Bacchelli,Robert Frost,Graham Greene,André Malraux,Ramón Menéndez Pidal,Alberto Moravia,Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in1964),Ignazio Silone,John Steinbeck (awarded in1962),Giuseppe Ungaretti andThornton Wilder. Seventeen of the nominees were newly nominated namelyIvo Andrić (awarded in1961), Fernand Baldensperger,Elizabeth Bowen,Maurice Bowra,James Gould Cozzens,John Hersey,Miroslav Krleža,Junzaburō Nishiwaki,John Cowper Powys,Salvatore Quasimodo (awarded in 1959),Rudolf Alexander Schröder,Georges Simenon,Jun'ichirō Tanizaki,Lionel Trilling,Elio Vittorini,Robert Penn Warren andTennessee Williams. There were only five women authors nominated:Karen Blixen,Edith Sitwell, Elizabeth Bowen,Gertrud von le Fort andMarie Under.[6]
The authorsEleanor Hallowell Abbott,Zoe Akins,Mary Ritter Beard,Til Brugman,James Branch Cabell,Rachel Crothers,Anurupa Debi,Lionel Giles,Feodor Gladkov,Michael Joseph,Henry Kuttner,Cyril M. Kornbluth,Irene Lisboa,Dorothy Macardle,Rose Macaulay,George Edward Moore,George Jean Nathan,Seumas O'Sullivan,Elliot Paul,Máiréad "Peig" Sayers,Robert W. Service,John Collings Squire,Marie Stopes,Ralph Waldo Trine,Ethel Turner,Alfred Weber, andGeoffrey Willans died in 1958 without having been nominated for the award. The French literary scholar Fernand Baldensperger died before the only chance to be rewarded.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) |  Yugoslavia | novel, short story, poetry | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 2 | Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) |  Italy | novel, drama, essays | Hans Nilsson-Ehle (1910–1983) |
| 3 | Fernand Baldensperger (1871–1958) |  France | essays, literary criticism, poetry | Alan Carey Taylor (1905–1975) |
| 4 | Karen Blixen (1885–1962) |  Denmark | novel, short story, memoir | Elias Wessén (1889–1981) |
| 5 | Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) |  Ireland United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays | Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) |
| 6 | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) | United Kingdom | history, essays, literary criticism, poetry | Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992) |
| 7 | Martin Buber (1878–1965) |  Austria Israel | philosophy |  Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) |
| 8 | James Gould Cozzens (1903–1978) |  United States | novel | Gordon S. Haight (1901–1985) |
| 9 | Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970) |  Switzerland | history, essays, biography, memoir | Pierre-Henri Simon (1903–1972) |
| 10 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) | United States | poetry, drama |
|
| 11 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 12 | John Hersey (1914–1993) | United States | novel, short story, essays | Helen Rose Hull (1888–1971) |
| 13 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 14 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism |
|
| 15 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) |  Spain | philology, history |
|
| 16 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama |
|
| 17 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) |  Japan | poetry, literary criticism | Naoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979) |
| 18 | Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) |  Soviet Union | poetry, novel, translation |
|
| 19 | Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) |  France | poetry |
|
| 20 | John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) | United Kingdom | philosophy, novel, literary criticism, poetry, essays, short story | Enid Starkie (1897–1970) |
| 21 | Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968) | Italy | poetry, translation |
|
| 22 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) |  India | philosophy, essays, law | Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) |
| 23 | Alfonso Reyes Ochoa (1889–1959) |  Mexico | philosophy, essays, novel, poetry | Angel del Río (1901–1962) |
| 24 | Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) | United States | poetry, essays, biography | Henning Larsen (1889–1971) |
| 25 | Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) | France | philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 26 | Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878–1962) |  West Germany | poetry, songwriting, translation |
|
| 27 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) | Soviet Union | novel |
|
| 28 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy | novel, short story, essays, drama |
|
| 29 | Georges Simenon (1903–1989) |  Belgium | novel, short story, memoir |
|
| 30 | Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) | United Kingdom | poetry, essays, memoir | Walter MacKellar (1927–2016) |
| 31 | John Steinbeck (1902–1968) | United States | novel, short story, screenplay | Lennox Grey (?) |
| 32 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) |
| 33 | Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story | Charles Warren Everett (1895–1983) |
| 34 | Marie Under (1883–1980) |  Estonia | poetry | William Kleesmann Matthews (1901–1958) |
| 35 | Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) | Italy | poetry, essays, literary criticism | Howard R. Marraro (1897–1972) |
| 36 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) |  Norway | poetry, novel | Harald Beyer (1891–1960) |
| 37 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) |  Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | Benjamin Hunningher (1903–1991) |
| 38 | Elio Vittorini (1908–1966) | Italy | novel, short story | Stuart Pratt Atkins (1914–2000) |
| 39 | Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) | West Germany | novel, short story, essays, poetry |
|
| 40 | Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) | United States | novel, poetry, essays, literary criticism | René Wellek (1903–1995) |
| 41 | Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) | United States | drama, novel, short story |
|
| 42 | Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) | United States | drama, novel, screenplay, short story, poetry | Napier Wilt (1896–1975) |
According to theNew York Times, members of theSwedish Academy voted unanimously for Pasternak as the 1958 laureate and that the other main contenders that year were Danish authorKaren Blixen and Italian novelistAlberto Moravia.[2]
The choice of Pasternak was heavily critized by the communist Soviet Union authorities who pressured Pasternak to declined the prize. The prize decision and the Soviet reactions provoked a massive worldwidegeopolitical debate,[7]
The Swedish primer ministerTage Erlander condemned the Soviet reactions, but also criticized theSwedish Academy for their "wholly (or at least predominantly) political" reasons to award Pasternak.[7]
