Anna Gunder, Nobel Museum

2007-2009

The aim of the project has been to study the consequences of the Nobel Prize in Literature for literary culture globally and in Sweden between 1950 and 2005. In line with the project's aims, there has been a focus on the consequences of the Nobel Prize for individual laureates and their works internationally as well as in Sweden, and for foreign literature in Sweden.

The project's three main results

One significant result is that the Nobel Prize has an impact on the global diffusion of the laureates' works - there is a 'Nobel Effect'. Winning the prize entails a transnational boost with more translations into new languages for both the lesser known and the well-known (although for understandable reasons, not to the same extent) of the ten laureates studied. This effect is strong, but generally fairly short-lived. It can be observed primarily during the year of their receiving the Nobel Prize and during the following five years. Even if it is practically impossible to determine exactly how many of the new translations that actually were triggered by the prize, the overall statistics indicate that the award acts as a strong force in this area. The paradox is that the Nobel Effect may be hard to pin-point in individual cases, but is evident when looking at a group of laureates.

It must be remembered that fame is a relative concept and that lesser-known Nobel Prize laureates are also recognised transnationally before they receive the award. In contrast to well-known laureates however, they are not part of the cluster of modern world classics called the "hypercanon". The question is of course whether the Nobel Prize has the power to elevate relatively unknown authors and make them part of the transnational hypercanon of literature translated into so many languages that they may be said to be read all over the world? Although the effect does as mentioned decline quickly, the laureates never return to their pre-Nobel position in the world literary space - the Nobel Prize catapults the relatively unknown authors analyzed in the study to a more central position in the literary pantheon.

A second point of note concerns the methodological aspects of the investigation. It is easy to obtain lists of target languages, statistics concerning the translation of a specific work, an author's entire production in different languages and much else from Index Translationum and WorldCat. A closer examination of the bibliographic databases, however, reveals deficiencies and gaps which make them too unreliable to use as main sources. This has had direct and significant consequences for the entire project, as I decided to limit my study of the Nobel laureates to the ones who are bestowed with extensive, individual bibliographies. Since none of these are flawless, I aggregated information from all three resources in order get the most comprehensive picture. An unfortunate consequence of the general lack of extensive traditional bibliographies on individual authors was that no female laureates could be included in the selection.

A third outcome was that the persistent conception in media discussion of the Nobel Prize in literature as a "kiss of death" to the laureate's creativity and productivity was found to be a myth. The Prize does not put an end to the laureate's literary career. An investigation of the post Nobel Prize productivity for all 58 laureates awarded 1950-2005 showed that only a few laureates had published little or nothing after their awards (considering factors such as age and life time after the award). In none of these cases could the awarding of the Nobel Prize be held responsible for the decline in literary production.

As mentioned, methodological considerations required certain changes to the project. Another major alteration was not to include an investigation of the effect of the Noble Prize for Francois Mauriac and his work in Sweden. The main reason for this revision was that the methodological complications caused certain restricting changes to the project, which in turn made me prioritize an in-depth study of the publication of a laureate's work transnationally (Laxness) before an entirely Swedish perspective (Mauriac). With Laxness as a case study I was able to investigate the role of the Nobel Prize in the publication of the laureate's work in different languages over a long period of time as well as the consequences of the prize for modern Icelandic literature in Sweden (which would not have been possible for an influential and culturally central language like French). It is my intention to pursue the study of Mauriac in Swedish literary culture in another context.

The project's main publications

The project results will be presented in an English monograph due to be published in 2012. The first chapter examines the "kiss of death" and includes all 58 individuals awarded 1950-2005. The second chapter analyses the translation trajectories for the following ten laureates: Ernest Hemingway (1954), Halldór Laxness (1955), Juan Ramón Jiménez (1956), Saint-John Perse (1960), Patrick White (1973), Eyvind Johnson (1974), Saul Bellow (1976), Czeslaw Milosz (1980), Gabriel García Márquez (1982), and Seamus Heaney (1995). The third chapter is an investigation of the Nobel effects following the 1955 Nobel Prize to Halldór Laxness. It consists of two parts: a thorough analysis of Laxness' transnational publication trajectory from 1934 to 2007 in relation to his Nobel Prize, and an investigation of the role of his holding the Nobel Prize for modern Icelandic literature in Sweden. The fourth chapter focuses on the Nobel Prizes awarded to Yasunari Kawabata and Kenzaburo Oe and examines the consequences of these two Japanese prizes for interest in Japananese literature in Sweden (in translations, reviews and articles). The analysis of WorldCat and Index Translationum is accounted for in an Appendix.

