Nobel Lectures

courtesy: nobelprize.org

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clzio Born: 13 April 1940, Nice, France Residence at the time of the award: France, Mauritius ri!e moti"ation: #author of new departures, poetic ad"enture and sensual ecstas$, e%plorer of a humanit$ &e$ond and &elow the rei'nin' ci"ili!ation# (an'ua'e: French Biography )* M* +* (e ,l-!io was &orn in 1940 in Nice, France* .e is a descendent of a Breton famil$ that emi'rated in the 1/th centur$ to Mauritius* .e completed his under'raduate studies at the 0nstitut d12tudes (itt-raires in Nice and is a 3octor of hilosoph$* 3espite his e%tensi"e tra"els, since the a'e of se"en or ei'ht )* M* +* (e ,l-!io has ne"er stopped writin': poems, sa'as, tales, short stories, of which nothin' was pu&lished until (e roc4s5"er&al 67he 0nterro'ation8, his first no"el, appeared in print in 9eptem&er 19:3, for which he recei"ed (e ri% Renaudot* 0n 19/0 he recei"ed (e +rand ri% aul5Morand from the French Academ$ for his no"el 3-sert* 0n ;00/ he was awarded the No&el ri!e in (iterature* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;00/, <ditor =arl +randin, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;009 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;00/ )ean5Marie +usta"e (e ,l-!io No&el (ecture 3ans la forBt des parado%es )ean5Marie +usta"e (e ,l-!io deli"ered his No&el (ecture, C 3ecem&er ;00/, at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm* .e was introduced &$ .orace <n'dahl, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* 7he lecture was deli"ered in French* Nobel Lecture 3ecem&er C, ;00/ In the orest o para!o"es Dh$ do we writeE 0 ima'ine that each of us has his or her own response to this simple Fuestion* Gne has predispositions, a milieu, circumstances* 9hortcomin's, too* 0f we are writin', it means that we are not actin'* 7hat we find oursel"es in difficult$ when we are faced with realit$, and so we ha"e chosen another wa$ to react, another wa$ to communicate, a certain distance, a time for reflection* 0f 0 e%amine the circumstances which inspired me to writeHand this is not mere self5indul'ence, &ut
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a desire for accurac$H0 see clearl$ that the startin' point of it all for me was war* Not war in the sense of a specific time of maIor uphea"al, where historical e"ents are e%perienced, such as the French campai'n on the &attlefield at Jalm$, as recounted &$ +oethe on the +erman side and m$ ancestor FranKois on the side of the arm-e r-"olutionnaire* 7hat must ha"e &een a moment full of e%altation and pathos* No, for me war is what ci"ilians e%perience, "er$ $oun' children first and foremost* Not once has war e"er seemed to me to &e an historical moment* De were hun'r$, we were fri'htened, we were cold, and that is all* 0 remem&er seein' the troops of Field Marshal Rommel pass &$ under m$ window as the$ headed towards the Alps, see@in' a passa'e to the north of 0tal$ and Austria* 0 do not ha"e a particularl$ "i"id memor$ of that e"ent* 0 do recall, howe"er, that durin' the $ears which followed the war we were depri"ed of e"er$thin', in particular &oo@s and writin' materials* For want of paper and in@, 0 made m$ first drawin's and wrote m$ first te%ts on the &ac@ of the ration &oo@s, usin' a carpenterLs &lue and red pencil* 7his left me with a certain preference for rou'h paper and ordinar$ pencils* For want of an$ childrenLs &oo@s, 0 read m$ 'randmotherLs dictionaries* 7he$ were li@e a mar"ellous 'atewa$, throu'h which 0 em&ar@ed on a disco"er$ of the world, to wander and da$dream as 0 loo@ed at the illustrated plates, and the maps, and the lists of unfamiliar words* 7he first &oo@ 0 wrote, at the a'e of si% or se"en, was entitled, moreo"er, (e +lo&e M mariner* 0mmediatel$ afterwards came a &io'raph$ of an ima'inar$ @in' named 3aniel 000Ncould he ha"e &een 9wedishENand a tale told &$ a sea'ull* 0t was a time of reclusion* ,hildren were scarcel$ allowed outdoors to pla$, &ecause in the fields and 'ardens near m$ 'randmotherLs there were land mines* 0 recall that one da$ as 0 was out wal@in' &$ the sea 0 came across an enclosure surrounded &$ &ar&ed wire: on the fence was a si'n in French and in +erman that threatened intruders with a for&iddin' messa'e, and a s@ull to ma@e thin's perfectl$ clear* 0t is eas$, in such a conte%t, to understand the ur'e to escapeNhence, to dream, and put those dreams in writin'* M$ maternal 'randmother, moreo"er, was an e%traordinar$ stor$teller, and she set aside the lon' afternoons for the tellin' of stories* 7he$ were alwa$s "er$ ima'inati"e, and were set in a forestNperhaps it was in Africa, or in Mauritius, the forest of Maccha&-eNwhere the main character was a mon@e$ who had a 'reat talent for mischief, and who alwa$s wri''led his wa$ out of the most perilous situations* (ater, 0 would tra"el to Africa and spend time there, and disco"er the real forest, one where there were almost no animals* But a 3istrict Gfficer in the "illa'e of G&udu, near the &order with ,ameroon, showed me how to listen for the drummin' of the 'orillas on a near&$ hill, poundin' their chests* And from that Iourne$, and the time 0 spent there 6in Ni'eria, where