Austria’s Peter Handke was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature while the postponed 2018 award went to Polish author Olga Tokarczuk. After Rabindranath Tagore, no Indian has received a Nobel Prize for Literature in the last 106 years.
ThePrint asks: Why hasn’t an Indian got a Nobel Prize for Literature in 106 years since Tagore?
Even Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith do not recognise brilliant writers in vernacular languages
Aananth Daksnamurthy
Business analyst, ThePrint
One cannot think of Indians getting the Nobel Prize in Literature when even the Sahitya Akademi and Bharatiya Jnanpith do not recognise brilliant writers in vernacular languages. I do not know about other regional languages, but I can speak for Tamil contemporary literature.
Petty politics within literary circles is another reason why many authors don’t get due recognition. Also, there have numerous occasions when authors have received awards for a work that is not their best.
There is a wonderful and vast repository of literary works in Tamil. Writers like Ki. Rajanarayanan, Sundara Ramaswamy, La. Sa. Ramamirtham, Thi. Janakiraman, Pudhumaipithan, Ashokamitran, Thi. Ka. Sivasankaran, Ku. Alagirisamy, Jayakanthan, S. Ramakrishnan and Vannadasan have captured the richness and diversity of the language.
We also need to acknowledge the lack of good translations of original works into English and other world languages. Having said that, it is also very difficult to capture the essence of the original text in a translation.
The Swedish Academy that gives the Nobel Prize also got mired in a scandal and the 2018 prize for literature was put on hold. I also feel that the problem could be with the composition of the Nobel committee for literature and its knowledge of Indian subcontinent’s culture and literature. One cannot appreciate any literary work without understanding the context and history.
Also read: Rabindranath Tagore — the poet who knew nationalism could not rise above humanity
European, white, male-dominated Swedish Academy ill-equipped to identify brilliance of Indian texts
Rachel John
Journalist, ThePrint
India’s position as a postcolonial country has shaped its literature for the last 70 years. The function of literature in India altered significantly after Independence with many literary works attempting to deploy literary realism to answer larger questions such as who is an ‘Indian’ and what is the ‘Indian voice’. So, an essentially European, white, male-dominated Swedish Academy probably was, and in certain ways continues to be, ill-equipped to identify the brilliance of such deeply contextual Indian texts.
The fact that no Indian author has won the Nobel Prize for Literature in the last 106 years is in no way an indication of the quality of literature this country produces. It is rather an exposition of the Euro-centric focus of the Nobel prize. In the past decade, only two authors from the Global South – China and Peru – have won the prize. Additionally, works in languages other than English have to be either translated or they need to apparently fit into the European exotic fantasy for it to be considered award-worthy.
The ‘illustrious’ Nobel Prize awards list includes the likes of colonial-apologist Winston Churchill. This year’s winner, Peter Handke, has been accused of supporting former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević who faced charges of genocide and war crimes.
So, frankly, Indian authors are not losing out for not making it to the Nobel list.
Why blame Nobel Prize committee when we don’t take pride in our regional literature
Yashasvi Pathak
Intern, ThePrint
No Indian has managed to win the Nobel Prize for Literature since Rabindranath Tagore was awarded one in 1913. Is it because our literary jewels like Premchand, Kaifi Azmi, Amrita Pritam, Majaz Lakhnavi, Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’, Mahadevi Verma can’t match up to the Nobel laureates?
Is it because Indian literature could not become global enough for the West to appreciate it? Or, is it because most of our vernacular literature has not been translated and therefore some of the best works have remained unexplored?
We are equally responsible for no Indian author getting a Nobel Prize for Literature in the last 100 years. As Indians, we are not proud of our own heritage. How many of us have read the works of authors in their own language, apart from Premchand maybe? We like to brag about William Shakespeare and John Keats.
I wonder how many of us have even heard of writers like Gurdial Singh (Punjabi), Jayanta Mahapatra (Oriya), Vijaydan Detha (Rajasthani), Sunil Gangopadhyay (Bengali), M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam), Bhalchandra Nemade (Marathi) and Nirmal Verma (Hindi).
If you haven’t heard of or read their works, then why blame the Nobel Prize committee for ignoring them. Of course, it’s not just India, but all of Asia that has been largely ignored by the Euro-centric Nobel committee. But we must share the blame too.
Also read: The Indian connection of Nobel winning Polish author Olga Tokarczuk
Nobel Prize is a stamp of Western validation, not a recognition of good literature
Deeksha Bhardwaj
Reporter, ThePrint
The Nobel Prize. The great recognition. International spotlight.
