THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS
IN LITERATURE
[Illustration:
_By courtesy of The American-Scandinavian Foundation_
ALFRED NOBEL]
THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS
IN LITERATURE
_By_ ANNIE RUSSELL MARBLE
[Illustration]
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK :: MCMXXVII :: LONDON
COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO
PAUL AND ANNA
PREFACE
These studies of Nobel Prize Winners in Literature have been the
result of research for several years and lectures upon the subject in
University Extension courses, before college clubs and other groups.
The vast scope of the subject suggests temerity in one who attempts
to treat it in such limited space. The writer realizes the inadequacy
of the book and possible conflicting statements because of diverse
authorities that have been consulted. After careful “siftings,” it is
offered as an incentive to further study, as a roadmap to many paths
of literary research. Biographical data and brief criticism of the
authors’ works are followed by a bibliography which is suggestive
rather than exhaustive.
The writer of these chapters has been, in large measure, the recorder
of research by many individuals and educational institutions, with
personal deductions from wide reading. Among many books that have been
stimulating are _Creative Spirits of the Nineteenth Century_ by Georg
Brandes, _Studies from Ten Literatures_ by Ernest Boyd, books upon the
drama and translations by John Garrett Underhill, Ludwig Lewisohn and
Barrett H. Clark, and studies of Knut Hamsun by Josef Wiehr and Hanna
Arstrup Larsen. Other specific books of interpretation are emphasized
in text and footnotes, as well as in bibliography.
Gratitude that defies fitting words would be here expressed to Miss
Anna C. Reque of the Bureau of Information of the American-Scandinavian
Foundation, to the Svenska Akademien Nobelinstitut of Stockholm, to
Mrs. Velma Swanston Howard, Miss Svea Boson and Thekla E. Hodge for
translations, to Mr. R. F. Sharp of the British Museum, to Eugen
Diederichs Verlag in Jerla, to The Danish National Library, Copenhagen,
to Prof. Josef Wiehr, Prof. Kuno Francke, Francis Rooney, Esq., to
Mr. Theodore Sutro, Mr. Rupert Hughes, Miss Harriet C. Marble, and to
librarians of the Widener Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Miss Grace
W. Wood, Mrs. Helen Abbott Beals, and to librarians of the Widener
Library, Cambridge, Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Free
Public Library of Worcester and many other sources of encouragement and
coöperation.
Appreciation of permission to quote extracts from printed works and
to use illustrations is acknowledged to Sir Edmund Gosse, Mr. Rudyard
Kipling and his agents, A. P. Watt & Son, to editors of _The Atlantic
Monthly_, _The Bookman_, _The Edinburgh Review_, and the publishing
houses of American-Scandinavian Foundation, D. Appleton & Co., Boni &
Liveright, The Century Co., Thomas Y. Crowell Company, Dodd, Mead &
Company, Inc., Doubleday, Page & Company, Ginn and Company, Henry Holt
and Company, Houghton Mifflin Company, B. W. Huebsch, Inc., Alfred
A. Knopf, Inc., Little, Brown & Company, J. B. Lippincott Company,
Longmans, Green & Co., The Macmillan Company, Oxford University Press,
American Branch, The Pilgrim Press, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Charles
Scribner’s Sons, Thomas Seltzer, Inc., Leonard Scott Publication
Company, Herman Struck, W. P. Trumbauer, The University of Pennsylvania
and Yale University Press.