m$ father was a &ush doctor8, it was not su&Iect matter for future no"els that 0 &rou'ht &ac@, &ut a sort of second personalit$, a da$dreamer who was fascinated with realit$ at the same time, and this personalit$ has sta$ed with me all m$ lifeNand has constituted a contradictor$ dimension, a stran'eness in m$self that at times has &een a source of sufferin'* +i"en the slowness of life, it has ta@en me the &etter part of m$ e%istence to understand the si'nificance of this contradiction* Boo@s entered m$ life at a later period* Dhen m$ fatherLs inheritance was di"ided, at the time of his e%pulsion from the famil$ home in Mo@a, in Mauritius, he mana'ed to put to'ether se"eral li&raries consistin' of the &oo@s that remained* 0t was then that 0 understood a truth not immediatel$ apparent to children, that &oo@s are a treasure more precious than an$ real propert$ or &an@ account* 0t was in those "olumesNmost of them ancient, &ound tomesNthat 0 disco"ered the 'reat wor@s of world literature: 3on OuiIote, illustrated &$ 7on$ )ohannotP (a "ida de (a!arillo de 7ormesP the 0n'olds&$ (e'endsP +ulli"erLs 7ra"elsP Jictor .u'oLs 'reat, inspired no"els Ouatre5 "in't5trei!e, (es 7ra"ailleurs de la Mer, and (L.omme Fui rit* Bal!acLs (es ,ontes drQlatiFues, as well* But the &oo@s which had the 'reatest impact on me were the antholo'ies of tra"ellersL tales, most of them de"oted to 0ndia, Africa, and the Mascarene islands, or the 'reat histories of e%ploration &$ 3umont dLRr"ille or the A&&- Rochon, as well as Bou'ain"ille, ,oo@, and of course 7he 7ra"els of Marco olo* 0n the mediocre life of a little pro"incial town do!in' in the sun, after those $ears of freedom in Africa, those &oo@s 'a"e me a taste for ad"enture, 'a"e me a sense of the "astness of the real world, a means to e%plore it throu'h instinct and the senses rather than throu'h
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@nowled'e* 0n a wa$, too, those &oo@s 'a"e me, from "er$ earl$ on, an awareness of the contradictor$ nature of a childLs e%istence: a child will clin' to a sanctuar$, a place to for'et "iolence and competiti"eness, and also ta@e pleasure in loo@in' throu'h the windowpane to watch the outside world 'o &$* 9hortl$ &efore 0 recei"ed theNto me, astonishin'Nnews that the 9wedish Academ$ was awardin' me this distinction, 0 was re5readin' a little &oo@ &$ 9ti' 3a'erman that 0 am particularl$ fond of: a collection of political essa$s entitled <ssSer och te%ter* 0t was no mere chance that 0 was re5readin' this &itter, a&rasi"e &oo@* 0 was preparin' a trip to 9weden to recei"e the pri!e which the Association of the Friends of 9ti' 3a'erman had awarded to me the pre"ious summer, to "isit the places where the writer had li"ed as a child* 0 ha"e alwa$s &een particularl$ recepti"e to 3a'ermanLs writin', to the wa$ in which he com&ines a child5li@e tenderness with naT"et- and sarcasm* And to his idealism* 7o the clear5si'htedness with which he Iud'es his trou&led, post5war eraNthat of his mature $ears, and of m$ childhood* Gne sentence in particular cau'ht m$ attention, and seemed to &e addressed to me at that "er$ moment, for 0 had Iust pu&lished a no"el entitled Ritournelle de la faim* 7hat sentence, or that passa'e rather, is as follows: #.ow is it possi&le on the one hand, for e%ample, to &eha"e as if nothin' on earth were more important than literature, and on the other fail to see that where"er one loo@s, people are stru''lin' a'ainst hun'er and will necessaril$ consider that the most important thin' is what the$ earn at the end of the monthE Because this is where he 6the writer8 is confronted with a new parado%: while all he wanted was to write for those who are hun'r$, he now disco"ers that it is onl$ those who ha"e plent$ to eat who ha"e the leisure to ta@e notice of his e%istence*# 67he Driter and ,onsciousness8 7his #forest of parado%es#, as 9ti' 3a'erman calls it, is, precisel$, the realm of writin', the place from which the artist must not attempt to escape: on the contrar$, he or she must #camp out# there in order to e%amine e"er$ detail, e%plore e"er$ path, name e"er$ tree* 0t is not alwa$s a pleasant sta$* .e thou'ht he had found shelter, she was confidin' in her pa'e as if it were a close, indul'ent friendP &ut now these writers are confronted with realit$, not merel$ as o&ser"ers, &ut as actors* 7he$ must choose sides, esta&lish their distance* ,icero, Ra&elais, ,ondorcet, Rousseau, Madame de 9taUl, or, far more recentl$, 9ol!henits$n or .wan' 9o@5$on', A&delatif (aV&i, or Milan =undera: all were o&li'ed to follow the path of e%ile* For someone li@e m$self who has alwa$sN e%cept durin' that &rief war5time periodNenIo$ed freedom of mo"ement, the idea that one mi'ht &e for&idden to li"e in the place one has chosen is as inadmissi&le as &ein' depri"ed of oneLs freedom* But the pri"ile'e of freedom of mo"ement results in the parado%* (oo@, for a moment, at the tree with its pric@l$ thorns that is at the "er$ heart of the forest where the writer li"es: this man, this woman, &usil$ writin', in"entin' their dreamsNdo the$ not &elon' to a "er$ fortunate and e%clusi"e happ$ fewE (et us pause and ima'ine an e%treme, terrif$in' situationNli@e the one in which the "ast