 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio | ||||
.jpg) "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization." | ||||
| Date |
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| Location | Stockholm, Sweden | |||
| Presented by | Swedish Academy | |||
| First award | 1901 | |||
| Website | Official website | |||
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The2008Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French novelistJean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (born 1940), better known with his pen name J. M. G. Le Clézio, as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization."[1] He became the 14th French-language author to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature afterClaude Simon in 1985 and was followed later byPatrick Modiano in 2014.[2]
J. M. G. Le Clézio's literary career highlights different cultures in different times and challenges Western civilization's dominance. He questions modern society's materialistic superficiality, which chokes what is genuine in people's relationships with others, with nature, and with the past. Le Clézio, who writes in prose, has published over 40 works since his 1963 début withLe Procès-verbal ("The Interrogation", 1963). His major breakthrough came withDesert in 1980. With its flowing prose, the books stands in contrast to his earlier works' more experimental style. His other famous literary prose includeLe Déluge ("The Flood", 1996),Le Chercheur d'or ("The Prospector", 1985),Onitsha (1991), andÉtoile errante ("Wandering Star", 1992).[3][2]
Le Clézio was one of the favourites to win the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature along with Syrian poetAdunis, Swedish poetTomas Tranströmer (awarded in2011), American novelistPhilip Roth, Dutch writerCees Nooteboom, Italian scholarClaudio Magris and Chinese poetBei Dao.[4] According to the British betting agencyLadbrokes, other perennial favorite authors who were tipped to win the prize included Israeli authorAmos Oz, American prolific writerJoyce Carol Oates, Japanese writerHaruki Murakami, Nigerian novelistChinua Achebe, Australian poetLes Murray, Canadian authorMichael Ondaatje, and American sci-fi writerUrsula K. Le Guin.[5]
The choice of Le Clézio was well received by Swedish commentators. Kaj Schueler, literature editor ofSvenska Dagbladet said: "Not quite unexpected, and very pleasing it is the first French Nobel prize since 1985 whenClaude Simon got it". Björn Linell, chair of SwedishPEN, said: "It is very pleasing because this is an authorship for all tastes".[4] Le Clézio himself said: "I am very happy and rather surprised, I did not expect this at all. I'm not sure I deserve it."[6]
Le Clézio delivered hisNobel lecture at theSwedish Academy on 7 December 2008. He used his lecture to attack the subject of information poverty.[7] The title of his lecture wasDans la forêt des paradoxes ("In the forest of paradoxes"), a title he attributed toStig Dagerman.[8][9]
At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 2008,Horace Engdahl of theSwedish Academy said:
This year’s Laureate in Literature belongs to the tradition of the critique of civilisation (...) Few authors have so convincingly described how reluctantly languages and cultures die. (...)
Le Clézio’s imagination sustains itself in the unexplored regions where fear and ecstasy arise, inseparable from one another. It may seem surprising to call him a hopeful author, given the significant strain of colonial devastation, bourgeois oppressiveness, and social injustice in his themes. Still, he deserves such a designation. The earth’s lustre, the sun, the sea, and the vast expanses, the irrepressible feeling of freedom that comes with a new departure – these are the forces that outweigh the sorrow about the path that our civilisation has taken.[10]
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