The Nobel Prize for literature, which will be awarded on Thursday, may go to a writer who advocates for freedom of speech, experts believe, writes AFP.

The names of the Russian writer and opponent of the Kremlin, Lyudmila Ulytskaya, with her epic novels in the tradition of Steinbeck or Salman Rushdie, the famous British writer who was persecuted by a fatwa and became the victim of a serious attack in August 2022, predictions.

“Literature remains free in the face of politics”

The Swedish Academy could also, as it does, award a lesser-known pen such as the avant-garde Chinese writer Cang Xue.

The election of Lyudmila Ulytska would prove that “literature remains free in the face of politics”, highlighting Russian literature despite the war in Ukraine, believes Lisa Irenius, head of the culture department of the daily Svenska Dagbladet.

It would be an opportunity to honor an author in exile in Germany who likes to oppose the Russian authorities: the Academy would send “a very political message”, according to Bjorn Wiemann of the daily Dagens Nyheter (DN).

He thinks Jamaican-American Kincaid’s autobiography has a chance this year, but he would welcome a Salman Rushdie award: “It’s about time it won, and if it does, I take my hat off to the Academy.” , because he would welcome freedom of speech, which the author is the embodiment of for many.

After the #MeToo scandal that rocked the Academy in 2018, as well as the controversy caused by awarding the prize to Austrian writer Peter Handke for his defense of Serbs during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, the Academy is trying to reinvent itself.

“The award should reflect the times”

Last year, the prize was awarded to Annie Hernaud, the French author of a work that tells the story of the emancipation of a woman of humble origin who, despite herself, became an emblem of feminism. And the previous edition crowned Zanzibar-born British novelist Abdulrazak Gurna, who explores the agonies of exile, anti-colonialism and anti-racism.

“In recent years there has been a greater awareness that we cannot remain in a Eurocentric perspective, that we need more equality and that the award should reflect the times,” says Karin Franzen, professor of literature at Stockholm University.

This was reflected in the new composition of the Academy, almost half of its members changed after Handke was awarded the Nobel Prize, emphasizes the culture editor of DN. “Her image has changed,” he explains.

It does not shy away from criticism, and several of its members, including writers, philosophers and teachers, are actively involved in public debate, organizing conferences on freedom of speech and equality and publishing articles in the Swedish press. “Five years ago this was unimaginable,” says Bjorn Wiman.

Iranian poet Jila Mossed, who is ranked 15th in the Academy, spoke out against the Iranian regime and praised the literary quality of the work of the Syrian poet Adonis, who was on the short list for the Nobel Prize for more than ten years.

“But it’s still very difficult to guess and know,” as the members of the Academy think, emphasizes Lina Kalmteg, a literary journalist at the Swedish National Radio.

Other “ordinary” Nobel laureates regularly appear on critics’ lists, including Romanian Mircea Carterescu, Hungarians Peter Nadash and László Krasnagorkai, as well as Frenchmen Michel Houellebecq and Marise Condé.

However, the traditional game of predicting the Nobel Prize in Literature is running out.

“Given the Academy’s promise to open up to other geographical regions, I fear that in the long run we won’t have the necessary knowledge to guess well, even with a doctorate in literature,” says Viktor Malm, culture editor of tabloid Expressen This year, he’s betting on the Norwegians Jon Fosse and Dag Solstad.

To fulfill its promise, the Swedish Academy is turning to external experts to accurately understand the scope of work from other horizons.

Meanwhile, the numbers say otherwise.

Since the award’s inception, only 17 women have won the prestigious literary award out of a total of 119 winners. And of the 16 French winners, only one was an Arabic-language author: Naguib Mahfouz in 1988 (Egypt). (Source: News.ro)