maIorit$ of people on our planet find themsel"es* A situation which, lon' a'o, at the time of Aristotle, or 7olsto$, was shared &$ those who had no statusNserfs, ser"ants, "illeins in <urope in the Middle A'es, or those peoples who durin' the <nli'htenment were plundered from the coast of Africa, sold in +or-e, or <l Mina, or Wan!i&ar* And e"en toda$, as 0 am spea@in' to $ou, there are all those who do not ha"e freedom of speech, who are on the other side of lan'ua'e* 0 am o"ercome &$ 3a'ermanLs pessimistic thou'hts, rather than &$ +ramsciLs militanc$, or 9artreLs disillusioned wa'er* 7he idea that literature is the lu%ur$ of a dominant class, feedin' on ideas and ima'es that remain forei'n to the "ast maIorit$: that is the source of the malaise that each of us is feelin'Nas 0 address those who read, who write* Gf course one would li@e to spread the word to all those who ha"e &een e%cluded, to in"ite them ma'nanimousl$ to the &anFuet of culture* Dh$ is this so difficultE eoples without writin', as the anthropolo'ists li@e to call them, ha"e succeeded in in"entin' a form of total communication, throu'h son' and m$th* Dh$ has this &ecome impossi&le for our industriali!ed societies, in the present da$E Must we rein"ent cultureE Must we return to an immediate, direct form of communicationE 0t is temptin' to &elie"e that the cinema fulfils Iust such a role in our time, or popular music with its rh$thms and rh$mes, its echoes of the
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dance* Gr Ia!! and, in other climes, cal$pso, malo$a, se'a* 7he parado% is not a recent one* FranKois Ra&elais, the 'reatest writer in the French lan'ua'e, wa'ed war lon' a'o a'ainst the pedantr$ of the scholars at the 9or&onne &$ tauntin' them to their face with words pluc@ed from the common ton'ue* Das he spea@in' for those who were hun'r$E <%cess, into%ication, feastin'* .e put into words the e%traordinar$ appetite of those who dined off the emaciation of peasants and wor@ers, Iust lon' enou'h for a masFuerade, a world turned upside down* 7he parado% of re"olution, li@e the epic ca"alcade of the sad5faced @ni'ht, li"es within the writerLs consciousness* 0f there is one "irtue which the writerLs pen must alwa$s ha"e, it is that it must ne"er &e used to praise the powerful, e"en with the faintest of scri&&lin's* And $et Iust &ecause an artist o&ser"es this "irtuous &eha"iour does not mean that he ma$ feel pur'ed of all suspicion* .is re&ellion, denial, and imprecations definitel$ remain to one side of the &arrier, the side of the lan'ua'e of power* A few words, a few phrases ma$ ha"e escaped* But the restE A lon' palimpsest, an ele'ant and distant time of procrastination* And there is humour, sometimes, which is not the politeness of despair, &ut the despairin' of those who @now too well their imperfectionsP humour is the shore where the tumultuous current of inIustice has a&andoned them* Dh$ write, thenE For some time now, writers ha"e no lon'er &een so presumptuous as to &elie"e that the$ can chan'e the world, that the$ will, throu'h their stories and no"els, 'i"e &irth to a &etter e%ample for how life should &e* 9impl$, the$ would li@e to &ear witness* 9ee that other tree in the forest of parado%es* 7he writer would li@e to &ear witness, when in fact, most of the time, he is nothin' more than a simple "o$eur* And $et there are artists who do &ecome witnesses: 3ante in the (a 3i"ina ,ommedia, 9ha@espeare in 7he 7empestNand Aim- ,-saire in his ma'nificent adaptation of that pla$, entitled Rne 7empBte, in which ,ali&an, sittin' astride a &arrel of 'unpowder, threatens to &low himself up and ta@e his despised masters with him* 7here are also those witnesses who are unimpeacha&le, such as <uclides da ,unha in Gs 9ertXes, or rimo (e"i* De see the a&surdit$ of the world in 3er ro!ess 6or in the films of ,harlie ,haplin8P its imperfection in ,oletteLs (a Naissance du Iour, its phantasma'oria in the 0rish &allad )o$ce created in Finne'ans Da@e* 0ts &eaut$ shines, &rilliantl$, irresisti&l$, in eter MatthiessenLs 7he 9now (eopard or in Aldo (eopoldLs A 9and ,ount$ Almanac* 0ts wic@edness in Dilliam Faul@nerLs 9anctuar$, or in (ao 9heLs First 9now* 0ts childhood fra'ilit$ in 3a'ermanLs Grmen 67he 9na@e8* 7he &est writer as witness is the one who is a witness in spite of himself, unwillin'l$* 7he parado% is that he does not &ear witness to somethin' he has seen, or e"en to what he has in"ented* Bitterness, e"en despair ma$ arise &ecause he cannot &e present at the indictment* 7olsto$ ma$ show us the sufferin' that NapoleonLs arm$ inflicted upon Russia, and $et nothin' is chan'ed in the course of histor$* ,laire de 3uras wrote Guri@a, and .arriet Beecher 9towe Rncle 7omLs ,a&in, &ut it was the ensla"ed peoples themsel"es who chan'ed their own destin$, who re&elled and fou'ht a'ainst inIustice &$ creatin' the Maroon resistance in Bra!il, in French +uiana, and in the Dest 0ndies, and the first &lac@ repu&lic in .aiti* 7o act: that is what the writer would li@e to &e a&le to do, a&o"e all* 7o act, rather than to &ear witness* 7o write, ima'ine, and dream in such a wa$ that his words and in"entions and dreams will ha"e an impact upon realit$, will chan'e peopleLs minds and hearts, will prepare the wa$ for a &etter world* And $et, at that "er$ moment, a "oice is whisperin' to him that it will not &e possi&le, that words are words that are ta@en awa$ on the winds of societ$, and dreams are mere illusions* Dhat ri'ht has he to wish he were &etterE 0s it reall$ up to the writer to tr$ to find solutionsE 0s he not in the position of the 'ame@eeper in the pla$ =noc@ ou (e 7riomphe de la m-decine, who would li@e to pre"ent an earthFua@eE .ow can the writer act, when all he @nows is how to remem&erE 9olitude will &e his lot in life* 0t alwa$s has &een* As a child, he was a fra'ile, an%ious, e%cessi"el$