ANNIE RUSSELL MARBLE
Worcester, Massachusetts,
September, 1925
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE vii
CHAPTER
I. ALFRED NOBEL: THE CONDITIONS OF HIS WILL AND LITERARY
RESULTS 1
II. POETS OF FRANCE AND PROVENCE 21
Sully-Prudhomme (1901) 21
Frédéric Mistral (1904) 31
III. TWO GERMAN SCHOLARS 42
Theodor Mommsen (1902) 42
Rudolf Eucken (1908) 48
IV. BJÖRNSON: NORWEGIAN NOVELIST AND PLAYWRIGHT (1903) 58
V. GIOSUÈ CARDUCCI--ITALIAN POET (1906) 72
VI. THE WRITINGS OF RUDYARD KIPLING BEFORE AND AFTER THE
AWARD (1907) 85
VII. SELMA LAGERLÖF--SWEDISH REALIST AND IDEALIST (1909) 104
VIII. PAUL HEYSE (1910)--GERHART HAUPTMANN (1912) 124
IX. MAETERLINCK--BELGIAN SYMBOLIST AND POET-PLAYWRIGHT
(1911) 148
X. RABINDRANATH TAGORE--BENGALESE MYSTIC-POET (1913) 159
XI. ROMAIN ROLLAND AND _JEAN-CHRISTOPHE_ (1915) 175
XII. A GROUP OF WINNERS--NOVELISTS AND POETS 189
Verner Von Heidenstam (1916) 189
Henrik Pontoppidan (1917) 197
Karl Gjellerup (1917) 201
Carl Spitteler (1919) 205
XIII. KNUT HAMSUN AND HIS NOVELS OF NORWEGIAN LIFE (1920) 213
XIV. ANATOLE FRANCE--VERSATILE STYLIST IN FICTION AND
ESSAYS (1921) 224
XV. TWO SPANISH DRAMATISTS 239
José Echegaray (1904) 239
Jacinto Benavente (1922) 247
XVI. W. B. YEATS AND HIS PART IN THE CELTIC REVIVAL
(1923) 253
XVII. HONORS TO POLISH FICTION 264
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905) 264
Ladislaw Stanislaw Reymont (1924) 269
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN LITERATURE 277
BIBLIOGRAPHY 279
INDEX 301
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING
PAGE
ALFRED NOBEL _Frontispiece_
FRÉDÉRIC MISTRAL 32
BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON 58
RUDYARD KIPLING 86
SELMA LAGERLÖF 104
GERHART HAUPTMANN 134
MAURICE MAETERLINCK 148
RABINDRANATH TAGORE 160
ROMAIN ROLLAND 176
KNUT HAMSUN 214
ANATOLE FRANCE 224
JACINTO BENAVENTE 248
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS 254
HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ 264
THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN LITERATURE
CHAPTER I
ALFRED NOBEL: THE CONDITIONS OF HIS WILL AND LITERARY RESULTS
_Nobilius_ was the ancestral name, by tradition, of that family
whose representative, Alfred Nobel, has left a name synonymous with
inventiveness and large benefactions to humanity. The grandfather,
Imanuel, an army surgeon, is accredited with changing the family
name to _Nobel_. His son, Emanuel, father of Alfred, taught science
in Stockholm, as a young man. With inventive ability he experimented
with explosives, submarine mines, and other destructive forces and,
by paradox, became designer of surgical appliances and India-rubber
cushions to relieve suffering. He was interested in ship construction
and spent some time in Egypt. To his sons he transmitted his spirit of
scientific research, with all the dangers as well as the inspiration of
such ambition. Two explosions, during experiments with nitroglycerine
and other chemicals, caused severe loss. The first, occurring about
1837 in Stockholm, shattered the nerves of the people as well as their
windows, so that Emanuel went to Russia, on the advice of friends
prominent in affairs of industry and government. Here he was employed
by the Russians to continue his experiments with submarine mines; with
his family, he remained here until after the Crimean War, contributing
to naval warfare by his inventions. An older son, Ludwig, remained in
Russia when his family returned to Sweden. This son gained repute as
an engineer and discovered the petroleum springs at Baku.[1] A second
explosion in one of the factories of Sweden, in 1864, caused the death
of a younger son of Emanuel Nobel and shocked the father so severely
that he was an invalid physically for the rest of his life.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born at Stockholm in 1833. He was less
robust than his brothers; he was sensitive and nervous, suffering from
headaches all his life. His mother, Karoline Henriette Ahlssell, was
his devoted comrade from the early days when he would lie on the couch
while she read to him or told him sagas and hero-stories. She was wise
and happy by nature, confident that Alfred would become “a great man,”
in spite of poor physique and moods of depression. He never married,
although he loved a young girl who died in her youth, but he was
devoted to his mother to the end of her life. Letters and frequent
visits to her in Sweden, in his later life, kept alive his affectionate
nature and his idealism.
