 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature | |
|---|---|
| Saint-John Perse | |
 "for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time." | |
| Date |
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| Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Presented by | Swedish Academy |
| First award | 1901 |
| Website | Official website |
The1960Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French poetSaint-John Perse (1887–1975) "for the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time"[1][2]
Sain-John Perse,pseudonym for Alexis Leger, was born inPointe-à-Pitre,Guadeloupe, where his family owned two plantations: a coffee and a sugar plantation. His family went back to France in 1899 and settled inPau. In 1911, he published his first poetry collectionÉloges and Other Poems which was almost completely ignored at the time, and one of the few writers who paid it any attention wasMarcel Proust, who praised him as a creative young poet, but afterwards, in 1912, he started earning steady success with the help ofValery Larbaud andAndré Gide. His poetry, admired especially by literary circles, has been compared to that ofArthur Rimbaud. In 1914, he joined the French diplomatic service and spent many years abroad in various countries. While working as a consul in China, he wroteAnabase ("Anabasis", 1924), an epic poem that puzzled many critics. In 1940, he began a long exile in the U.S. inWashington, D.C. wherein much of his poetry has a profoundly personal tone, as inExil (1942; "Exile"),Vents (1946; "Winds") andAmers (1957; "Seamarks").[3]
Saint-John Perse was nominated for the prize 15 times, including one nomination by 1937 Nobel laureateRoger Martin du Gard in1956 and three nominations by the 1948 Nobel Prize laureateT. S. Eliot in1955,1958 and 1960.[4]
In total, the Nobel committee received 70 nominations including nominations for 58 authors, includingIvo Andrić (awarded in1961),John Steinbeck (awarded in1962),Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in1964),Robert Frost,André Malraux,Romulo Gallegos,Aldous Huxley,Louis Aragon,Johan Falkberget,Karl Jaspers,Martin Heidegger,Alberto Moravia,Ignazio Silone,Ezra Pound,Julien Gracq,E. M. Forster,Ramón Menéndez Pidal,Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,Junichiro Tanizaki,Miguel Torga andTarjei Vesaas.[5] Fourteen of the nominees were newly nominated namelyHeinrich Böll (awarded in1972),Wesley LaViolette,Aquilino Ribeiro,Marie Noël,Jean Price-Mars,James Thurber,Franz Theodor Csokor,Stratis Myrivilis,Elias Venezis,Aksel Sandemose,John Boyton Priestley andRené Char. There were only four women nominated namelyMaria Dąbrowska,Marie Noël,Juana de Ibarbourou andKaren Blixen.[5]
The authorsSibilla Aleramo,Vicki Baum,Ya'akov Cahan,Ralph Chubb,Hjalmar Dahl,Harold Lenoir Davis,Leonora Eyles,Paul Fort,Ethel Voynich,Ferdynand Goetel,Sigurd Hoel,Zora Neale Hurston,Raïssa Maritain,John P. Marquand,Elsie J. Oxenham,Pierre Reverdy,Nevil Shute,Tetsuro Watsuji andRichard Wright died in 1960 without having been nominated for the prize.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) |  Yugoslavia | novel, short story, poetry |
|
| 2 | Louis Aragon (1897–1982) |  France | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 3 | Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964) |  West Germany | novel, short story, poetry | Wolfgang Stammler (1886–1965) |
| 4 | Karen Blixen (1885–1962) |  Denmark | novel, short story, memoir | Günther Jungbluth (1912–1976) |
| 5 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) | West Germany | novel, short story | Gustav Korlén (1915–2014) |
| 6 | René Char (1907–1988) | France | poetry | Georges Blin (1917–2005) |
| 7 | Franz Theodor Csokor (1885–1969) |  Austria | drama, essays, poetry, autobiography | The Austrian PEN-Club |
| 8 | Maria Dąbrowska (1889–1965) |  Poland | novel, short story, essays, drama, literary criticism | The Polish PEN-Club |
| 9 | Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) | France | essays, novel, drama | Henri Morier (1910–2004) |
| 10 | Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970) |  Switzerland | history, essays, biography, memoir | Swiss Writers Association |
| 11 | Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) |  Norway | novel, short story, essays |
|
| 12 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) |  United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 13 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) |  United States | poetry, drama |
|
| 14 | Christopher Fry (1907–2005) | United Kingdom | poetry, drama, screenplay | Arthur Henkel (1915–2005) |
| 15 | Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969) |  Venezuela | novel, short story |
|
| 16 | Armand Godoy (1880–1964) |  CubaFrance | poetry, translation | Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876–1973) |
| 17 | Julien Gracq (1910–2007) | France | novel, poetry, drama, literary criticism | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 18 | Robert Graves (1895–1985) | United Kingdom | history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays |
|
| 19 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 20 | Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) |  Iceland | novel, short story, poetry | Stellan Arvidson (1902–1997) |
| 21 | Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) | West Germany | philosophy, essays | Paul Böckmann (1899–1987) |
| 22 | Taha Hussein (1889–1973) |  Egypt | novel, short story, poetry, translation | Olle Hedberg (1899–1974) |
| 23 | Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays, poetry, screenplay, drama, philosophy | R. Fricker (–)[who?] |
| 24 | Juana de Ibarbourou (1892–1979) |  Uruguay | poetry, essays | Academia Cubana de la Lengua |
| 25 | Karl Jaspers (1883–1969) | West Germany Switzerland | philosophy |
|
| 26 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 27 | Wesley LaViolette (1894–1978) | United States | poetry, essays | Vinayaka Krishna Gokak (1909–1992) |
| 28 | Wilhelm Lehmann (1882–1968) | VenezuelaWest Germany | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Friedrich Sengle (1909–1994) |
| 29 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Claude Digeon (1920–2008) |
| 30 | Max Mell (1882–1971) | Austria | drama, novel, screenplay |
