1 of 7 This year’s Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse Photo: Disclosure/Reproduction/Twitter This year’s Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse Photo: Disclosure/Reproduction/Twitter
Jon Fosse, Norwegian writer and playwright, won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature. The announcement was made this Thursday (5) by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.
According to the academy, the award was given “for his innovative plays and prose that give voice to the unspeakable.”
Fosse said in a statement that he was “impressed and a little frightened” by the announcement. “I see this as a reward for literature that wants to be literature above all, without any other considerations.”
The author, who writes in the less common version of the two official Norwegian versions, said that he sees the award as a recognition of this language and the movement it promotes, and that he ultimately owes the award to the language itself.
Fosse was born on the west coast of Norway in 1959 and made his debut in 1983 with the novel “Raudt, svart” (“Red, Black”, not published in Brazil). Already described as the “Norwegian Samuel Beckett of the 21st century,” his work includes fiction, poetry, essays, more than 40 plays and children’s books.
2 of 7 Nobel Prize Winners for Literature Photo: Reproduction/Twitter Nobel Prize Winners for Literature Photo: Reproduction/Twitter
“Jon Fosse has a lot in common with his great forerunner of Norwegian literature from Nynorsk, Tarjei Vesaas. “Fosse combines strong local ties, both linguistic and geographical, with modernist artistic techniques,” says the academy.
“Although Fosse shares the negativity of his predecessors, his particular Gnostic vision cannot be said to lead to a nihilistic contempt for the world. In fact, his works demonstrate great warmth and humor and a naive vulnerability towards his vivid images of the world. “Experience humanly.”
According to the Academy, his masterpiece in prose is the “Septology” series, completed in 2021 (without translation into Portuguese): “Det andre namnet” (“The second name”, in the free translation into Portuguese), “Eg er ein.” annan “ (“I am a different person”, in the free translation into Portuguese) and “Eit nytt namn” (“A new name”, in the free translation into Portuguese).
His dramaturgical highlight was the play “Nokon kjem til å komm” (1996; “Someone will arrive”, in the free translation into Portuguese), “with its themes of frightening expectation and paralyzing jealousy, Fosse’s uniqueness is completely obvious,” says the Academy.
“Jon Fosse is one of the most performed playwrights in the world today and is increasingly recognized for his prose. The human condition is the central theme of Fosse’s works, regardless of genre.”
In September, Companhia das Letras released “É a Ales,” a reflection on love and loss based on the memories of Signe, a woman who waited for her husband, who disappeared after traveling on a boat in a fjord.
The latest winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature
3 of 7 Annie Ernaux Photo: Julie Sebadelha/AFP Annie Ernaux Photo: Julie Sebadelha/AFP
Last year the Frenchwoman Annie Ernaux was the winner. With more than 20 published books, the author is known for autobiographical novels and memoirs that focus on class and gender experiences. The author received the award for “the courage and clinical acuity with which she exposes the roots, alienations and collective inhibitions of personal memory,” the academy said.
- 2022: Annie Ernaux (France)
- 2021: Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania)
- 2020: Louise Glück (United States)
- 2019: Peter Handke (Austria)
- 2018: Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)
- 2017: Kazuo Ishiguro (United Kingdom)
- 2016: Bob Dylan (United States)
- 2015: Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus)
- 2014: Patrick Modiano (France)
- 2013: Alice Munro (Canada)
Nobel Prize in Literature controversy
In 2021, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to the Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, whose novels address the effects of migration on individuals and societies. He was only the sixth laureate with African roots the Nobel Prize has often been criticized for giving priority to European and American authors and for giving more to men, with only 16 women among the 118 laureates.
Both the 2021 and 2020 awards, given to American poet Louise Glück, followed years of controversy and scandal surrounding the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The organization survived that time, but came under fire again in 2019 for awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature to Austrian writer Peter Handke, who was embroiled in controversy after being accused of condoning war crimes in Serbia.
4 of 7 The Nobel Prize Medal Photo: The Nobel Prize Foundation The Nobel Prize Medal Photo: The Nobel Prize Foundation
This year’s Nobel laureates will receive an additional million crowns, bringing the total financial reward to 11 million Swedish crowns (about R$5.05 million in current direct conversion), said the Nobel Foundation, which administers the prizes.
5 of 7 Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize for Medicine Photo: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize for Medicine Photo: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko 6 of 7 Anne L’Huillier is the Fifth woman wins Nobel Prize in Physics Photo: Bertil Ericson/TT News Agency via AP Anne L’Huillier is the fifth woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics Photo: Bertil Ericson/TT News Agency via AP
The prize was awarded to scientists for the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles so small that their size determines their properties. These smallest nanotechnological components now scatter their light from televisions and LED lamps and can also assist surgeons in removing tumor tissue, among other things.
The prize was founded by the chemist and businessman Alfred Nobel. The Swede, who invented dynamite in 1867, donated most of his fortune in his will to create prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace (the economics prize was created years later).
7 of 7 A bust of Nobel Prize donor Alfred Nobel, on display during the 2018 award ceremony in Stockholm. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File A bust of Nobel Prize founder Alfred Nobel on display during the 2018 awards ceremony in Stockholm. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File
The document states that the prizes should be awarded “to those who have brought the greatest benefit to humanity over the past year.”
Nowadays, however, this rule is no longer applied as strictly as possible, as Juleen Zierath, a member of the Karolinska Institute the jury for the Nobel Prize in Medicine explained.
“You may have made this discovery at a very early stage in your research career, or you may have made this discovery at a very advanced stage in your research career,” emphasizes the researcher.