 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivo Andrić | ||||
 "for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country." | ||||
| Date |
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| Location | Stockholm, Sweden | |||
| Presented by | Swedish Academy | |||
| Hosted by | Anders Österling | |||
| First award | 1901 | |||
| Website | Official website | |||
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The1961Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Yugoslav[a] writerIvo Andrić (1892–1975) "for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country."[5][6] He is the first and onlyBosnian recipient of the literature prize.[6]
Ivo Andrić began by writing poetry, and philosophers likeKierkegaard,Nietzsche,Kafka andGoethe had an impact on his philosophical views. But his preferred literary form would be the historical epic. The fates of people are illuminated against a historical, cultural, and religious backdrop in Andrić's writings, such as his monumental novelNa Drini ćuprija ("The Bridge on the Drina", 1945). His stories show both immense love for individuals and brutality and violence. His writing is clear and full of information, and his stories are filled with insightful psychological observations. His other well-known literary oeuvres includeTravnička hronika ("Travnika Chronicle", 1945) andProkleta avlija ("The Damned Yard", 1954).[7][8]
Andrić earned ten nominations on four occasions. He was first nominated in1958 byThe Yugoslavian Author's Society. On 1961, he was recommended by four nominators fromElizabeth Hill, Lennart Breitholtz,Johannes Edfelt and the aforementioned society which led to his awarding.[9]
In total, the Swedish Academy'sNobel Committee received 93 nominations for 56 authors such asSarvepalli Radhakrishnan,John Steinbeck (awarded in1962),André Malraux,Graham Greene,Georges Simenon,Ramón Menéndez Pidal,Robert Frost andRómulo Gallegos. Fifteen of the nominees were nominated for the first time, among themYasunari Kawabata (awarded in1968),Gaston Bachelard,Cora Sandel,Jean Anouilh,Simone de Beauvoir,J. R. R. Tolkien,Lawrence Durrell,W. H. Auden andFriedrich Dürrenmatt. There were five female nominees namelyGiulia Scappino Murena,Gertrud von le Fort,Karen Blixen,Cora Sandel andSimone de Beauvoir.[10]
The authorsJacques Stephen Alexis,Lucian Blaga,Joanna Cannan,Louis-Ferdinand Céline,Mazo de la Roche,Louis de Wohl,Hilda Doolittle,Frantz Fanon,Olga Forsh,Leonhard Frank,Simon Gantillon,Dashiell Hammett,Émile Henriot,George S. Kaufman,Maurice Merleau-Ponty,Oliver Onions,Jessie Redmon Fauset,Mihail Sadoveanu,Peyami Safa,Frédéric-Louis Sauser (known as Blaise Cendrars),Clark Ashton Smith,Antanas Škėma,Dorothy Thompson andMaria Valtorta died in 1961 without having been nominated for the prize.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) |  Yugoslavia Serbia | novel, short story, poetry |
|
| 2 | Jean Anouilh (1910–1987) |  France | drama, screenplay, translation |
|
| 3 | Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) |  United Kingdom United States | poetry, essays, screenplay | Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992) |
| 4 | Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) | France | philosophy | Georges May (1920–2003) |
| 5 | Karen Blixen (1885–1962) |  Denmark | novel, short story, memoir |
|
| 6 | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) | United Kingdom | history, essays, literary criticism, poetry | M. A. Oxon (?) |
| 7 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) |  West Germany | novel, short story |
|
| 8 | Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) | France | novel, drama, memoir, philosophy, essays, short story | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
| 9 | Michel de Ghelderode (1898–1962) |  Belgium | drama, short story, essays | Eric Bentley (1916–2020) |
| 10 | Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) | France | novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism | Frederick Charles Green (1891–1964) |
| 11 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays | Hjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961) |
| 12 | Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) |  Switzerland | drama, novel, short story, essays |
|
| 13 | Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) |  Norway | novel, short story, essays | Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975) |
| 14 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism |
|
| 15 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) | United States | poetry, drama |
|
| 16 | Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969) |  Venezuela | novel, short story |
|
| 17 | Armand Godoy (1880–1964) |  CubaFrance | poetry, translation | Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876–1973) |
| 18 | Julien Gracq (1910–2007) | France | novel, poetry, drama, literary criticism | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 19 | Robert Graves (1895–1985) | United Kingdom | history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 20 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays |
|
| 21 | Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) |  Iceland | novel, short story, poetry | Stellan Arvidson (1902–1997) |
| 22 | Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972) | United Kingdom | novel, short story |
|
| 23 | Adriaan Roland Holst (1888–1976) |  Netherlands | poetry |
|
| 24 | Taha Hussein (1889–1973) |  Egypt | novel, short story, poetry, translation |
|
| 25 | Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays, poetry, screenplay, drama, philosophy | Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) |
| 26 | Pierre Jean Jouve (1887–1976) | France | poetry, novel, literary criticism | Francis James Carmody (1907–1982) |
