Hello
Gentle Reader
Throughout
April and earlier this month, the Swedish Academy, the institution who
announces and awards the Nobel Prize for Literature, has been plagued by a
scandal which has obliterated the cultural institutions façade of being
pristine and princely, only to reveal an institution suffering a poor lack of
formal objective governance, petty and petulant perspectives, and an almost frightening
dirty political game of power. The scandal has also brought into question
members of the Swedish Academy’s ethics and moral pedigrees and principles
(specifically: Sture Allén, Göran Malmqvist, Horace Engdahl and Katarina
Frostenson). Now, as you already know, the scandal has centered on the alleged
sexual assaults committed by Katarina Frostenson’s husband, Jean-Claude Arnault.
The allegations themselves, however, were merely the initial wedge and fracture
which eventually revealed a larger scandal concerning ethics and moral integrity.
Katarina
Frostenson cannot be held liable or at fault for the allegations concerning her
husband. However, she can be held responsible for numerous other dubious arrangements
she had made while a member of the Swedish Academy. The first being: she
knowingly accepted (and perhaps lobbied) financial assistance from the Swedish
Academy, for a prestigious and exclusive cultural club, she co-owned with her
husband in Sweden, called the Forum. The second being: she has been accused (or
perhaps knowingly proven) to have prematurely released the names of future
Nobel Laureates to her husband, beginning in 1996 and ending in 2016; which
breaks the cardinal rule of the Swedish Academy’s statute of silence. Yet,
there is no official consensus on whether or not these leaks had proven to be
monetarily lucrative.
Early
in April, the Swedish Academy voted on whether or not to exclude Katarina
Frostenson from the Swedish Academy, by considering the above transgressions
she had committed against the Swedish Academy as an institution. The votes
swayed to stay in her favour, and soon after the scandal became a public storm,
showing how incapable the Swedish Academy was able to operate and govern
itself. Three members publicly stepped down (Peter Englund, Klas Östergren, Kjell
Espmark) in protest. Sara Danius (then Permanent Secretary) went on damage
control; but the wedge only grew wider, and others within the academy took the opportunity
to voice their disproval of both the protesting members and Sara Danius herself
(Horace Engdahl and Göran Malmqvist). The crisis only thickened before royal
intervention, and the Swedish Academy met and found a compromise: Katarina
Frostenson will step down on the condition Sara Danius relinquishes her
position as Permanent Secretary. Sara Danius did relinquish her position and
then voluntarily stepped down, while Katarina Frostenson stepped down as the conditions
of the compromise were met. Following Sara Danius’s departure, a few weeks
later Sara Strisdberg also stepped down.
Since
then and in between, the King of Sweden (and royal patron of the Swedish
Academy) Carl XVI Gustaf, has rewritten the election statutes of the Swedish
Academy, meaning now where members served for life, they can opt out to voluntarily
resign or being removed and replaced if they are inactive over two years.
Sweden itself has erupted in support of Sara Danius, who has become something of
an icon; all the while Horace Engdahl and Göran Malmqvist have opened their
mouths and inserted their foots—on countless of occasions.
Finally,
it was announced the Swedish Academy would postpone this year’s Nobel Prize for
Literature, considering the crisis which has deeply divided and struck the
Swedish Academy to its core, and will allow them to re-elect new members and
regain the public’s trust in itself as a culturally prominent and worthy institution.
Yet questions remain: what extent has this crisis and scandal done to the Nobel
Prize for Literature itself?
[
For Previous Blog Posts, thoughts and perspectives on the issue please see the
following links ]
The
question: what extent has this crisis and scandal done to the Nobel Prize for
Literature itself? And: What is the Future of the Nobel Prize for Literature?
And: What is the Future of the Swedish Academy? Are now being asked publicly,
and answers are perhaps being eluded too; as it is now apparent: the storm may
have passed, but the flood waters are still rising.
In
an open letter delivered to the pro
tempore Permanent Secretary: Anders Olsson; Sara Danius, Peter Englund, and
Kjell Espmark, stated they will return to the Swedish Academy to assist in
electing new members to the Swedish Academy (as they currently lack the 12
members to hold a quorum), on the condition Horace Engdahl resigns. Horace
Engdahl of course refuses to resign, and has stated the other three can return
as they see fit, and at any time; without making grand or delusional statements. Further more another member of the Swedish Academy, Kristina Lugn, stated she would resign if Horace Engdahl, resigned.
