The Nobel prizes are awarded this week and the top member of the award jury, Horace Engdahl (who?), said this last week. I quote:
‘Of course there is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can’t get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world … not the United States.’
‘The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature,’ Engdahl said. ‘That ignorance is restraining.’”
Quotes:
“‘You would think that the permanent secretary of an academy that pretends to wisdom but has historically overlooked Proust, Joyce, and Nabokov, to name just a few non-Nobelists, would spare us the categorical lectures,’ said David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.”
Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the foundation which administers the National Book Awards, said he wanted to send Engdahl a reading list of U.S. literature.”
‘Such a comment makes me think that Mr. Engdahl has read little of American literature outside the mainstream and has a very narrow view of what constitutes literature in this age,’ he said.”
‘In the first place, one way the United States has embraced the concept of world culture is through immigration. Each generation, beginning in the late 19th century, has recreated the idea of American literature.’
My turn: If elected, I doubt President Barack Obama can completely silence the harsh voices toward American literature (as well-written and published as he is). As a candidate, even Europe can adore his well-published prowess, but it will get a bit more complicated after the inauguration. Suddenly, he’ll be the guy telling them no, and standing by his promises made during the election, enacting policies that Europe won’t like. Plus, if Barack is not able to mount an economic team that can successfully deal with the aftermath of our bailout (our stock market is still sliding, folks, contrary to what Paulson and Bush and McCain and Obama promised), well, he’ll be less effective than Jimmy Carter.
But I’m still hopeful. I’d love to see an economic team named right now. Let’s not wait. Let’s get this fixed. I love a well-read, well-written president, but it’s the math that counts right now.
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