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recepti"e &o$, or the 'irl descri&ed &$ ,olette, who cannot help &ut watch as her parents tear each other apart, her &i' &lac@ e$es enlar'ed with a sort of painful attenti"eness* 9olitude is affectionate to writers, and it is in the compan$ of solitude that the$ find the essence of happiness* 0t is a contradictor$ happiness, a mi%ture of pain and deli'ht, an illusor$ triumph, a muted, omnipresent torment, not unli@e a hauntin' little tune* 7he writer, &etter than an$one, @nows how to culti"ate the "ital, poisonous plant, the one that 'rows onl$ in the soil of his own powerlessness* 7he writer wanted to spea@ for e"er$one, and for e"er$ era: there he is, there she is, each alone in a room, facin' the too5white mirror of the &lan@ pa'e, &eneath the lampshade distillin' its secret li'ht* Gr sittin' at the too5&ri'ht screen of the computer, listenin' to the sound of oneLs fin'ers clic@in' o"er the @e$s* 7his, then, is the writerLs forest* And each writer @nows e"er$ path in that forest all too well* 0f, now and a'ain, somethin' escapes, li@e a &ird flushed &$ a do' at dawn, then the writer loo@s on, ama!edNthis happened merel$ &$ chance, in spite of oneself* 0t is not m$ wish, howe"er, to re"el in ne'ati"it$* (iteratureNand this is what 0 ha"e &een dri"in' atNis not some archaic relic that ou'ht, lo'icall$, to &e replaced &$ the audio"isual arts, the cinema in particular* (iterature is a comple%, difficult path, &ut 0 hold it to &e e"en more "ital toda$ than in the time of B$ron or Jictor .u'o* 7here are two reasons wh$ literature is necessar$: First of all, &ecause literature is made up of lan'ua'e* 7he primar$ sense of the word: letters, that which is written* 0n French, the word roman refers to those te%ts in prose which for the first time after the Middle A'es used the new lan'ua'e spo@en &$ the people, a Romance lan'ua'e* And the word for short stor$, nou"elle, also deri"es from this notion of no"elt$* At rou'hl$ the same time, in France, the word rimeur 6from rime, or rh$me8 fell out of use for desi'natin' poetr$ and poetsN the new words come from the +ree@ "er& poiein, to create* 7he writer, the poet, the no"elist, are all creators* 7his does not mean that the$ in"ent lan'ua'e, it means that the$ use lan'ua'e to create &eaut$, ideas, ima'es* 7his is wh$ we cannot do without them* (an'ua'e is the most e%traordinar$ in"ention in the histor$ of humanit$, the one which came &efore e"er$thin', and which ma@es it possi&le to share e"er$thin'* Dithout lan'ua'e there would &e no science, no technolo'$, no law, no art, no lo"e* But without another person with whom to interact, the in"ention &ecomes "irtual* 0t ma$ atroph$, diminish, disappear* Driters, to a certain de'ree, are the 'uardians of lan'ua'e* Dhen the$ write their no"els, their poetr$, their pla$s, the$ @eep lan'ua'e ali"e* 7he$ are not merel$ usin' wordsNon the contrar$, the$ are at the ser"ice of lan'ua'e* 7he$ cele&rate it, hone it, transform it, &ecause lan'ua'e li"es throu'h them and &ecause of them, and it accompanies all the social and economic transformations of their era* Dhen, in the last centur$, racist theories were e%pressed, there was tal@ of fundamental differences &etween cultures* 0n a sort of a&surd hierarch$, a correlation was drawn &etween the economic success of the colonial powers and their purported cultural superiorit$* 9uch theories, li@e a fe"erish, unhealth$ ur'e, tend to resurface here and there, now and a'ain, to Iustif$ neo5 colonialism or imperialism* 7here are, we are told, certain nations that la' &ehind, who ha"e not acFuired their ri'hts and pri"ile'es where lan'ua'e is concerned, &ecause the$ are economicall$ &ac@ward or technolo'icall$ outdated* But ha"e those who prone their cultural superiorit$ reali!ed that all peoples, the world o"er, whate"er their de'ree of de"elopment, use lan'ua'eE And that each of these lan'ua'es has, identicall$, a set of lo'ical, comple%, structured, anal$tical features that ena&le it to e%press the world, that ena&le it to spea@ of science, or in"ent m$thsE Now that 0 ha"e defended the e%istence of that am&i'uous and somewhat pass- creature we call a writer, 0 would li@e to turn to the second reason for the necessit$ of literature, for this has more to do with the fine profession of pu&lishin'* 7here is a 'reat deal of tal@ a&out 'lo&ali!ation these da$s* eople for'et that in fact the phenomenon &e'an in <urope durin' the Renaissance, with the &e'innin's of the colonial era* +lo&ali!ation is not a &ad thin' in and of itself* ,ommunication has accelerated pro'ress in
