11 AM GMT the Literature Nobel
2014 will be announced – so, in 2 hours from now, 4:30 PM India time, the world
would come to know who is going to be the next addition to the fraternity of
Literature Nobel Laureates, Kenyan author and activist Ngugi Wa Thiong'o who is
the bookmaker’s favourite this year or others who have made for the most of the lists and opinions - of bookmakers, of Nobel historians and of Nobel watchers.
A The New Yorker article about
evolution of the Nobel Prize betting talks about those betting for Ngugi having ‘inside information’ and ‘solid clues’ from
the ultra-secretive 18-member Swedish Academy that decides on who will be
awarded.
Anyway, let’s see, it is just
two hours to know whether it will be Ngugi or Japanese Haruki Murakami, one of the most read authors of quality literature or Syrian
poet Adonis (Adunis), the Arabian literature's most respected name of the day, the two names who have become the perennial favourites in the
recent history of the Literature Nobel or Belarusian journalist and author Svetlana
Aleksijevitj or French author Patrick Modiano or Albanian Ismail Kadare.
The much talked about hypothesis
that the Academy seldom repeats a language the next year also supports the
claims around these 6 names as English was awarded last year (Alice Munro).
Every year it happens, the buzz
around the most talked about Nobel Prizes, Peace and Literature.
The buzz
starts taking root soon after the nomination starts and starts taking a definitive
shape once the nominations are closed and the concerned Nobel Committees
short-lists that ‘small and final list’ from out of hundreds of nominations. It
starts peaking around in August and reaches its crescendo in the week prior to the
announcements in October.
Peace Nobel is the most talked
about and speculated for given its 'political nature' and the socio-political themes attached with the
decision-making process that gives enhanced recognition to some issue and draws
worldwide attention that many 'powers' don't like. The most notable example about it China's intense opposition to the Nobel Peace Prize given to The Dalai Lama and to the Chinese writer and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.
Literature comes next in the line
given the worldwide outreach of the authors who are the most talked about names of the contemporary times, of their languages, of their generations, of their social rustres. These authors are legendary in their languages and become representative
of the literary heritage of the language and their part of the world that connects
them with the world, that makes them the talking points.
So, who will be next this time who will draw the world's attention to the window to look into the culture of a literary tradition weaved around the concerned social formations, because a Peace Nobel brings with it more copies, more translations and and a wider outreach of the works of an author to global reading table?
In two hours from now!
:)