Like his father he showed studious interest in chemistry, physics,
and mechanical engineering. Shipbuilding attracted his attention for
a time and, when he was about seventeen, he was sent to the United
States to increase his knowledge of mechanics, as applied to ships, by
association with John Ericsson. At the home of the latter on Franklin
Street, New York, where a tablet has been placed to commemorate the
services of this inventor in the Civil War, young Nobel lived for a
time. His father sent him to John Ericsson in order to investigate an
invention of his, an engine which was supposed to work by heat from
the sun. He stayed several months, probably not more than a year.
Ericsson was passing through a period of fluctuating fortunes. At
the end of 1849 his balance was only $132.32--his total receipts for
the year had been but $2,000. Two years later he recorded a balance
of $8,690.10. In the interval he had sold several patents and had
received congratulations from the King of Sweden upon the great future
for his “test caloric engine.” This was the goal of his experiments
during these years; its success was to be tested in the trial trip of
_The Ericsson_, February 11, 1853. A squall came up as the boat was
launched and making headway, and it sank, carrying with it hopes of
the inventor after years of experiment, and half a million dollars of
invested capital. Ericsson was crushed for a few weeks. How pluckily he
recovered his courage, made his plans for _The Monitor_, offered that
to the United States government and won success for the cause of the
North, is familiar history.[2]
Upon Alfred Nobel, with his quick, impressionable temperament, this
direct contact with Ericsson must have left strong influences. Perhaps
he decided then that, should fortune favor him, he would leave a fund
to aid scientists in their experiments and to protect them against
financial duress during periods of discouragement. When he returned
to Sweden and Russia, he coöperated with his father and brothers in
manufacturing nitroglycerine and other explosives; he was constantly
seeking for a compound which would be more powerful and less dangerous.
In 1857, at St. Petersburg, he had taken out a patent for a gasometer.
It has been said that the discovery of what was later known as dynamite
came by accident to Alfred Nobel, during an experiment about 1865-66.
Some nitroglycerine had escaped into the siliceous sand of the packing
and this brought about a partial solution of his problem. Dynamite,
which was composed of 75 per cent nitroglycerine and 25 per cent
kieselguhr, or infusorial earth, was produced. He applied for patents
in several countries, and sought for funds to start factories which he
believed would make a fortune by manufacture of this new explosive. It
was sometimes called “Nobel’s blasting-oil.” He told French bankers
that he had invented “an oil that would blow up the world”; a facetious
commentator declared, “French bankers thought it for their interest to
leave the globe undisturbed” and refused him credit.[3]
Napoleon III became interested and arranged for funds for Nobel’s
factories in France. With some samples of dynamite in his hand bag,
Alfred Nobel came to the United States on the same commercial mission.
New York hotels received him with suspicion because of rumors about
the “deadly explosive”; he went to California where, through the aid
of Dr. Bandman, a friend of Nobel’s brother, a factory was started
near Los Angeles. In a few years manufactories were in operation in
Italy, Spain, France and Scotland, as well as England and Sweden.
When Alfred Nobel was forty years old he was making his fortune out
of this “giant powder.” For several years he lived in Paris where he
had laboratories for further experiments with gelatin, balastite, and
forms of smokeless powder. In his later home, in San Remo, he carried
on developments and took out more patents in petroleum and artificial
gutta-percha. He received the tribute of scientists and educators but
the ignorant people regarded him with a mixture of awe and fear--“he
had put the long hammer of Thor to work again among the giants.”
