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1962 Nobel Prize in Literature

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1962 Nobel Prize in Literature
John Steinbeck
"for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception."
Date
  • 25 October 1962 (announcement)
  • 10 December 1962
    (ceremony)
LocationStockholm, Sweden
Presented bySwedish Academy
First awarded1901
WebsiteOfficial website
← 1961 · Nobel Prize in Literature · 1963 →

The 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the American author John Steinbeck (1902–1968) "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception."[1]

Laureate

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Main article: John Steinbeck

Social conditions of migrants and seasonal workers became a recurring theme in Steinbeck's writings and were particularly evident in Of Mice and Men (1937) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939). The latter relates how unemployment and abuse of power forced farmers to migrate from Oklahoma to California. Sympathy with the downtrodden and the poor characterizes his writing. It is expressed with a compassionate sense of humor and a sharp eye for social and economic injustices. His other outstanding works include East of Eden (1952), Tortilla Flat (1935) and The Pearl (1947).[2]

Deliberations

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Nominations

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Steinbeck was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature on 11 occasions, the first time in 1943. In 1962, the Nobel committee received two nominations for him.[3] Included in the shortlisted nominees were Steinbeck, Robert Graves, Lawrence Durrell, Jean Anouilh, and Karen Blixen. Steinbeck was awarded eventually, but the four never received the prize.[4]

In total, the Swedish Academy received 86 nominations for 66 writers. Fifteen of the nominees were nominated first-time among them William Heinesen, Pietro Ubaldi, Ronald Syme, Carl Zuckmayer, André Schwarz-Bart, Josep Carner and Eyvind Johnson (awarded in 1974). British novelist E. M. Forster earned the highest number of nominations (4 nominations) followed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Friedrich Dürrenmatt (3 nominations each). Three of the nominees were women namely Karen Blixen, Gertrud von le Fort and Giulia Scappino Murena.[4]

