tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post1936998476096764469..comments2023-10-27T07:32:26.606-06:00Comments on The Birdcage: Nobel Prize for Literature 2016 Speculation listM. Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13829062997679872743noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-70150404245764032132016-10-01T13:58:16.248-06:002016-10-01T13:58:16.248-06:00Hello CY,
Thank-you for the comment, and appreci...Hello CY, <br /><br />Thank-you for the comment, and appreciating the list!<br /><br />Thank-you for informing me of Yang Mu, and his recent win with the Cikada Prize. Much like Mo Yan, I think Yang Mu has a lucky advocate within the Swedish Academy (Goran Malmquist) to help get him attention within the academy. <br /><br />Thank-you for the new writer, and thank-you for reading!<br /><br />M. Mary M. Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829062997679872743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-25743534654961600042016-10-01T12:32:30.620-06:002016-10-01T12:32:30.620-06:00Hi M. Mary,
Great list!
I would add Yang Mu (Tai...Hi M. Mary,<br /><br />Great list!<br /><br />I would add Yang Mu (Taiwan) as a serious candidate for the prize. He has the political angle that the committee often looks for and has recently won the Cikada Prize and Newman Prize. Also, outside of Mo Yan, Goran Malmquist blogs about him the most. <br /><br />-CYAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-69819506351804925952016-08-31T16:47:21.026-06:002016-08-31T16:47:21.026-06:00(Part II)
As for the former Permanente Secretary...(Part II) <br /><br />As for the former Permanente Secretary of the Swedish Academy: Horace Engdahl’s comments, I do agree with him, but only to a degree. I agree with him on his statement(s) that the United States (and should be noted Canada and the United Kingdom) do not translate enough and not participate in the greater dialogue of literature; but I don’t think that comes down to nationality so to speak. He singled out the United States, but I would further say it’s not just the United States that has that issue, it’s a symptom of English language countries or those with a predominate English language heritage which would include: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. On those grounds I agree with him, that English language speaking countries generally do not participate in the grander and larger scale of dialogue of literature, as they isolate themselves from foreign and exotic experiences and literature. This however does not mean the literature they produce is of any lesser quality. <br /><br />I am sorry you found a bit sad that I did not include the writers you’ve listed. Though I will note in prior lists, I did include a French language, Canadian writers (Jacques Poulin) on my list for geographical diversity, but as my list has continued to grow over the years, I decided to cut him from it; and geographical diversity is the only reason why I include Gerald Murnane; as well as I do think he is less known then the bush bard Les Murray. <br /><br />I hope this helps Mr. Jamy Sweet, in elucidating how this list is formed and organized. Countries, continents, they are only for organizational purposes and contextual background, more than they are propagation of nationalism and other such sentiments. I will also note briefly that sometimes countries are a part of the writer’s identity or literary oeuvre such as in the cases of: Patrick Modiano or Orhan Pamuk. Beyond this though, their inclusion on the list is strictly of demographic and organizational purposes. <br /><br />Thank-you for your comment and for the names you have also given me, as I think they will be helpful in future lists!<br /><br />M. Mary <br />M. Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829062997679872743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-11304796606636070132016-08-31T16:46:44.693-06:002016-08-31T16:46:44.693-06:00Hell Mr. Jamy Sweet, (Part I)
Hell Mr. Jamy Swee...Hell Mr. Jamy Sweet, (Part I) <br /><br />Hell Mr. Jamy Sweet, <br /><br />Thank-you for your comment! I hope I can elucidate my lists compilation and organization in my response here. <br /><br />I do my best to avoid ‘Nationalism,’ and the associated sentiments with it; as the Nobel’s are not in the least beat akin or related to the Olympics so to speak. I do however; use a writer’s nation or country of origin, as a form of context. For example it would be difficult to discuss Herta Müller’s writing style and themes without mentioning her persecution under Romania and her outsider like sensibility within Germany. As well as I do think a nations inherent literary traditions do help and inform writers and their literary sensibilities. This being said, I do not think writers are ‘owned,’ or indebted so to speak to their nation with regards to public or civil service, like duties – as say an Olympic athlete. So I split up the list via content and nation with the writers (and in certain cases with literary language) in order to help categorize the writer for simple organization purposes, without making the list appear to convoluted or chaotic in a sense. <br /><br />I will admit I do openly choose not to include: Canada, the United States or the United Kingdom/Ireland; Mexico however was an oversight on my part (and I will get to that in just a second). The reason why I do not include the United States, the United Kingdom or Canada: is because they are very large and literary countries, and are very well known to the world. In all speculation lists I review and look at, there will always be mentions of: Thomas Pynchon, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth or Don DeLillo; or Margaret Atwood; or Ian McEwan or A.S. Byatt, or Martin Amis. So in this sense I do think they get their well-deserved attention and speculation. The goal of this list is to include writers, which are easily overlooked such as: Kim Hysesoon or Gyrðir Elíasson or Ibrahim al-Koni; who are more known in more select or elective literary circles, then say the greater masses. So the goal is to focus on lesser known or more foreign writers. As I do think more well-known writers such as those you have listed, do get greater advocacy over lesser known writers. Now Mexico however, was an oversight on my part. I am not well versed in Mexican literature and writers. I have included Elena Poniatowska in prior lists, but a friend of mine reprimanded me (so to speak) by informing me, she was not a writer really worthy of such a prestigious award and he touted some political reasons among others. So to not include a Mexican writer exemplified my own myopic understanding of the grander literary world. In that sense though it was not my intention to not include a Mexican writer, it just was overlooked on my part. M. Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13829062997679872743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604329068806422759.post-4954199274907121002016-08-30T18:46:49.207-06:002016-08-30T18:46:49.207-06:00I have only question M. Mary: What about Canada, M...I have only question M. Mary: What about Canada, Mexico, or the U.S.? Canada (your home country), was noted only when you mentioned Alice Munro but not the fact that she is Canadian. If I as a reader did not know she was Canadian, I would have thought you didn’t mention Canada at all. Throughout the piece you make a concerted effort to assign an author to their country, but not Alice Munro.<br /><br />Now, normally, I would chalk this up to a focused desire to avoid "Nationalism”, but your post is the exact opposite of that. After all, you did sum up your post with "In speaking of nation with regards to the writer, on average each country had either one or two writers listed...” So how is it that you can ignore three of the greatest countries on the planet? Especially when you go in to such demographic and statistical detail as you do in the post.<br /><br />You DID paraphrase Horace Engdahl, and then went on to say: “I must apologize for the longest section of my list is centered around Europe; often gives the list a sense of being Eurocentric. Europe however, is still considered a literary and cultural hub of the world”. I agree with that, but to say this and then not include the US or Mexico or Canada, leads me to believe that you ALSO agree with Mr. Engdahl’s statement "The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature." (By the way, he later told the Guardian that nationality is not a factor in the selection of a Nobel Prize winner, which is contradictory to the statement he made. I am seeing a pattern here)<br /><br />I find it sad that you list didn’t countries that can count Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo (U.S.); Laura Esquivel, Pedro Serrano, Guillermo Arriaga (Mexico); Margaret Atwood, Douglas Coupland, Leonard Cohen, Yann Martel (Canada) among their citizens.<br /><br />Mr. Jamy Sweet, Los Angeles, CA. U.S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com