In spite of his inspiring life-work and many successes, in spite of
his wealth and honors, Alfred Nobel was a lonely man. His health
was unstable; he often worked with bandaged head and in intense
pain, accentuated by the gaseous fumes of his laboratory. He was
self-distrustful and fearful that people were attracted to him _only_
by his wealth. One of the few individuals who gained and kept his
confidence was Baroness Bertha von Suttner. In her _Memoirs_ the
personality of Alfred Nobel is revealed in comments and letters. She
came to him in response to an advertisement in a Paris newspaper,
asking for a secretary for “a very wealthy, cultured gentleman.”
She remained only a few days in her joint capacity of secretary and
housekeeper, for a happy solution of her interrupted romance with the
Baron von Suttner eventuated in her speedy marriage. She exchanged
letters and visits with Alfred Nobel for many years and was devoted
to him in life and in memory. She describes him as somewhat below
average height, without physical attractiveness but in no sense
“repulsive,” as he imagined himself to be. He was a fine linguist,
somewhat of a philosopher, a good conversationalist and entertaining
as a story-teller. He allowed her to read a long philosophical poem
which he had written in English and she found it “simply splendid.”
He was critical of the shallow, false-hearted people, especially
those who importuned him with low motives; but he had faith in a
better development of humanity as education progressed. One of his few
intellectual companions in Paris was Madame Juliette Adams, author and
editor of the _Nouvelle Revue_; at her salon in Rue Juliet, Nobel would
meet, occasionally, men of science and letters.
In the _Memoirs_ of Baroness von Suttner may be located the first
intimations of Nobel’s motives which led to the Nobel prizes,
especially the specific form which was known as “the Peace Prize.” It
will be recalled that the Baroness von Suttner was one of the early
winners of this prize by her widely-read romance, _Die Waffen nieder_
(_Lay Down Your Arms!_). In 1890, after the publication of this story,
advocating world peace, Nobel wrote letters of high commendation. On
another occasion he said to her, “I wish I could produce a substance or
a machine of such frightful efficacy for wholesale devastation that
wars should thereby become altogether impossible.”[4] He contended,
with the mind of a prophet, that a day might come when “two army corps
may mutually annihilate each other in a second”; then he believed
that “all civilized nations will recoil and disband their troops.” On
January 7, 1893, three years before his death, he wrote to the Baroness
from Paris.[5] “I should like to dispose of a part of my fortune by
founding a prize to be granted every five years--say six times, for
if in thirty years they have not succeeded in reforming the present
system they will infallibly relapse into barbarism.... If the Triple
Alliance, instead of comprising only three states, should enlist all
states, the peace of the centuries would be assured.” Affirming his
belief in “reasonable Socialism,” he deplored the custom of leaving
large fortunes to heirs; too often the results were lapses in mental
ambitions and industry.
On December 10, 1896, Alfred Nobel died suddenly in his workshop at
San Remo. For a long time he had realized his condition of reduced
vitality. He consulted doctors unwillingly and heeded their counsel
with reluctance. He kept a record of his own pulse and heart action
but he never desisted from a full day’s work in his laboratory. His
last letters have a sad note that is sometimes sarcastic yet he
kept faith in and with humanity to the last. He had been carefully
considering the disposal of his fortune, determined that it should
contribute to progress in science and literature, for the welfare of
mankind and the education towards world peace. His will startled the
civilized world by its originality and idealism. The man who had been
most successful in inventing elements of destruction, by a paradox, had
left most of his large fortune to constructive, creative purposes.
Because he distrusted many lawyers he had been his own legal adviser
in large measure; sometimes he had acted as his own secretary, lest an
outsider might abuse his confidence. In appointing M. Ragnar Sohlmann
as executor, he explained that here “was a man who had never asked
anything of me.” (Later the manager of the factory at Bergen became
associate executor.) He left legacies of five thousand pounds each
to his nephews but some efforts to “break the will” were threatened.
Emanuel, then head of the family, refused to sanction such interference
and, after many complications and delays, the will was allowed, and
varied equivocal, or impractical, conditions were interpreted by “Code
of Statutes,” issued by the King of Sweden, June 29, 1900.