The
Nobel Foundation (the absolute administer and guardian of all the Nobel Prizes)
has already expressed its grave concern over the current atmosphere of the
Swedish Academy’s inability to appropriately govern and control itself. Now, the director
of the foundation, Lars Heikensten, has taken a more public and serious bent
with regards to the current situation and crisis. Lars Heikensten, has stated
there very well might not be a Nobel Prize for Literature in two-thousand and nineteen
either, depending on the crisis currently facing the Swedish Academy, as well
as pending on the academy’s ability to reclaim and acquire the public’s trust
in it as a cultural institution. Lars Heikensten, had also eluded on two other
matters. First: in polite and veiled terms, Mr. Heikensten, had eluded to the
idea that it may be in the best interest of the Swedish Academy that all members resign in order to restore
faith in the institution. Second: Lars Heikensten, eluded to the notion and
thought, that the Nobel Foundation, will find a more reputable institution to
award the Nobel Prize for Literature instead of the Swedish Academy.
The
former Permanent Secretary, Sara Danius, also agrees with Lars Heikensten’s
eluded view that all members of the Swedish Academy should resign. In a recent
interview, Sara Danius has stated that in order for the Swedish Academy to
renew itself and rebuild the trust and confidence of the public, it would be in
the best interest of all members of the Swedish Academy to resign, and allow
third party institutions to appoint and elect appropriate members to the Swedish
Academy, and allow the process of renewing and regaining trust to happen
without interference or hindrance of those currently presiding.
In
the meantime, Gentle Reader, the Swedish Academy is working with a mediator to
help resolve the issue. Yet, will the issue actually be resolved in the court
of public opinion? As it currently stands many members of the Swedish Academy,
have ultimately failed and disregarded the trust of the public—reading and
otherwise; over their failure to appropriately govern themselves, without
personal dealings of friendships coming into play or being taken into
consideration. Sture Allén, Göran Malmqvist, Horace Engdahl, as a trio have
ultimately continued to deface and destroy the remaining fragments and remnants
of the Swedish Academy, with their churlish behavior, negligence, or public
statements regarding former members or their personal relationships. The fact
is, as a member of the Swedish Academy, their words, their relationships, their
actions, and opinions are weighed heavily, as they in a sense have become public and
cultural figures who are no longer entitled to behave in outlandish or
negligent manners. They must take firm and defined stances on issues where
issues of morality and ethics are concerned, or risk destroying their own
reputations and that of the Swedish Academy—which they have already done.
First: by Sture Allén, neglecting to act on a letter he received back in the 90’s,
where a accuser of Arnault's, sought the Sweden Academy's assistance and appeal in dealing with
Jean-Claude Arnault. Sture Allén dismissed the letter as
non-important, which has only strengthened criticism of the academy's lack of moral pedigree or ethical direction. Second, during the entire crisis, Göran Malmqvist and Horace Engdahl, acted as power starved vultures, who exploited the crisis as an opportune moment to criticize Sara
Danius in her role as Permanent Secretary (and continue to), which only moved
the Swedish Academy closer to implosion. Third, Horace Engdahl specifically
refuses to distance himself from Jean-Claude Arnault, and remains an advocate
and supporter of his friend. In the end: as I already mentioned when one
becomes a public figure—be intellectual, cultural, political, or even ‘pop
culture/celebrity,’—your behaviour is noted and scrutinized when it is placed
in a moral or ethically precarious situation, and you risk your reputation being
damaged, decimated, or destroyed in the process and in this case the Swedish
Academy as well. Perhaps the only way for the Swedish Academy to truly renew
and reinvigorate trust with the public both in Sweden and internationally, is
for the current members to resign; and allow for a fresh perspective of intellectuals,
writers, scholars, academics, linguists, and historians to steer the Nobel
Prize for Literature, without being tainted or touched by the scandal.
For
now though, Gentle Reader, only the Swedish Academy can truly decide on which
moral and ethical ground(s) it stands as does its best to whether a passing
storm and the impending floods. Though, it is obviously clear: the Nobel Prize
for Literature’s reputation has been unprecedentedly been questioned and even marred
by the Swedish Academy’s current member’s behaviors and a very fresh scandal.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
For Further
Reading Please See the Following Links –
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/26/world/europe/swedish-academy-nobel-prize-literature.html
https://www.svt.se/kultur/danius-englund-och-espmark-kraver-horaces-engdahls-avgang
https://www.svt.se/kultur/bok/kristina-lugn-efter-sara-danius-utspel-har-hittills-lost-alla-problem
https://www.svt.se/kultur/sara-danius-1
No comments:
Post a Comment