Largely dominated by writers from Western culture, the Nobel Prize for Literature, awarded Thursday, could reward a writer from a region of the world other than Europe or North America, according to experts.
The suspense will be lifted at 1 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT) by the 18 members of the Swedish Academy.
Like every year, speculation in literary circles about potential winners is rife.
Chinese writer Can Xue (pronounced Tsane Sué), 71, frequently comes up in predictions.
Avant-garde and compared to Kafka and Borges for the unreal and dark atmosphere which permeates his novels and short stories, his experimental style transforms reality into a fantastic and absurd universe.
She has followed her own working method for 30 years: barely rereading herself, she modifies her texts even less, which she always writes with paper and pen. It is her husband who is responsible for transcribing them onto the computer.
– Mexican, Argentinian novelist? –
Can Xue is “little translated”, notes Björn Wiman, head of the cultural department of the daily Dagens Nyheter. And his work is part of the tradition of surrealist literature, generally appreciated by the Academy, he notes.
The last time a Chinese writer received the prize was in 2012, when novelist Mo Yan was crowned.
Other names are cited, such as that of the Argentinian César Aira, the Canadian Margaret Atwood, the Hungarian Péter Nádas, the American Joyce Carol Oates or the Somali Nuruddin Farah.
But the journalist thinks that the choice of the winner this year “will catch the cultural elite on the wrong foot.”
The committee regularly likes to surprise, underlines Mr. Wiman who imagines that a Mexican or Argentine novelist or an African writer could logically win.
“I believe it will be a woman from a non-European linguistic region,” he bets.
Last year, the prize was awarded to Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse.
Australian Gerald Murnane figures well on betting sites. And the Ladbrokes site no longer allows bets on Alexis Wright, an Aboriginal writer from the island continent, suggesting a possible escape.
Born in 1939 in a suburb of Melbourne, to a father who was a little too keen on horse racing, Murnane grew up in a Catholic household.
His book “The Plains” (1982), which immerses the reader in the world of Australian landowners, was described by the New Yorker as a “bizarre masterpiece”, more like a dream than a book.
– Male price –
It is unlikely that he will be crowned, however, believes Lina Kalmteg, literary journalist at SR radio.
“Since around 2017, one in two times, it’s a woman who wins,” she says. “But this is obviously just speculation,” she recalls.
The jury’s deliberations are kept secret for 50 years.
Since its creation, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been dominated by a Western and masculine vision: out of a total of 120 laureates, only 17 women have won the prize. And a minority of award-winning authors use languages spoken in Asia, Africa or the Middle East, outside the English, French, Scandinavian, German, Slavic, Spanish or Italian domains.
Only one Arabic-speaking author was distinguished – Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian, in 1988 – compared to 16 French-speaking authors.
In the turmoil after the 2018 sex scandal, the Academy is looking for new life.
“It would therefore be interesting (for her) to open up to a non-European perspective,” argues Ms. Franzén, whose favorite is the Canadian poet Anne Carson.
Göteborgs-Posten culture editor Johan Hilton is banking on a writer from central or eastern Europe. “France, the United States and the United Kingdom have been winners on numerous occasions in recent years,” he notes.
But out of the question of rewarding a Russian, even a personality critical of the regime, according to him. He believes that “it is politically impossible”.
As every year, the names of other Nobel Prize winners regularly mentioned are circulating: the Hungarian Laszlo Krasznahorkai, the Romanian Mircea Cărtărescu, the Kenyan Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the American Thomas Pynchon, the Caribbean Jamaica Kincaid and even the Japanese Haruki Murakami. And the Greek Ersi Sotiropoulos made a surprise appearance on the betting sites.
After literature, the highly anticipated Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Friday in Oslo, more difficult than ever to predict as conflicts multiply in the world.
The Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded for the first time in 1969, will close the ball on Monday October 14.
