You guys probably didn’t hear, but the Nobel Prize for Literature was announced recently. To save you all the drama, the winner was Tomas Transtromer from Sweden.
But that isn’t what I want to talk about. For those that don’t follow that closely, an American writer has not won the award for almost 20 years (Toni Morrison in 1993). This may seem to be surprising for those that don’t follow literature that closely, but America has been looked down upon for quite some time now when it comes to writing.
I am going to assume that most people out on the blogosphere don’t really follow literature on a global level, so I will attempt to explain why America has lacked the big writer to win the reward recently. Popular perception is that we (Americans) are ignorant to all that is happening around us. We don’t write about the troubles of poverty, or injustice towards females. How can a writer be expected to write about something that they don’t know about? At the same time, consumers don’t seem to care to read about depressing issues.
An article written in 2008, goes in to further detail about why American writers never seem to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Horace Engdahl, the academy’s permanent secretary, didn’t beat around the bush when it came to explaining the lack of respect for Americans:
“The U.S. is too isolated, too insular,” Engdahl decreed. “They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining.”
American writers nowadays don’t push the envelope on issues that are relevant to the world. We are so comfortable in our little bubble that it is hard to step outside it. As long as people keep writing about our “first world problems”, we will get no respect on a global level.
American great William Faulkner
Gone are the days or William Faulkner or Ernest Hemingway. Part of the reason these two won Nobel Prizes had to do with their ability to write about topics that are “important”. Faulkner had his racism, and Hemingway had World War II. These two had issues that were important on a global level. Our generation doesn’t have any of these authors that are household names.
Faulkner’s acceptance speech shows just how important his writing is. The writing is about something bigger then themselves. His speech alone is worth taking the time to read, because he talks about important issues that were, and still are, relevant to everyone.
If American writers want to garner respect from their peers and critics, they must write about relevant issues in today’s world. It may be too soon, but there needs to be writing about the war in the Middle East or terrorism. These are just my ideas, but I think that they are a good way to start on the path back American prominence in the field of literature.
Smithy of My Soul 