The Birdcage Archives

Sunday 27 May 2018

The Nobel Prize for Literature: A Questionable Future


 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

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