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Nobel Prize for Literature
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Unlike the other awards (Pulitzer
Prize for Fiction, Booker Prize),
which relate to one novel, The Nobel Prize for Literature is
awarded on the basis of an author's entire body of published work.
It began in 1901, after Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel stipulated
in his will that a portion of his estate be awarded to "the
person who shall have produced in the field of Literature the most
outstanding work of an idealistic tendency". Famous winners
include V. S. Naipaul (2001), Jean-Paul Satre
(1964), George Bernard Shaw (1925), and Rudyard
Kipling (1907).
|
| Year |
Winner |
Quote from
prize commitee |
search |
| 1901 |
Sully Prudhomme |
"in special recognition of his poetic
composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection
and a rare combination of the qualitites of both heart and intellect"
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| 1902 |
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen |
"the greatest living master of the
art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental
work, A history of Rome" |
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| 1903 |
Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson |
"as a tribute to his noble, magnificent
and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both
the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit" |
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| 1904 |
Frédéric Mistral |
"in recognition of the fresh originality
and true inspiration of his poetic production, which faithfully reflects
the natural scenery and native spirit of his people, and, in addition,
his significant work as a Provençal philologist" |
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| José Echegaray Y Eizaguirre |
"in recognition of the numerous and
brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner,
have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama" |
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| 1905 |
Henryk Sienkiewicz |
"because of his outstanding merits
as an epic writer" |
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| 1906 |
Giosuè Carducci |
"not only in consideration of his
deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to
the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize
his poetic masterpieces" |
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| 1907 |
Rudyard Kipling |
"in consideration of the power of
observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable
talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous
author" |
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| 1908 |
Rudolf Christoph Eucken |
"in recognition of his earnest search
for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision,
and the warmth and strength in presentation with which in his numerous
works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of
life" |
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| 1909 |
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf |
"in appreciation of the lofty idealism,
vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings" |
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| 1910 |
Paul Johann Ludwig Heyse |
"as a tribute to the consummate artistry,
permeated with idealism, which he has demonstrated during his long
productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist and writer
of world-renowned short stories" |
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| 1911 |
Count Maurice (Mooris) Polidore
Marie Bernhard Maeterlinck |
"in appreciation of his many-sided
literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are
distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which
reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration,
while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings
and stimulate their imaginations" |
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| 1912 |
Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann |
"primarily in recognition of his
fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic
art" |
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| 1913 |
Rabindranath Tagore |
"because of his profoundly sensitive,
fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with comsummate skill, he has
made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part
of the literature of the West" |
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| 1914 |
No
Award |
| 1915 |
Romain Rolland |
"as a tribute to the lofty idealism
of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with
which he has described different types of human beings" |
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| 1916 |
Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam |
"in recognition of his significance
as the leading representative of a new era in our literature" |
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| 1917 |
Karl Adolph Gjellerup |
"for his varied and rich poetry,
which is inspired by lofty ideals" |
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| Henrik Pontoppidan |
"for his authentic descriptions of
present-day life in Denmark" |
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| 1918 |
No
Award |
| 1919 |
Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler |
"in special appreciation of his epic,
Olympian Spring" |
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biblion |
| Year |
Winner |
Quote from
prize commitee |
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| 1920 |
Knut Pedersen Hamsun |
"for his monumental work, Growth
of the Soil" |
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| 1921 |
Anatole France |
"in recognition of his brilliant literary
achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a
profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament" |
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| 1922 |
Jacinto Benavente |
"for the happy manner in which he
has continued the illustrious traditions of the Spanish drama" |
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| 1923 |
William Butler Yeats |
"for his always inspired poetry, which
in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole
nation" |
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| 1924 |
Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont |
"for his great national epic, The
Peasants" |
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| 1925 |
George Bernard Shaw |
"for his work which is marked by
both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused
with a singular poetic beauty" |
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| 1926 |
Grazia Deledda |
"for her idealistically inspired writings
which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and
with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general" |
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| 1927 |
Henri Bergson |
"in recognition of his rich and vitalizing
ideas and the brillant skill with which they have been presented" |
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| 1928 |
Sigrid Undset |
"principially for her powerful descriptions
of Northern life during the Middle Ages" |
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biblion |
| 1929 |
Thomas Mann |
"principally for his great novel,
Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one
of the classic works of contemporary literature" |
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biblion |
| 1930 |
Sinclair Lewis |
"for his vigorous and graphic art
of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new
types of characters" |
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| 1931 |
Erik Axel Karlfeldt |
"The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt" |
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| 1932 |
John Galsworthy |
"for his distinguished art of narration
which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga" |
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| 1933 |
Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin |
"for the strict artistry with which
he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing" |
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biblion |
| 1934 |
Luigi Pirandello |
"for his bold and ingenious revival
of dramatic and scenic art" |
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biblion |
| 1935 |
No
Award |
| 1936 |
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill |
"for the power, honesty and deep-felt
emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of
tragedy" |
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| 1937 |
Roger Martin du Gard |
"for the artistic power and truth
with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental
aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les Thibault" |
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biblion |
| 1938 |
Pearl Buck |
"for her rich and truly epic descriptions
of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces" |
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| 1939 |
Frans Eemil Sillanpää |
"for his deep understanding of his
country's peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed
their way of life and their relationship with Nature" |
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biblion |
| Year |
Winner |
Quote from
prize commitee |
search |
| 1940 |
No
Award |
| 1941 |
No
Award |
| 1942 |
No
Award |
| 1943 |
No
Award |
| 1944 |
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen |
"for the rare strength and fertility
of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity
of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style" |
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| 1945 |
Gabriela Mistral |
"for her lyric poetry which, inspired
by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic
aspirations of the entire Latin American world" |
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biblion |
| 1946 |
Hermann Hesse |
"for his inspired writings which,
while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical
humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style" |
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| 1947 |
André Paul Guillaume Gide |
"for his comprehensive and artistically
significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have
been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological
insight" |
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| 1948 |
Thomas Stearns Eliot |
"for his outstanding, pioneer contribution
to present-day poetry" |
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biblion |
| 1949 |
William Faulkner |
"for his powerful and artistically
unique contribution to the modern American novel" |
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| 1950 |
Earl (Bertrand Arthur William) Russell |
"in recognition of his varied and
significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and
freedom of thought" |
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| 1951 |
Pär Fabian Lagerkvist |
"for the artistic vigour and true
independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find
answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind" |
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| 1952 |
François Mauriac |
"for the deep spiritual insight and
the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated
the drama of human life" |
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| 1953 |
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill |
"for his mastery of historical and
biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending
exalted human values" |
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biblion |
| 1954 |
Ernest Miller Hemingway |
"for his mastery of the art of narrative,
most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the
influence that he has exerted on contemporary style" |
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biblion |
| 1955 |
Halldór Kiljan Laxness |
"for his vivid epic power which has
renewed the great narrative art of Iceland" |
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| 1956 |
Juan Ramón Jiménez |
"for his lyrical poetry, which in
Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical
purity" |
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| 1957 |
Albert Camus |
"for his important literary production,
which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the
human conscience in our times" |
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biblion |
| 1958 |
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak |
"for his important achievement both
in contemporary lyrical poetry and in the field of the great Russian
epic tradition" |
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| 1959 |
Salvatore Quasimodo |
"for his lyrical poetry, which with
classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own
times" |
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biblion |
| Year |
Winner |
Quote from
prize commitee |
search |
| 1960 |
Saint-John Perse |
"for the soaring flight and the evocative
imagery of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions
of our time" |
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biblion |
| 1961 |
Ivo Andric |
"for the epic force with which he
has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history
of his country" |
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| 1962 |
John Steinbeck |
"for his realistic and imaginative
writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social
perception" |
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| 1963 |
Giorgos Seferis |
"for his eminent lyrical writing,
inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture" |
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| 1964 |
Jean-Paul Sartre |
"for his work which, rich in ideas
and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has
exerted a far-reaching influence on our age" |
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| 1965 |
Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov |
"for the artistic power and integrity
with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic
phase in the life of the Russian people" |
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biblion |
| 1966 |
Shmuel Yosef Agnon |
"for his profoundly characteristic
narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people" |
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| Nelly Sachs |
"for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic
writing, which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength" |
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| 1967 |