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medicine and in science* erhaps the 'enerali!ation of information will help to forestall conflicts* Dho @nows, if the 0nternet had e%isted at the time, perhaps .itlerLs criminal plot would not ha"e succeededNridicule mi'ht ha"e pre"ented it from e"er seein' the li'ht of da$* De li"e in the era of the 0nternet and "irtual communication* 7his is a 'ood thin', &ut what would these astonishin' in"entions &e worth, were it not for the teachin's of written lan'ua'e and &oo@sE 7o pro"ide nearl$ e"er$one on the planet with a liFuid cr$stal displa$ is utopian* Are we not, therefore, in the process of creatin' a new elite, of drawin' a new line to di"ide the world &etween those who ha"e access to communication and @nowled'e, and those who are left outE +reat nations, 'reat ci"ili!ations ha"e "anished &ecause the$ failed to reali!e that this could happen* 7o &e sure, there are 'reat cultures, considered to &e in a minorit$, who ha"e &een a&le to resist until this da$, than@s to the oral transmission of @nowled'e and m$ths* 0t is indispensa&le, and &eneficial, to ac@nowled'e the contri&ution of these cultures* But whether we li@e it or not, e"en if we ha"e not $et attained the a'e of realit$, we are no lon'er li"in' in the a'e of m$ths* 0t is not possi&le to pro"ide a foundation for eFualit$ and the respect of others unless each child recei"es the &enefits of writin'* And now, in this era followin' decoloni!ation, literature has &ecome a wa$ for the men and women in our time to e%press their identit$, to claim their ri'ht to spea@, and to &e heard in all their di"ersit$* Dithout their "oices, their call, we would li"e in a world of silence* ,ulture on a 'lo&al scale concerns us all* But it is a&o"e all the responsi&ilit$ of readersNof pu&lishers, in other words* 7rue, it is unIust that an 0ndian from the far north of ,anada, if he wishes to &e heard, must write in the lan'ua'e of the conFuerorsNin French, or in <n'lish* 7rue, it is an illusion to e%pect that the ,reole lan'ua'e of Mauritius or the Dest 0ndies mi'ht &e heard as easil$ around the world as the fi"e or si% lan'ua'es that rei'n toda$ as a&solute monarchs o"er the media* But if, throu'h translation, their "oices can &e heard, then somethin' new is happenin', a cause for optimism* ,ulture, as 0 ha"e said, &elon's to us all, to all human@ind* But in order for this to &e true, e"er$one must &e 'i"en eFual access to culture* 7he &oo@, howe"er old5fashioned it ma$ &e, is the ideal tool* 0t is practical, eas$ to handle, economical* 0t does not reFuire an$ particular technolo'ical prowess, and @eeps well in an$ climate* 0ts onl$ flawNand this is where 0 would li@e to address pu&lishers in particularNis that in a 'reat num&er of countries it is still "er$ difficult to 'ain access to &oo@s* 0n Mauritius the price of a no"el or a collection of poetr$ is eFui"alent to a si!ea&le portion of the famil$ &ud'et* 0n Africa, 9outheast Asia, Me%ico, or the 9outh 9ea 0slands, &oo@s remain an inaccessi&le lu%ur$* And $et remedies to this situation do e%ist* )oint pu&lication with the de"elopin' countries, the esta&lishment of funds for lendin' li&raries and &oo@mo&iles, and, o"erall, 'reater attention to reFuests from and wor@s in so5called minorit$ lan'ua'esNwhich are often clearl$ in the maIorit$Nwould ena&le literature to continue to &e this wonderful tool for self5@nowled'e, for the disco"er$ of others, and for listenin' to the concert of human@ind, in all the rich "ariet$ of its themes and modulations* 0 thin@ 0 would li@e to sa$ a few more words a&out the forest* 0t is no dou&t for this reason that 9ti' 3a'ermanLs little sentence is still echoin' in m$ memor$, and for this reason that 0 want to read it and re5read it, to fill m$self with it* 7here is a note of despair in his words, and somethin' triumphant at the same time, &ecause it is in &itterness that we can find the 'rain of truth that each of us see@s* As a child, 0 dreamt of that forest* 0t fri'htened me and fascinated me at the same time N0 suppose that 7om 7hum& and .ansel must ha"e felt that wa$, when the$ were deep in the forest, surrounded &$ all its dan'ers and its wonders* 7he forest is a world without landmar@s* Zou can 'et lost in the thic@ness of trees and the impenetra&le dar@ness* 7he same could &e said of the desert, or the open ocean, where e"er$ dune, e"er$ hill 'i"es wa$ to $et another identical hill, e"er$ wa"e to $et another perfectl$ identical wa"e* 0 remem&er the first time 0 e%perienced Iust what literature could &eNin )ac@ (ondonLs 7he ,all of the Dild, to &e e%act, where one of the characters, lost in the snow, felt the cold 'ainin' on him Iust as the circle of wol"es was closin' round him* .e loo@ed at his hand, which was alread$ num&, and tried to mo"e each fin'er one