But the question we often don’t ask when talking about something like the Nobel Prize is — why should we aspire for it at all?
The Western canon has, often through the tool of cultural hegemony and self-validating awards like the Nobel, managed to concretise its space in literature. When recalling literary giants, many are unlikely to think beyond Shakespeare, Yeats or Chaucer.
Literature, as theorist Gauri Viswanathan notes, began being taught in India only to create an aspirational class that looked up to the British for legitimacy. The Nobel, in that sense, is the final step in the ladder.
All we need to do is recall that in 2016, the Nobel Prize in Literature went to Bob Dylan, not Margaret Atwood nor Haruki Murakami nor Milan Kundera — authors, of course, outside the so-called Western canon.
Add to this the fact that the Nobel committee, for a long time, has been lacking in diversity. Countless reports have documented the inherent biases of the Nobel committee.
Then, of course, there’s the language through which you access the work. Works in translation don’t often convey the meaning of the original, neither do they carry forth the sentiment.
India is a country with a wealth of regional literature that doesn’t even get enough national recognition. It’s a country of Ambai, of Shrilal Shukla, of U. R. Ananthamurthy. A Nobel prize is a stamp of Western validation, not a recognition of good literature.
Nobel prize isn’t about literature alone. It’s also about the politics of it
Neera Majumdar
Senior copy editor, ThePrint
Nobel Prize for literature, much like the Oscars, isn’t the benchmark of good creative work, but countries go into a tizzy as soon as they get one. Book sales shoot up after any literature award is announced, debates ensue, quotes are mugged up, it becomes the talking point – all in a delicious hurry. And frankly, that’s good for any country or region.
But something has been itching us Indians for a while – the lack of a Nobel Prize for Literature in the last 106 years. So, what eludes Indian writers?
For one, the Nobel prize isn’t about literature alone. It’s also about the politics of it. Remember Peter Handke won this year. The Mothers of Srebenica have already protested Handke winning the prize because he is a ‘genocide denier’. When Tagore won (he was already widely known and widely read), many in the West protested a ‘vernacular’ man from a colony winning.
Second, the Nobel committee looks out for literature that talks of a nation and its issues. In India, we are millions of nations in one. For instance, literature from the northeast barely makes it to west India, let alone Sweden. And Indian awards don’t give regional literature the push it needs to catch the world’s eye.
Third, apart from a few good translators and publishers (like Seagull), India lacks good translations of vernacular works. Remember when Tagore won, this was the Nobel statement: “he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West”.
There isn’t a hunger in India to read books from other cultures. Literature students do it, elites do it, but that’s about it. And Chetan Bhagat, most unfortunately, isn’t of Nobel worth or of noble mind.
Matter of fact is that we should not bother about it. Not only literature but also in other area.
Nobel prize not given to original inventor instead its given to someone else who stolen original work and modified it. It happened many a time.
As fur as literature is concerned, if the vernacular work is tranlated in english/ swedish/ other 13 languages then only there is a chance which is not possible for every writer/ languages.
There r thousands of languages across world.
Its not possible for nobel commete also to read and review work in all virnacular across globe.
So its useless to bebate for nobel prize .
Who care?
There is something called Lobby. Without lobby no prize. Lobby means influence – either financial or political…Note there is no lobby for being “Noble” unfortunately….
Gunturu Seshendra Sarma is the second person to have been nominated for the Nobel Literature prize for his contribution to literary field from India, the first being Rabindranath Tagore. The West Bengal Government conferred upon him the title “Rashtrendu” (Moon of the Nation) in honour of his accomplishments. Telugu University conferred an honorary D.Litt. on him in 1994. Guntur Seshendra Sharma nominated for his great Telugu poem ” Naa Desham Naa kaavithalu”. My country and my poems
Rabindranath Tagore got the Nobel Literature Prize because King George V recommended his name as he was mighty pleased with Jana Gana Mana ADHINAYAK JAYA HEY. King George V had also Knighted Tagore for his double entendre paean. Tagore returned because of criticism, but Nobel Prize and money he kept. With that reputation and money Shanti Niketan became known worldwide.
Iincidentally Jana Gana Mana, as RSS says, is a Slave Song and should be replaced. I agree, but that highly sankritised Vande Mataram by Bankim Chandra Bose is not acceptable. Hence. I have now written a new National Anthem to replace Jana Gana Mana. I am fine tuning it. And I will ask A.R.Rehman to score music for me.