From this pamphlet is quoted here the extract from the will:[6]
“Extract from the Will and Testament of Dr. Alfred Bernhard Nobel,
Engineer, which was drawn on the 27th day of November, 1895: ‘With
the residue of my convertible estate I hereby direct my executors to
proceed as follows: They shall convert my said residue of property into
money, which they shall then invest in safe securities; the capital
thus secured shall constitute a fund, the interest accruing from
which shall be annually awarded in prizes to those persons who shall
have contributed most materially to benefit mankind during the year
immediately preceding. The said interest shall be divided into five
equal amounts, to be apportioned as follows: one share to the person
who shall have made the most important discovery or invention in the
domain of Physics; one share to the person who shall have made the most
important chemical discovery or improvement; one share to the person
who shall have made the most important discovery in the domain of
Physiology or Medicine; one share to the person who shall have produced
in the field of Literature the most distinguished work of an idealistic
tendency; and finally, one share to the person who shall have most
or best promoted the Fraternity of Nations and the Abolishment or
Diminution of Standing Armies and the Formation and Increase of Peace
Congresses.’”
In further details the will provides: “The prizes for Physics and
Chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Science in
Stockholm; the one for Physiology or Medicine by the Caroline Medical
Institute in Stockholm; the one for Literature by the Academy in
Stockholm (_i.e._ Svenska Akademien) and that for Peace by a Committee
of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storthing. I declare
it to be my express desire that in the awarding of prizes, no
consideration whatever be paid to the nationality of the candidates,
that is to say, that the most deserving be awarded the prize, whether
of Scandinavian origin or not.”
Because of difficulties in interpreting certain sections and
elucidating other phrases, this Code of Statutes was drawn up “in
consultation with a representative, nominated by Robert Nobel’s family,
and submitted to consideration of the King.” After adjustments of
interests had been “amicably entered into” by the testator’s heirs,
June 5, 1898, it was decreed that “The instructions of the will above
as set forth shall serve as a criterion for the administration of the
Foundation (Nobel) in conjunction with the elucidations and further
stipulations contained in this Code.” One “stipulation” was that “each
of the annual prizes founded by the said will shall be awarded at least
once during each ensuing five-year period after the year in which the
Nobel Foundation comes into force.” The phrase used by Nobel in the
words relating to the prize in Literature, “the Academy at Stockholm,”
was interpreted “as understood to be the Swedish Academy--Svenska
Akademien.” Another significant explanation was--the “term,
‘Literature,’ used in the will shall be understood to embrace not only
works falling under the category of Polite Literature, but also other
writings which may claim to possess literary value by reason of their
form or their mode of exposition.” This last provision, which seems
elastic and somewhat vague, has not led thus far to undue difficulties
and criticisms.
The phrase “during the preceding year,” as applied to scientific and
literary achievements alike, was a strange, impractical provision which
was well interpreted broadly in the Code thus: “only such works or
inventions shall be eligible as have appeared ‘during the preceding
year’ is to be understood, that a work or invention for which a reward
under the terms of the will is contemplated, shall set forth the _most
modern results_ of work being done in that of the departments as
defined in the will to which it belongs; works or inventions of older
standing to be taken into consideration only in case their importance
has not previously been demonstrated.”
Two other stipulations were made that have been applied to the awards
in literature, as elsewhere, “The amount allotted to one prize may be
divided equally between two works submitted, should each of such works
be deemed to merit a prize.” Thus, in 1904, the prize was divided
between José Echegaray, the Spanish dramatist, and Frédéric Mistral,
the poet of Provence; again, in 1917, it was divided between two Danish
writers, Gjellerup and Pontoppidan. On the other hand, if all of the
“works under examination fail to attain to the standard of excellence”
required, no award need be given that year, the “amount added to the
main fund or may be set aside to form a special fund for that of one of
the sections to promote the object of the testator.” In 1914 and 1918
there were no awards in literature.