Miguel Angel Asturias |
"for his vivid literary achievement,
deep-rooted in the national traits and traditions of Indian peoples
of Latin America" |
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| 1968 |
Yasunari Kawabata |
"for his narrative mastery, which
with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind" |
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| 1969 |
Samuel Beckett |
"for his writing, which - in new
forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires
its elevation" |
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| 1970 |
Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn |
"for the ethical force with which
he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature" |
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| 1971 |
Pablo Neruda |
"for a poetry that with the action
of an elemental force brings alive a continent's destiny and dreams" |
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| 1972 |
Heinrich Böll |
"for his writing which through its
combination of a broad perspective on his time and a sensitive skill
in characterization has contributed to a renewal of German literature" |
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biblion |
| 1973 |
Patrick White |
"for an epic and psychological narrative
art which has introduced a new continent into literature" |
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| 1974 |
Eyvind Johnson |
"for a narrative art, far-seeing in
lands and ages, in the service of freedom" |
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| Harry Martinson |
"for writings that catch the dewdrop
and reflect the cosmos" |
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| 1975 |
Eugenio Montale |
"for his distinctive poetry which,
with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under
the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions" |
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biblion |
| 1976 |
Saul Bellow |
"for the human understanding and subtle
analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work" |
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| 1977 |
Vicente Aleixandre |
"for a creative poetic writing which
illuminates man's condition in the cosmos and in present-day society,
at the same time representing the great renewal of the traditions
of Spanish poetry beween the wars" |
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| 1978 |
Isaac Bashevis Singer |
"for his impassioned narrative art
which, with roots in a Polish-Jewish cultural tradition, brings universal
human conditions to life" |
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| 1979 |
Odysseus Elytis |
"for his poetry, which, against the
background of Greek tradition, depicts with sensuous strength and
intellectual clear-sightedness modern man's struggle for freedom and
creativeness" |
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biblion |
| Year |
Winner |
Quote from
prize commitee |
search |
| 1980 |
Czeslaw Milosz |
"who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposed
condition in a world of severe conflicts"
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| 1981 |
Elias Canetti |
"for writings marked by a broad outlook,
a wealth of ideas and artistic power" |
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| 1982 |
Gabriel García Márquez |
"for his novels and short stories,
in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly
composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts" |
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| 1983 |
William Golding |
"for his novels which, with the perspicuity
of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth,
illuminate the human condition in the world of today" |
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| 1984 |
Jaroslav Seifert |
"for his poetry which endowed with
freshness, sensuality and rich inventiveness provides a liberating
image of the indomitable spirit and versatility of man" |
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| 1985 |
Claude Simon |
"who in his novel combines the poet's
and the painter's creativeness with a deepened awareness of time in
the depiction of the human condition" |
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| 1986 |
Wole Soyinka |
"who in a wide cultural perspective
and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence" |
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| 1987 |
Joseph Brodsky |
"for an all-embracing authorship,
imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity" |
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| 1988 |
Naguib Mahfouz |
"who, through works rich in nuance
- now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed
an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" |
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| 1989 |
Camilo José Cela |
"for a rich and intensive prose,
which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's
vulnerability" |
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| 1990 |
Octavio Paz |
"for impassioned writing with wide
horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity" |
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| 1991 |
Nadine Gordimer |
"who through her magnificent epic
writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit
to humanity" |
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| 1992 |
Derek Walcott |
"for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity,
sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment" |
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| 1993 |
Toni Morrison |
"who in novels characterized by visionary
force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American
reality" |
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| 1994 |
Kenzaburo Oe |
"who with poetic force creates an
imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting
picture of the human predicament today" |
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biblion |
| 1995 |
Seamus Heaney |
"for works of lyrical beauty and ethical
depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past" |
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| 1996 |
Wislawa Szymborska |
"for poetry that with ironic precision
allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments
of human reality" |
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| 1997 |
Dario Fo |
"who emulates the jesters of the Middle
Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden" |
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| 1998 |
José Saramago |
"who with parables sustained by imagination,
compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend
an elusory reality" |
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biblion |
| 1999 |
Günter Grass |
"whose frolicsome black fables portray
the forgotten face of history" |
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| 2000 |
Gao Xingjian |
“for an œuvre of universal validity,
bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths
for the Chinese novel and drama” |
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| 2001 |
Sir V.S. Naipaul |
“for having united perceptive narrative
and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence
of suppressed histories” |
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biblion |
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