The authors Antonio Acevedo Hernández, Gerrit Achterberg, Richard Aldington, Jean Amrouche, Georges Bataille, Pierre Benoit, E. E. Cummings, Maria Dermoût, Jean Devanny, Mouloud Feraoun, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, Mary Gilmore, Patrick Hamilton, Pierre Hamp, Agnes Henningsen, Robinson Jeffers, Helge Krog, Alda Lara, María Rosa Lida de Malkiel, Arthur Oncken Lovejoy, Francisco Méndez, Patrícia Rehder Galvão (known as Pagu), Vita Sackville-West, Hajime Tanabe, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Sandu Tudor, Mohammad Yamin, and Ouyang Yuqian died in 1962 without having been nominated for the prize. Danish author Karen Blixen and German translator Rudolf Alexander Schröder died weeks before the announcement.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize
No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)
1 Jean Anouilh (1910–1987)  France drama, screenplay, translation Harry Martinson (1904–1978)
2 Karen Blixen (1885–1962)  Denmark novel, short story, memoir Henry Olsson (1896–1985)
3 Heinrich Böll (1917–1985)  West Germany novel, short story
  • Duncan Mennie (1909–1998)
  • Gustav Korlén (1915–2014)
4 Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)  Argentina poetry, essays, translation, short story Henry Olsson (1896–1985)
5 Martin Buber (1878–1965)  Austria
 Israel 		philosophy
6 Josep Carner (1884–1970)  Spain poetry, drama, translation Jean Camp (1891–1968)
7 Franz Theodor Csokor (1885–1969)  Austria drama, essays, poetry, autobiography The Austrian PEN-Club
8 Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990)  United Kingdom novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays
9 Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)   Switzerland drama, novel, short story, essays
  • Friedrich Sengle (1909–1994)
  • Jean-Pierre Schmid (1920–1977)
  • Bjarne Ulvestad (1922–2004)
10 Johan Falkberget (1879–1967)  Norway novel, short story, essays Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975)
11 Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970)  United Kingdom novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism
  • Kurt Wais (1907–1995)
  • Simeon Potter (1898–1976)
  • The English PEN-Club
  • Alfred King (?)
12 Max Frisch (1911–1991)   Switzerland novel, drama
  • Hildebrecht Hommel (1899–1986)
  • Johannes Holthusen (1924–1985)
13 Robert Frost (1874–1963)  United States poetry, drama Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963)
14 Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969)  Venezuela novel, short story Rudolf Grossmann (1892–1980)
15 Robert Graves (1895–1985)  United Kingdom history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays Harry Martinson (1904–1978)
16 Graham Greene (1904–1991)  United Kingdom novel, short story, autobiography, essays
  • Robert Niklaus (1910–2001)
  • Frede Løkkegaard (1915–1990)
17 Jorge Guillén (1893–1984)  Spain poetry, literary criticism Georges Poulet (1902–1991)
18 Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972)  United Kingdom novel, short story Geoffrey Tillotson (1905–1969)
19 Manfred Hausmann (1898–1986)  West Germany novel, short story, poetry, essays Heinrich Dörrie (1911–1983)
20 William Heinesen (1900–1991)  Faroe Islands poetry, short story, novel Christian Matras (1900–1988)
21 Taha Hussein (1889–1973)  Egypt novel, short story, poetry, translation
22 Roman Jakobson (1896–1982)  Russia
 United States 		essays Peter Hartmann (1923–1984)
23 Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976)  Sweden novel, short story Carl-Eric Thors (1920–1986)
24 Erich Kästner (1899–1974)  West Germany poetry, screenplay, autobiography
25 Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972)  Japan novel, short story The Japanese PEN-Club
26 Humphrey Davy Findley Kitto (1897–1982)  United Kingdom history William Beare (1933–2019)
27 Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981)  Yugoslavia poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays The Yugoslavian Writers Association
28 Frank Raymond Leavis (1895–1978)  United Kingdom literary criticism, essays Cecil Arthur Hackett (1908–2000)
29 André Malraux (1901–1976)  France novel, essays, literary criticism
30 Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973)  France philosophy, drama
31 William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)  United Kingdom novel, short story, drama, essays Richard Broxton Onians (1899–1986)
32 Max Mell (1882–1971)  Austria drama, novel, screenplay Moritz Enzinger (1891–1975)
33 Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968)  Spain philology, history
34 Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973)  Sweden novel, drama, history Gösta Bergman (1894–1984)
35 Alberto Moravia (1907–1990)  Italy novel, literary criticism, essays, drama Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007)
36 Stratis Myrivilis (1890–1969)  Greece novel, short story Writers Association of the Hellenes
37 Pablo Neruda (1904–1973)  Chile poetry The Chilean Authors Society
38 Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982)  Japan poetry, literary criticism Naoshiro Tsuji (1899–1979)
39 Hans Erich Nossack (1901–1977)  West Germany novel, drama Josef Math (?)
40 Seán O'Casey (1880–1964)  Ireland drama, memoir Geoffrey Tillotson (1905–1969)
41 Ezra Pound (1885–1972)  United States poetry, essays Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982)
42 John Cowper Powys (1872–1963)  United Kingdom philosophy, novel, literary criticism, poetry, essays, short story George Wilson Knight (1897–1985)
43 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)  India philosophy, essays, law
44 Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965)  Denmark
 Norway 		novel, essays Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976)
45 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)  France philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay
46 Giulia Scappino Murena (1902–1967)  Italy poetry Alfredo Galletti (1872–1962)
47 Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878–1962)  West Germany poetry, translation Ernst Zinn (1910–1990)
48 André Schwarz-Bart (1928–2006)  France novel Ingerid Dal (1895–1985)
49 Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971)  Greece poetry, memoir, essays
50 Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984)  Soviet Union novel Henrik Becker (1902–1984)
51 Ignazio Silone (1900–1978)  Italy novel, short story, essays, drama Elias Wessén (1889–1981)
52 John Steinbeck (1902–1968)  United States novel, short story, screenplay
53 Ronald Syme (1903–1989)  New Zealand
 United Kingdom 		history Albrecht Dihle (1923–2020)
54 Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965)  Japan novel, short story Howard Hibbett (1920–2019)
55 Frank Thiess (1890–1977)  West Germany novel Helmuth Scheel (1895–1967)
56 Miguel Torga (1907–1995)  Portugal poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiography Hernâni Antonio Cidade (1887–1975)
57 Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972)  Italy philosophy, essays Academia Santista de Letras
58 Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970)  Norway poetry, novel Sigmund Skard (1903–1995)
59 Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971)  Netherlands novel, poetry, essays, translation The Austrian PEN-Club
60 Heimito von Doderer (1896–1966)  Austria novel, short story, poetry, essays
  • Ernst Alker (1895–1972)
  • The Austrian PEN-Club
61 Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971)  West Germany novel, short story, essays, poetry Friedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966)
62 Arthur David Waley (1889–1966)  United Kingdom translation, essays David Hawkes (1923–2009)
63 Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)  United States drama, novel, short story Peter Wapnewski (1922–2012)
64 Boris Zaytsev (1881–1972)  Russia poetry, drama, novel Rostislav Pletnv (1903–1985)
65 Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977)  West Germany drama, screenplay Rudolf Stark (1912–1966)
66 Arnold Zweig (1887–1968)  East Germany novel, short story Henrik Becker (1902–1984)