By the way, I have written 51 books, covering all genres poetry (5 anthologies), biography, oot pouri (Warmth of Love 1st book published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan), politics, medicine, development, travelogue,, letters to editors (PEN POWER- my encyclopedia of letters was recognised by Limca Book of Records), encyclopedic WORLD WITHOUT WARS. I have lectured in 65 countries, I last and visited Nobel Foundation on 1st November 1996 and spent 2 days studying the working of while on my Denmark, Sweden tour.
Bonde martam was written by Bankim ch. Chatterjee, it is not Bose what you have written.
Secondly you first earn at least jnan peeth and then internationally acclaimed award, then your demand will be legitimated.
Two country’s national anthem was composed and one country’s thought, idea given. Pl do something first.
Vande matharam is not acceptable becuase it is highly Sanskritised …Seriouslu !!!!!. Then you people should abandon hindi as well as English becuase English came from Sanskrit and Hindi’s LIBI or SCRIPT is pure Devanagiri or SANSKRIT. I mean who needs you acceptance.. Who cares whether you agree or not. Even in Tamil Language after Tamil Revolution 40% of the Tamil language STILL contains SANSKRIT. The modern day NASA is using SANSKRIT as it is the best language for Artificial Intelligence. The best language to study ASTROLOGY as well as ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and SPIRITUALITY is SANSKRIT. Not hindi,bengali,english or tamil by the matter of fact. Macaulay, when he came to India, he said I have been to the breadth and length of this country ” on 2nd FEBRUARY 1835 on the BRITISH PARLIMENT, he said to DESTROY INDIANS YOU NEED TO DESTROY THEIR EDUCATION SYSTEM AKA SANSKRIT. That is why people IGNORANT like you exist and it isn’t even your fault. 200 years of CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN VICTORIAN ERA BRITISH TORTURE had destroyed everything including SANSKRIT.
Seen thousands of non white women married to white men . But the reverse is very rare. If you wonder why……., validation from a female is very very hard to get.
Fake News!! Nazi sympathiser Ezra Pound never won it. Surely a quick check would have shown that.
I’ve published 9 books till today. Out of that only one book in Bengali (mother tongue). Why? Because our own children can not read or appreciate our work. They don’t know the rich literary work of Bengal. If you google to find out any literary work, you will find all European or American writers. Rabindranath got Nobel prize because his work was translated into English by famous poet Keats.
Nobel prize is not without controversies. A link by CNBC (Western media) highlights its credibility (or lack of it): https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/13/here-are-the-most-controversial-noble-prize-winners-ever.html
Indians do not get Nobel because of the same reasons they don’t get gold medals in Olympics, or become world-class entrepreneurs. To fight bias, one has to excel a little extra than those those who have the advantage. It is just like getting a role in Karan Johar’s film if you are not from a filmy family.
Always thought Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps won their Olympic golds because they set the swimming pool on fire.
True. That’s what I meant. It is about excellence. But sports are entrepreneurship can be assessed more objectively than ‘peace’ and ‘literature’. Indian universities have a lot to do with the lack of excellence.
What about RSS literature
The works of Veer Savakar are read by millions
They resonate with what India is today.
No writer has had so much influence on so many of his country
Not even William Shakespeare.
The writings of Savakar form the very essence of the Indian, the testimony of this truth is the Great victory of Siri Narendra Modi Ji
NRI Indians have tried to get Vir Savakar nominated for the Nobel prize but have failed, due to the innate racism of the west.
The RSS condemns this racism of the foreigners against Vir Savakar preventing him getting the Nobel prize in literature.
Golwalker, we must not forget him. The pearls of wisdom that flowed from his pen, with the beard he even looked like Tagore. Our eminent Modi In his 2008 book Jyotipunj, on sixteen prominent RSS figures has been full of admiration for Golwalker.
All sixteen characters in Jyotipunj should be awarded the Nobel prize.
Pity the racism of the West and attempts to exclude the Hindu NRI community has led to the Nobel prize committee from excluding these eminent Indians.
very kind of you to say so Sir, you being a Muslim gentleman it is good to see such sense and understanding
Muslims are seeing sense and understood their place, these people finally get it, no longer playing victim card. Thanks to Modiji
Shri Amitav Ghosh will get it, it is a matter of time. Since we believe the diaspora is one of us, V S Naipaul could be considered as an Indian for this purpose. 2. One cannot assess what extraneous factors go into the selection, but it is true that a lot of effort is required for Indians to get into global rankings of excellence. That holds true for our universities as well.
We may now add Dr Abhijit Banerjee to our list.