To facilitate impartial judgment it was directed that each of the
four sections of the Swedish corporation of award “shall appoint a
committee--their Nobel Committee--of three or five members to make
suggestions with reference to the award.” To be a member of this
Nobel Committee one need not be “a Swedish subject or member of the
Corporation.” “How are these candidates for prizes nominated?” is a
frequent question. It is stated explicitly in this Code of Statutes,
section 7: “It is essential that every candidate for a prize under
the terms of the will, be proposed as such in writing by some duly
qualified person. A direct application for a prize will not be taken
into consideration.” Further explanations are given of “qualifications
entitling a person to propose another for the receipt of a prize”--he
must be “a representative, whether Swedish or otherwise, of the domain
of Science, Literature, etc. in question and the grounds for the award
must be stated in writing.” In this same Code of Statutes, in a later
section (p. 23) there is expanded information regarding “The right to
nominate a candidate for the prize-competition”--this shall “belong to
Members of the Swedish Academy and the Academies in France and Spain
which are similar to it in constitution and purpose; members also of
the humanistic classes of other Academies and of those humanistic
institutions and societies that are on the same footing as academies,
and teachers of æsthetics, literature and history at universities and
colleges.” For publicity it was provided that these “regulations shall
be publicly announced at least every five years in some official or
widely circulated journals in each of the three Scandinavian countries
and in the chief countries of the civilized world.” The names of
candidates must be presented by February first of each year.
Although the successful candidates for the various prizes are
usually “broadcasted,” in these days of shrewd journalism, sometime
in November, the official announcements of the awards are made on
“Founder’s Day,” the tenth of December, the anniversary of the death
of the testator. “At this time the adjudicators shall make known the
result of their award and shall hand over to the winners of the prizes
a cheque for the amount of the same, together with a diploma and a
medal in gold, bearing the testator’s effigy and a suitable legend.”
The last word may be more freely translated, _inscription_. In further
explanation the Code of Statutes decrees: “It shall be incumbent on
a prize winner, whenever feasible, to give a lecture on the subject
treated of in the work to which the prize has been awarded, such
lecture to take place within six months of the Founder’s Day at which
the prize was won, and to be given at Stockholm or, in the case of the
Peace prize, at Christiania.” This feature of the award has not often
been “feasible” in literature, although a few of the winners have
received the prizes in person at Stockholm and made fitting responses,
as we shall note in later chapters. The decree is final:[7] “Against
the decision of the adjudicators in making their award no protest can
be lodged. If differences of opinion have occurred they shall not
appear in the minutes of the proceedings, nor in any other way be made
public.” To assist in their investigations and to further the “aims
of the Foundation, the adjudicators shall possess powers to establish
scientific institutes and other organizations. The institutes so
established and belonging to the Foundation, shall be known under the
name of Nobel Institutes.”
While the general administration of the funds and awards rests with
the Nobel Foundation, consisting of five persons (“one of whom, the
President, shall be appointed by the King and the others by the
delegates of the adjudicating corporations”) the specific work of
investigation and judgment rests with the organization cited in the
will. In literature, the “prizes are assigned” by the Swedish Academy,
after careful investigation by its members, and the assistance of the
Nobel Institute and Librarian. A large collection of books, mostly of
modern writings, forms the Library. In all languages, translations,
when necessary, are found here, also reports concerning works of
recent publication. The Swedish Academy was founded by King Gustavus
III in 1786. It has devoted itself to “the arts of elocution and
poetry, to the preservation of purity, force and elevation of diction
in the Swedish language both in scientific works and products of pure
literature.” Annual prizes have been offered, for scores of years, in
elocution and poetry. Eighteen members, all Swedes, comprise this
Academy, of which the King is patron. He appoints the Inspector of the
Nobel Institute of the Swedish Academy but its “immediate management is
by a member of the Academy, chosen by that body.”
Two conditions of the will of Alfred Nobel have been faithfully
followed--the recipients in all branches have done something (if not
“most”) “to benefit humanity”; in the second place, “no consideration
whatever has been paid to the nationality of the candidates,” in
the way of favoritism. The most reasonable criticism of the awards,
especially in literature, has been a failure to carry out what seems
to have been the assumed, but not expressed, desire of the donor,
namely, to _stimulate_ work as well as to _reward_ past achievements.