Prize Decision

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In 2012 (50 years later), the Nobel Prize opened its archives and it was revealed that Steinbeck was a "compromise choice" among a shortlist consisting of Steinbeck, British authors Robert Graves and Lawrence Durrell, French dramatist Jean Anouilh and Danish author Karen Blixen.[5] The declassified documents showed that he was chosen as the best of a not so noteworthy group:[5] "There aren't any obvious candidates for the Nobel prize and the prize committee is in an unenviable situation," wrote committee member Henry Olsson.[5] Although the committee believed Steinbeck's best work was behind him by 1962, committee member Anders Österling believed the release of his novel The Winter of Our Discontent showed that "after some signs of slowing down in recent years, [Steinbeck has] regained his position as a social truth-teller [and is an] authentic realist fully equal to his predecessors Sinclair Lewis and Ernest Hemingway."[5]

In 2010, Swedish Academy's archives later revealed that Danish writer Karen Blixen was a favorite candidate since 1959 but was missed out because the committee were concerned about showing favoritism to Scandinavian writers.[6] "The Nobel academy was probably afraid to appear provincial," Johannes Riis, literary director at Gyldendals publishing house told Politiken. "And so a mistake was made, because obviously Karen Blixen ought to have received the Nobel prize. Instead, it was a kind of reverse provincialism."[6] Blixen eventually died in September 7, 1962, making her ineligible further for the prize.

Reactions

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The selection of Steinbeck was heavily criticized, and described as "one of the Academy's biggest mistakes" in one Swedish newspaper.[5] While there were some positive reactions in America,[7] The New York Times asked why the Nobel committee gave the award to an author whose "limited talent is, in his best books, watered down by tenth-rate philosophising", adding, "we think it interesting that the laurel was not awarded to a writer ... whose significance, influence and sheer body of work had already made a more profound impression on the literature of our age".[5] Steinbeck himself, when asked if he deserved the Nobel on the day of the announcement, replied: "Frankly, no."[5] Today, however, many of Steinbecks works are widely read and considered classics of Western literature.[8]

References

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  1. ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1962 nobelprize.org
  2. ^ John Steinbeck nobelprize.org
  3. ^ Nomination archive – John Steinbeck nobelprize.org
  4. ^ a b Nomination archive – 1962 nobelprize.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Alison Flood (3 January 2013). "Swedish Academy reopens controversy surrounding Steinbeck's Nobel prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  6. ^ a b Alison Flood (1 February 2010). "'Reverse provincialism' denied Karen Blixen Nobel prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  7. ^ Helmer Lång 100 nobelpris i litteratur Symposion 2001, ISBN 91-7139-537-7 p. 224 (in Swedish)
  8. ^ "Who, what, why: Why do children study Of Mice and Men?". BBC News. BBC. March 25, 2011. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
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