Hello
Gentle Reader
As
previously mentioned now on a few different occasions, the Swedish Academy is emblazed
in a public crisis, with regards to one of its members (Katarina Frostenson), who
may have used her position on the Swedish Academy to lobby for financial assistance
from the academy for her husband’s artistic club the Forum, as well as leaked
information about who the new winners for the Nobel Prize would be. Frostenson’s
husband Jean-Claude Arnault has been accused by eighteen women of sexual
assault, harassment, and misconduct. Recently the academy held a vote on whether
or not to exclude (or rather expel) Katarina Frostenson from the Swedish
Academy and its dealings. The votes were cast, and Frostenson was permitted to
retain her seat on the academy, which saw the public resignations of three academy
members in protest, and the possibility of forth still to come.
For
more detail and further information please see the previous two posts:
Horace
Engdahl is a somewhat mercurial figure. He can be a literary curmudgeon who
scoffs, sneers, and derides the current way literature is being upheld as
anything important in society. He often vents these vexations publicly, and
often stirs great controversy when doing so. Who could forget his remarks ten
years ago, when he called American literature: “ignorant and insular,” and that
America could not “challenge Europe as the center of the literary world,” and
gave the most scathing remark yet: “they don't translate enough and don't
really participate in the big dialogue of literature ...That ignorance is
restraining.” On these grounds, I agree with the former Permanent Secretary of
the Swedish Academy. His criticisms were justified, the lack of translation is appalling
(though steps have been made), and its true American and dare I say English (or
British) writers/readers in general, are rather self-proclaiming as the masters
of literature; where in reality they are most likely overtly hyped and a bit
pompous and boring. On these grounds, I often find myself on the side of Horace
Engdahl, mainly because I too like to consider myself a dry curmudgeon who can’t
stand the state that the literary world is in.
Often
on the contrary though, Horace Engdahl can be a bit to open about his
criticisms, and in these moments appear to be self-serving some ulterior
agenda. In a recent open letter to the Swedish newspaper Expressen, the former Permanent Secretary unleashes his uncontrolled
bile, vitriol, and condemnation towards his three former colleagues and members
of the Swedish Academy, as well as the current Permanent Secretary of the
Swedish Academy.
Horace
Engdahl begins his letter by going over the first time a similar crisis had
taken place; back in nineteen-eighty nine, when Ayatollah Khomein issued a
fatwa (death sentence) against Salman Rushdie for his controversial novel “The
Satanic Verses.” At the time writers, governments, writers organizations and
movement, cultural institutions, governments and the public themselves, all condemned
the barbaric order, and protected or sought to protect Salman Rushdie (literally
and figuratively). The Swedish Academy, however, at the time decided to remain
silent, a fact that did not bode well for certain members. Kerstin Ekman, and
the late Lars Gyllensten, and the late Werner Aspenström—all resigned in
protest. Engdahl criticizes this move, which he calls: “abandoning their duty
to the academy and its community, only to fling themselves into the arms of the
media, and claim moral superiority.” Engdahl goes on to state; this move
damaged the Academy’s reputation and severely upended the work of the Academy,
as their seats have sat vacant for many years— Kerstin Ekman’s still does.
Horace
Engdahl then changes his attention towards the current situation. Though he
admits what happened in nineteen-eighty nine had the airs of ‘tragic dignity,’—he
calls the current situation an abhorrent state of affairs, being brought on by
a group and I quote ‘losers,’ who have chosen to resign (though not give up
their seat (?)) and have broken the statues of confidentiality by bringing the
public into the matter, seeking them to join the argument to oust Katarina
Frostenson, by publicly resigning. Horace Engdahl eludes that is far more
serious than any Nobel Prize leak a few days before announcement.
Moving
on Horace Engdahl believes the manipulator, causing this desperate power
struggle is: Sara Danius, the current Permanent Secretary of the Swedish
Academy; who he criticizes as being unable to take control of the situation and
get a firm handle on the catastrophic events which are currently taking place. He
has stated that Sara Danius has voiced her own opinion(s) as that of the
perception of the Swedish Academy, who eluded that her opinions and the
decision by the academy are one in the same. He has stated she has not been
able to maintain a spirit of community or co-operation within the academy, nor
has she moved between camps within the academy; in fact (or so Engdahl would
lead us to believe) Sara Danius is only interested in maintaining her own
position within the academy; and that a divide within the academy causing these
leaks to the media about its internal struggles, rests solely on the hands of
Sara Danius, who has been incapable of maintaining control and decorum within
its walls. Horace Engdahl concludes that in its 232 years of being an institution
of importance, Sara Danius has been the worst Permanent Secretary of the
Swedish Academy.
I
am left to wonder what Horace Engdahl had hoped to prove or otherwise achieve
with this letter. If it was to pour more petrol and gas on the fire then bravo,
truly bravo, your operatic statements of discontent are well noted and cannot
be ignored—it’s a standing ovation. If it were to somehow defend the honour (or
what little is left) Katarina Frostenson, then he failed. In the end all Horace
Engdahl ended up doing was rattling the cage and stirring the fire even more. Throwing
Sara Danius under the bus was both rude and unprofessional in my opinion, and
does not further the Swedish Academy’s cause, it merely tarnishes its
reputation further.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
To Read Horace Engdahl's letter please see the following link:
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