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after the other* 7here was somethin' ma'ical in this disco"er$ for me, as a child* 0t was called self5 awareness* 7o the forest 0 owe one of the 'reatest literar$ emotions of m$ adult life* 7his was a&out thirt$ $ears a'o, in a re'ion of ,entral America @nown as <l 7ap[n del 3ari-n, the 3ari-n +ap, &ecause that is where, in those da$s 6and 0 &elie"e the situation has not chan'ed in the meantime8, there was an interruption in the an5American .i'hwa$ that was meant to Ioin the two Americas from Alas@a to the tip of 7ierra del Fue'o* 0n this re'ion of the isthmus of anama the rainforest is e%tremel$ dense, and the onl$ means of tra"ellin' there is to 'o upri"er &$ piro'ue* 0n the forest there li"es an indi'enous population, di"ided into two 'roups, the <m&er\ and the Dounaans, &oth &elon'in' to the +e5 ano5,ari& lin'uistic famil$* 0 had landed there &$ chance, and was so fascinated &$ this people that 0 sta$ed there se"eral times for fairl$ len'th$ periods, o"er rou'hl$ three $ears* 3urin' the entire time 0 did nothin' other than wander aimlessl$ from one house to the ne%tNfor at the time the population refused to li"e in "illa'esNand learn to li"e accordin' to a rh$thm that was completel$ different from an$thin' 0 had @nown up to that point* (i@e all true forests, this forest was particularl$ hostile* 0 had to draw up a list of all the potential dan'ers, and of all the correspondin' means of sur"i"al* 0 ha"e to sa$ that on the whole the <m&er\ were "er$ patient with me* 7he$ were amused &$ m$ aw@wardness, and 0 thin@ that to a certain de'ree, 0 was a&le to repa$ them in entertainment what the$ shared with me in wisdom* 0 did not write a 'reat deal* 7he rain forest is not reall$ an ideal settin'* Zour paper 'ets soa@ed with the humidit$, the heat dries out all $our &all point pens* Nothin' that has to wor@ off electricit$ lasts for "er$ lon'* 0 had arri"ed there with the con"iction that writin' was a pri"ile'e, and that 0 would alwa$s &e a&le to resort to it in order to resol"e all m$ e%istential pro&lems* A protection, in a wa$P a sort of "irtual window that 0 could roll up as 0 needed to shelter from the storm* Gnce 0 had assimilated the s$stem of primiti"e communism practised &$ the Amerindians, as well as their profound dis'ust for authorit$ and their tendenc$ towards natural anarch$, 0 came to see that art, as a form of indi"idual e%pression, did not ha"e an$ role to pla$ in the forest* Besides, these people had nothin' that resem&led what we call art in our consumer societ$* 0nstead of han'in' paintin's on a wall, the men and women painted their &odies, and in 'eneral were loath to create an$thin' lastin'* And then 0 'ained access to their m$ths* Dhen we tal@ of m$ths, in our world of written &oo@s, it seems as if we are referrin' to somethin' that is "er$ far awa$, either in time, or in space* 0 too &elie"ed in that distance* And now suddenl$ the m$ths were there for me to hear, re'ularl$, almost e"er$ ni'ht* Near the wood fire that people &uilt in their houses on a hearth of three stones, amidst the dance of mosFuitoes and moths, the "oice of the stor$tellersNmen and women ali@eNwould set in motion stories, le'ends, tales, as if the$ were spea@in' of a dail$ realit$* 7he stor$teller san' in a shrill "oice, stri@in' his &reastP his face would mime the e%pressions and passions and fears of the characters* 0t mi'ht ha"e &een somethin' from a no"el, not a m$th* But one ni'ht, a $oun' woman came* .er name was <l"ira* 9he was @nown throu'hout the entire forest of the <m&er\ for her stor$tellin' s@ills* 9he was an ad"enturess, and li"ed without a man, without childrenNpeople said that she was a &it of a drun@ard, a &it of a whore, &ut 0 donLt &elie"e it for a minuteNand she would 'o from house to house to sin', in e%chan'e for a meal or a &ottle of alcohol or sometimes a few coins* Althou'h 0 had no access to her tales other than throu'h translationNthe <m&er\ lan'ua'e has a literar$ "ariant that is far more comple% than the e"er$da$ formN0 Fuic@l$ reali!ed that she was a 'reat artist, in the &est sense of the term* 7he tim&re of her "oice, the rh$thm of her hands tappin' a'ainst her chest, a'ainst her hea"$ nec@laces of sil"er coins, and a&o"e all the air of possession which illuminated her face and her 'a!e, a sort of measured, rh$thmic trance, e%erted a power o"er all those who were present* 7o the simple framewor@ of her m$thsNthe in"ention of to&acco, the first prime"al twins, stories a&out 'ods and humans from the dawn of timeNshe added her own stor$, her life of wanderin', her lo"es, the &etra$als and sufferin', the intense Io$ of carnal lo"e, the stin' of Iealous$, her fear of 'rowin' old, of d$in'* 9he was poetr$ in action, ancient theatre, and the most contemporar$ of no"els all at the same time* 9he was all those thin's with fire, with "iolence, she in"ented, in the &lac@ness of the forest, amidst the surroundin' chorus of insects and toads and the whirlwind of