Otherwise, why that puzzling phrase about “the year preceding”? Not
wholly without foundation is the comment that too many of the awards
in literature have been “tombstones rather than stepping-stones.” Many
of the earlier recipients were past seventy, with productive faculties
low, before the honor. It is a satisfaction to the public to know that
a worthy writer has had world recognition before he dies, and that
his last days may have many comforts possible through the financial
award of about $40,000--but such conditions do not seem in accord with
the spirit of the Nobel will and the attitude of the donor toward
creative work. The awards have been too often retroactive rather than
stimulating to further writing. Other winners, as will be noted later,
have accomplished vigorous literature, _after_ the award as well as
_before_ the honor.
During the years from 1901, when the first prizes were given, to 1925,
twelve nationalities have been represented in literature. Germany
and France have had the largest percentages in awards: Spain, Italy,
Poland, Norway, Sweden have had two winners each. Great Britain
(including the awards to Rabindranath Tagore and to Yeats as well as
Kipling) has been thrice honored. Denmark divided the prize one year;
Switzerland came into the lists with her poet, Carl Spitteler. In
science and “promotion of peace,” America has such names on the roster
of honor as A. A. Michelson in physics, T. W. Richards in chemistry,
Dr. Alexis Carrel in medicine, and Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root and
Woodrow Wilson in the “peace prize.”
What have been the influences of the will of Alfred Nobel and the
awards upon international literature? An unquestioned result has been
to arouse both curiosity and aspiration among writers and readers. No
other prizes, among any peoples, have caused such widespread interest.
The announcement of the Nobel prizes each year has become an event
of outstanding significance. Journals enter into competition, in
recent years, to get the first word over the wires and to publish the
most informing articles upon the winners. Tense interest precedes and
follows the awards. Whatever may be one’s individual opinion about the
justice in every instance, the fact remains that the chosen writer
becomes the center of study and discussion for the current season and
later years. To some critics this method of appreciation is offensive;
sometimes it may seem to be a sensational “thrust into the limelight”
of an insignificant or mediocre writer. In the majority of cases, the
result is like that of a strong telescope which can distinguish the
“fixed stars from the meteors” in the literary horizon.
The second influence is upon writers of every nationality--an incentive
to produce “a distinguished work of an idealistic tendency,” some book
which will prove of “benefit to humanity.” This term, idealistic,
is difficult to render in all languages. In the French explanation
of the will, it is explicit, “le plus remarquable dans le sens de
l’idéalisme.” It is not easy to justify the prizes in literature, in
several cases, if one emphasizes the usual meaning of “idealistic.”
Occasionally, the award was given for some less recent work, some
hitherto unappreciated note of idealism in an earlier writing. Two
examples, among many, are Björnson’s tales of peasant life, with
interwoven sagas and poetry, _Arne_ and _A Happy Boy_, or Mistral’s
_Mireio_, the pastoral poem of Provence which was written more than
forty years before the prize was given. In these two cases, as will
be noted later, there was appreciation of efforts to rescue a dialect
or language from literary desuetude. Upon both writers and readers,
the influence of the Nobel awards in literature has been to promote
broader interests and sympathies, more earnest study of standards and
aspirations in widely separated races.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Westminster Review_, 156, 642.
[2] _The Life of John Ericsson_ by William Conant Church, 2 Vols., New
York, 1901.
[3] Vance Thompson, in _Cosmopolitan_, September, 1906.
[4] _Memoirs of Bertha von Suttner; Records of an Eventful Life_, Vol.
I, p. 210, New York, 1910. By permission of Ginn & Co.
[5] _Ibid._, Vol. I, p. 438.
[6] Nobel Stiftelson, The Nobel Foundation, Code of Statutes given
at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on June 29, 1900 (Stockholm, 1901).
Objects of the Foundation. From copy in Library of Congress.
[7] _Ibid._, section 10.