|
| 31 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) |  Spain | philology, history |
|
| 32 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) |  Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 33 | Stratis Myrivilis (1890–1969) |  Greece | novel, short story | The Greek Authors' Union |
| 34 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) |  Japan | poetry, literary criticism | Naoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979) |
| 35 | Marie Noël (1883–1967) | France | poetry, autobiography | Maurice Bémol (1900–1961) |
| 36 | Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) | France | poetry |
|
| 37 | Ezra Pound (1885–1972) | United States | poetry, essays | Ingvar Andersson (1899–1974) |
| 38 | Jean Price-Mars (1876–1969) |  Haiti | essays, philosophy |
|
| 39 | John Boynton Priestley (1894–1984) | United Kingdom | novel, drama, screenplay, literary criticism, essays | G. Wilson Knight (1897–1985) |
| 40 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) |  India | philosophy, essays, law | Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) |
| 41 | Aquilino Ribeiro (1885–1963) |  Portugal | novel, short story, biography, literary criticism, memoir, translation | Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores |
| 42 | Mario Roques (1875–1961) |  PeruFrance | history, philology, essays | Ida-Marie Frandon (1907–1997) |
| 43 | Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965) | DenmarkNorway | novel, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 44 | Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) | France | philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 45 | Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878–1962) | West Germany | poetry, songwriting, translation | Erich Kästner (1899–1974) |
| 46 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy | novel, short story, essays, drama | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 47 | John Steinbeck (1902–1968) | United States | novel, short story, screenplay | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 48 | Jules Supervielle (1884–1960) | FranceUruguay | poetry, novel, short story | Jean Fabre (1904–1974) |
| 49 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | Sigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970) |
| 50 | Herman Teirlinck (1879–1967) |  Belgium | novel, poetry, essays, drama | Theodor Frings (1886–1968) |
| 51 | James Thurber (1894–1961) | United States | essays, short story, drama |
|
| 52 | Miguel Torga (1907–1995) | Portugal | poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiography |
|
| 53 | George Macauley Trevelyan (1876–1962) | United Kingdom | biography, autobiography, essays, history | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 54 | Elias Venezis (1904–1973) | Greece | novel, short story |
|
| 55 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel | Sigmund Skard (1903–1995) |
| 56 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) |  Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | Sigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970) |
| 57 | Heimito von Doderer (1896–1966) | Austria | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Ernst Alker (1895–1972) |
| 58 | Karl Heinrich Waggerl (1897–1973) | Austria | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Friedrich Wild (1888–1966) |
The main contenders for the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature were Saint-John Perse, who had been nominated by the 1948 Nobel laureateT. S. Eliot, and the Yugoslavian authorIvo Andrić. The members of the Nobel committee were divided between the candidates. Committee chairmanAnders Österling andSigfrid Siwertz supported a prize to Ivo Andrić, whileEyvind Johnson andHenry Olsson advocated a prize to Saint-John Perse. Österling found Perse a worthy candidate but a too esoteric poet with "a resonance that is too limited to be appropriately made the subject of a global award such as the Nobel Prize." Olsson, on the other hand, in comparing the two candidates, found that Perse in almost every aspect appeared "as Andrić's opposite and is as global as the other is regional". Olsson and Johnson also argued that Perse was well known and widely acknowledged as a great poet. Österling unsuccessfully argued for a prize to Ivo Andrić, noting the Yugoslav author's "mastered style" that would open "a previously unknown page in the world chronicle and appeals to us from the depths of the tormented national soul", adding that a prize to Andrić would also have the advantage of correcting "the justified criticism of the geographical distribution of the Nobel Prize in Literature.” Andrić was subsequently awarded the prizethe following year.[6]
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At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1960,Anders Österling, permanent secretary of theSwedish Academy, said:
One can only admire the integrity of his poetic attitude, the lofty insistence with which he perseveres in the only mode of expression that allows him to realize his intentions, an exclusive but always pertinent form. The inexhaustible luxuriance of the picturesque style of his rhapsodies is intellectually demanding and may weary the reader of whom the poet demands such efforts of concentration. He takes his metaphors from all disciplines, from all eras, from all mythologies, from all regions; his cycles of poems call to mind those great sea shells from which a cosmic music seems to emanate. This expansive imagination is his strength. Exile, separation – evocations whose voiceless murmur gives his poetry its general tonality; and through the double theme of man’s strength and helplessness a heroic appeal can be perceived, an appeal which is perhaps expressed more distinctly than before in the poet’s latest work, Chronique (Chronicle), 1960, filled with a breath of grandeur, in which the poet recapitulates everything, at the end of the day, while making veiled allusions to the present state of the world. And he even makes a prophetic appeal to Europe to have it consider this fateful moment, this turning point in the course of history. The poem ends with these words: “Great age, here we are. Take measure of the heart of man”.[7]