An offshoot of the Nobel Effect project has been the formation of a new research group at the Section of Sociology of Literature, "Svensk skönlitteratur i världen" (SIV) [Swedish literature around the world], focusing on the dissemination of Swedish literature abroad through translations. In the first phase, statistics have been aggregated to gain an overall picture of Swedish literature's position within the world literary system (a position which has showed itself to be much stronger than may have been expected, cf. Johan Svedjedal, "Svensk skönlitteratur i världsperspektiv", SoU 2012:10).

The role of the Nobel Prize as a door opener or a catapult to readers in new countries has been investigated in this project. Throughout the work, however, the significance of enthusiastic and hardworking individuals has become clearer - to a large part it is the sheer interest and eagerness of translators, publishers, literary agents, reviewers, essayists and scholars which holds up the flows and knowledge in the transnational literary space. This is especially true for the exchange of literature not written in any of the traditionally more influential languages, such as Swedish. Who has brought Swedish literature out to the readers of the world during the past half century and what has been their role in the present "hype" for Swedish authors? Obviously, these are questions which fall within the scope of SIV (cf above).

New research questions generated by the project

The project has also brought new questions to the fore with regard to the methodological premises for how to study "world literature" and the transmission of literary works across the globe. The databases are incredible sources of information, yet too uncertain to be used when accuracy and exhaustiveness is required. How can a scholar in the humanities make better use of the digital sources available and, not the least, be part of the process to refine and enhance these powerful tools?

Publications

The book as presented above obviously constitutes the most important publication. I also consider "Nobeleffekten" as a central publication because of the interest in my research that the talk entailed among scholars as well as the general public and the media.

Conferences and seminars
During the course of the project I have presented and discussed my research at seminars and conferences abroad and in Sweden. I have also given interviews for Swedish newspapers and journals.

Papers
"Translations to the peoples of five continents? On the Nobel Prize in literature and translations of the laureates' work" The Long Twentieth century (SHARP) Brisbane, Australia, 2011
"Smakval som ger mersmak? Om Nobelpriset och japansk skönlitteratur på svenska 1950-2005", Utomeuropeisk litteratur i Sverige - översättning, reception och funktion Stockholm, 2010
"Äntligen! Men vad händer sen? Om Nobelpristagares verk i översättning", IASS: Översättning - adaption, interpretation, transformation, Lund, 2010
"Nobelprisets vidare verkningar. Om Nobelpriset i litteratur och intresset för utländsk litteratur i Sverige 1950-2005", Litteraturvetenskaplig ämneskonferens: 'Författaren under omförvandling', Göteborg, 2010
"Winning Works in other Words. On the effects of the 1955 Nobel Prize in literature for Laxness's novels internationally", Red River Conference on World Literature, Fargo, USA, 2010
"Nobeleffekten" Kvällar på Svenska Akademien, 2010
"Winning Works in Sweden: The Consequences of the Nobel Prize in Literature for Icelandic Literature in Sweden 1940-1969" Literature, Geography, Translation: The New Comparative Horizons Uppsala, 2009
"Vinnande verk i världen. Om Halldór Laxness romaner i översättning" Övralidssymposiets seminarium om Nobelprisets kulturhistoria, Linköping 2009
"Lasting Interest or Passing Curiosity? The Importance of the Nobel Prize in Literature for Foreign Literature in Sweden 1950-1975", 'The Invasion of Books'. The Influence of Foreign Literature on Small Language Communities 1950 - present day i Uppsala, 2008
"Snåriga spår. Om översättning av Nobelpristagares verk ur ett globalt perspektiv" paper vid Litteratur i rörelse. Utomeuropeisk litteratur i svensk översättning, Stockholm, 2008