| 27 | Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) | West Germany | philosophy, novel, memoir | August Closs (1898–1990) |
| 28 | Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) |  Japan | novel, short story | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 29 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 30 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Claude Digeon (1920–2008) |
| 31 | William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays | Karel van het Reve (1921–1999) |
| 32 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) |  Spain | philology, history |
|
| 33 | Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) |  Italy | poetry, translation | Michele De Filippis (1891–1975) |
| 34 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama | Anders Wedberg (1913–1978) |
| 35 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) |  Chile | poetry | Francis James Carmody (1907–1982) |
| 36 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) | Japan | poetry, literary criticism | The Japanese Authors' Union |
| 37 | Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) |  Ireland | drama, memoir |
|
| 38 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) |  India | philosophy, essays, law | Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) |
| 39 | Cora Sandel (1880–1974) | Norway | novel, short story | Harald Ofstad (1920–1994) |
| 40 | Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965) | DenmarkNorway | novel, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 41 | Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) | France | philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay |
|
| 42 | Giulia Scappino Murena (1902–1967) | Italy | poetry | Alfredo Galletti (1872–1962) |
| 43 | Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971) |  Greece | poetry, memoir, essays |  Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965) |
| 44 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) |  Soviet Union | novel | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 45 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy | novel, short story, essays, drama | Elias Wessén (1889–1981) |
| 46 | Georges Simenon (1903–1989) | Belgium | novel, short story, memoir |
|
| 47 | Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) | United Kingdom | novel, essays |
|
| 48 | John Steinbeck (1902–1968) | United States | novel, short story, screenplay |
|
| 49 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | The Japanese Authors' Union |
| 50 | John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, philology, essays, literary criticism | Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) |
| 51 | Miguel Torga (1907–1995) |  Portugal | poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiography | Hernâni Antonio Cidade (1887–1975) |
| 52 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel |
|
| 53 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | Jan Kamerbeek Jr. (1905–1977) |
| 54 | Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) | West Germany | novel, short story, essays, poetry | Friedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966) |
| 55 | Arthur David Waley (1889–1966) | United Kingdom | translation, essays | Edwin G. Pulleyblank (1922–2013) |
| 56 | Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story, drama | Serge Konovalov (1899–1982) |
For the 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee of theSwedish Academy proposed Ivo Andrić,Graham Greene and the Danish authorKaren Blixen, with Andrić receiving the majority of the votes. Committee chairmanAnders Österling had the previous year pushed for a prize to 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.”[11] Österling stated in the protocol that Graham Greene "appears as a fully worthy candidate", but neither Greene nor Blixen, who was also an annual contender at the time, was awarded the prize.[12]
Other contenders for the 1961 prize included the American poetRobert Frost and novelistE. M. Forster, who were both passed over by the Nobel committee because of their advanced age. Anders Österling said that Frost's age, 86, was "a fundamental obstacle, which the committee regretfully found it necessary to state". Other contenders such asLawrence Durrell and the Italian novelistAlberto Moravia were ruled out for literary reasons, as wereJ.R.R. Tolkien whose prose Österling found "has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality".[13]
At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1961,Anders Österling, permanent secretary of theSwedish Academy, said:
Generally speaking, Andric combines modern psychological insight with the fatalism of theArabian Nights. He feels a great tenderness for mankind, but he does not shrink from horror and violence, the most visible proof to him of the real presence of evil in the world. As a writer he possesses a whole network of original themes that belong only to him; he opens the chronicle of the world, so to speak, at an unknown page, and from the depth of the suffering souls of the Balkan slaves he appeals to our sensibility.(...)The study of history and philosophy has inevitably led him to ask what forces, in the blows and bitterness of antagonisms and conflicts, act to fashion a people and a nation. His own spiritual attitude is crucial in that respect. Considering these antagonisms with a deliberate and acquired serenity, he endeavours to see them all in the light of reason and with a profoundly human spirit. Herein lies, in the last analysis, the major theme of all his work; from the Balkans it brings to the entire world a stoic message, as our generation has experienced it.[14]
Andric donated the entire amount of the prize money, 250 232 Swedish crowns, to a fund for building a library inBosnia-Herzegovina.[15]