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&ats, a sensation which cannot &e called an$thin' other than &eaut$* As if in her son' she carried the true power of nature, and this was surel$ the 'reatest parado%: that this isolated place, this forest, as far awa$ as could &e ima'ined from the sophistication of literature, was the place where art had found its stron'est, most authentic e%pression* 7hen 0 left that re'ion, and 0 ne"er saw <l"ira a'ain, or an$ of the stor$tellers of the forest of 3ari-n* But 0 was left with far more than nostal'iaNwith the certaint$ that literature could e%ist, e"en when it was worn awa$ &$ con"ention and compromise, e"en if writers were incapa&le of chan'in' the world* 9omethin' 'reat and powerful, which surpassed them, which on occasion could enli"en and transfi'ure them, and restore the sense of harmon$ with nature* 9omethin' new and "er$ ancient at the same time, impalpa&le as the wind, ethereal as the clouds, infinite as the sea* 0t is this somethin' which "i&rates in the poetr$ of )alal ad53in Rumi, for e%ample, or in the "isionar$ architecture of <manuel 9weden&or'* 7he shi"er one feels on readin' the most &eautiful te%ts of human@ind, such as the speech that ,hief 9tealth 'a"e in the mid519th centur$ to the resident of the Rnited 9tates upon concedin' his land: #De ma$ &e &rothers after all***# 9omethin' simple, and true, which e%ists in lan'ua'e alone* A charm, sometimes a ruse, a 'ratin' dance, or lon' spells of silence* 7he lan'ua'e of moc@er$, of interIections, of curses, and then, immediatel$ afterwards, the lan'ua'e of paradise* 0t is to her, to <l"ira, that 0 address this tri&uteNand to her that 0 dedicate the ri!e which the 9wedish Academ$ is awardin' me* 7o her and to all those writers with whomNor sometimes a'ainst whomN0 ha"e li"ed* 7o the Africans: Dole 9o$in@a, ,hinua Ache&e, Ahmadou =ourouma, Mon'o Beti, to Alan atonLs ,r$ the Belo"ed ,ountr$, to 7homas MofoloLs ,ha@a* 7o the 'reat Mauritian author Malcolm de ,ha!al, who wrote, amon' other thin's, )udas* 7o the .indi5lan'ua'e Mauritian no"elist A&himan$u Rnnuth, for (al passina 69weatin' Blood8 to the Rrdu no"elist Ourratulain .$der for her epic no"el A' @a 3ar$a 6Ri"er of Fire8* 7o the defiant 3an$4l Daro of (a R-union, for his malo$a son'sP to the =ana@ poetess 3-w- +orode$, who defied the colonial powers all the wa$ to prisonP to the re&ellious A&dourahman Da&eri* 7o )uan Rulfo and edro aramo, and his short stories <l llano en llamas, and the simple and tra'ic photo'raphs he too@ of rural Me%ico* 7o )ohn Reed for 0nsur'ent Me%icoP to )ean Me$er who was the spo@esman for Aurelio Ace"edo and the ,risteros insur'ents of central Me%ico* 7o (uis +on!\le!, author of ue&lo en "ilo* 7o )ohn Nichols, who wrote a&out the &itter land of 7he Mila'ro Beanfield DarP to .enr$ Roth, m$ nei'h&our on New Zor@ 9treet in Al&uFuerFue, New Me%ico, for ,all it 9leep* 7o )ean5 aul 9artre, for the tears contained in his pla$ Morts sans s-pulture* 7o Dilfred Gwen, the poet who died on the &an@s of the Marne in 1914* 7o )*3* 9alin'er, &ecause he succeeded in puttin' us in the shoes of a $oun' fourteen5$ear5old &o$ named .olden ,aulfield* 7o the writers of the first nations in America H 9herman Ale%ie the 9iou%, 9cott Momada$ the Na"aIo for 7he Names* 7o Rita Mesto@osho, an 0nnu poet from Min'an, Oue&ec, who lends her "oice to trees and animals* 7o )os- Maria Ar'uedas, Gcta"io a!, Mi'uel An'el Asturias* 7o the poets of the oases of Gualata and ,hin'uetti* For their 'reat ima'ination, to Alphonse Allais and Ra$mond Oueneau* 7o +eor'es erec for Ouel petit "-lo M 'uidon chrom- au fond de la courE 7o the Dest 0ndian authors <douard +lissant and atric@ ,hamoiseau, to Ren3epestre from .aiti, to Andr- 9chwart!5Bart for (e 3ernier des Iustes* 7o the Me%ican poet .omero AridIis who allows us to ima'ine the life of a leather&ac@ turtle, and who e"o@es the ri"ers flowin' oran'e with Monarch &utterflies alon' the streets of his "illa'e, ,ontepec* 7o J-nus =our$ +hata who spea@s of (e&anon as of a tra'ic, in"inci&le lo"er* 7o =halil +i&ran* 7o Rim&aud* 7o <mile Nelli'an* 7o R-Iean 3ucharme, for life* 7o the un@nown child 0 met one da$, on the &an@s of the ri"er 7uira, in the forest of 3ari-n* At ni'ht, sittin' on the floor in a shop, lit &$ the flame of a @erosene lamp, he is readin' a &oo@ and writin', hunched forward, not pa$in' the sli'htest attention to an$thin' around him, o&li"ious of the discomfort or noise or promiscuit$ of the harsh, "iolent life there Iust ne%t to him* 7hat child sittin' cross5le''ed on the floor of that shop, in the heart of the forest, readin' all alone in the
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lampli'ht, is not there &$ chance* .e resem&les li@e a &rother that other child 0 spo@e a&out at the &e'innin' of these pa'es, who was tr$in' to write with a carpenterLs pencil on the &ac@ of ration &oo@s, in the dar@ $ears immediatel$ after the war* 7he child reminds us of the two 'reat ur'ent tas@s of human histor$, tas@s we are far, alas, from ha"in' fulfilled* 7he eradication of hun'er, and the elimination of illiterac$* For all his pessimism, 9ti' 3a'ermanLs phrase a&out the fundamental parado% of the writer, unsatisfied &ecause he cannot communicate with those who are hun'r$Nwhether for nourishment or for @nowled'eNtouches on the 'reatest truth* (iterac$ and the stru''le a'ainst hun'er are connected, closel$ interdependent* Gne cannot succeed without the other* Both of them reFuire, indeed ur'e, us to act* 9o that in this third millennium, which has onl$ Iust &e'un, no child on our shared planet, re'ardless of 'ender or lan'ua'e or reli'ion, shall &e a&andoned to hun'er or i'norance, or turned awa$ from the feast* 7his child carries within him the future of our human race* 0n the words of the +ree@ philosopher .eraclitus, a "er$ lon' time a'o, the @in'dom &elon's to a child* )*M*+* (e ,l-!io, Brittan$, 4 No"em&er ;00/ 7ranslated &$ Alison Anderson 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #)ean5Marie +usta"e (e ,l-!io 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00/Acle!io5lecture]en*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ #ario $o 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 199C was awarded to 3ario Fo #who emulates the Iesters of the Middle A'es in scour'in' authorit$ and upholdin' the di'nit$ of the downtrodden#* Born: ;4 March 19;:, (e''iuno59an'iano, 0tal$ Residence at the time of the award: 0tal$ ri!e moti"ation: #who emulates the Iesters of the Middle A'es in scour'in' authorit$ and upholdin' the di'nit$ of the downtrodden# (an'ua'e: 0talian Biography 0n addition to pla$wri'ht, 3ario Fo is also director, sta'e and costume desi'ner, and on occasion he e"en composes the music for his pla$s* France Rame, his leadin' actress, has assisted in and contri&uted to the writin' of man$ of the pla$s the$ ha"e produced in their 4Y $ears of theatre to'ether* 9he has also assumed the administrati"e and or'ani!ational responsi&ilit$ for the Fo5Rame ,ompan$* Franca Rame Franca Rame was &orn in ara&ia'o, a small town in the ro"ince of Milan* 7hat she happened to &e &orn there was pure chance: her famil$ was performin' in the town at the time* .er father 3omenico, her mother <milia and her &rother, alon' with aunts, uncles, cousins and other actors and actresses hired on contract, were all part of a tra"ellin' theatre troupe tourin' the towns and "illa'es of (om&ard$ and iedmont* 7he Rame famil$Ls ties to the theatre are "er$ old* 9ince the late 1Cth centur$, the$ ha"e &een
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actors, and puppet masters, as the occasion reFuired* Dith the arri"al of the cinema the$ shifted from puppet theatre to real theatre, enriched with all the #special effects# of the puppet theatre* 7he$ tra"elled from town to town, and were well recei"ed where"er the$ went* <"en toda$, her personal success in theatre and tele"ision notwithstandin', people in these towns still often refer to Franca as #the dau'hter of 3omenico Rame#* 0n the &est tradition of the ,ommedia dellLArte, the famil$ impro"ised its performances, drawin' on a rich repertoire of tra'ic and comical situations and dialo'ues* 7he$ often opened in a new town 5 followin' a poll amon' the townspeople 5 with an enactment of the life of the local patron saint* 7he famil$Ls repertoire ran'ed from the &i&lical te%ts o"er 9ha@espeare to ,he@ho" and irandelloP from Niccodemi to the 'reat l9th centur$ historical no"els 5 especiall$ those with a socialist or anticlerical &ent* Gften their performances included enactments of the li"es of men such as +iordano Bruno, Arnaldo da Brescia and +alileo +alilei* 3omenico Rame was the troupeLs poetP a de"out socialist, he often saw to it that the re"enue from a performance was 'i"en in support of stri@in' wor@ers or used to &uild child5care facilities, or in other wa$s spent to impro"e the li"es of the common people* 7he minutel$ documented records of this acti"it$, which remains in the Rame5Fo archi"es, was pro&a&l$ maintained &$ FrancaLs mother <milia Baldini, a school teacher and dau'hter of a municipal en'ineer in Bo&&io* As a $oun' school teacher, <milia fell in lo"e with 3omenico 5 twent$ $ears her senior 5 who was passin' throu'h Bo&&io with his marionettes and puppets* 9he married him, a'ainst the stron' wishes of her famil$, and to'ether the$ continued to tour all of (om&ard$* <milia soon learned the trades of actin' and costume desi'ner* 0t was she who tau'ht their four children to act and to mo"e on the sta'e* 9he was an outstandin' woman, meticulous in all her wor@ and an e%cellent or'ani!er* 0n the end it was she who carried the troupe on her shoulders* 0t was in this en"ironment that Franca earned her apprenticeship* 9he has alwa$s felt at home on the sta'e &ecause 5 as she sa$s 5 #0 was &orn there: 0 was onl$ ei'ht da$s old when 0 made m$ de&ut in m$ motherLs arms >she pla$ed the new5&orn son of +ene"i4"e of Bra&ant? *** 0 didnLt sa$ much that e"enin'_ # 9ome $ears later, in the 19Y05Y1 theatre season, Franca 5 followin' the lead of her sister ia 5 left the famil$ and Ioined the compan$ of 7ino 9cotti for a part in Marcello MarchesiLs #+he pensi mi# at the 7eatro Glimpia in Milan* 3ario Fo 3ario Fo was &orn on ;: March 19;: in 9an +iano, a small town on (a'o Ma''iore in the pro"ince of Jarese* .is famil$ consisted of: his father Felice, socialist, station master and actor in an amateur theatre compan$P his mother ina Rota, a woman of 'reat ima'ination and talent 6in the 19C0s her auto&io'raphical account #0l paese delle rane#, tellin' the histor$ of her home town, was pu&lished &$ <inaudi8P his &rother Ful"io and his sister BiancaP and his maternal 'randfather, who had a farm in (omellina, where $oun' 3ario spent his childhood "acations* 3urin' 3arioLs "isits, his 'randfather would tra"el around the countr$side sellin' his produce from a &i', horse5drawn wa'on* 7o attract customers he would tell the most ama!in' stories, and in these stories he would insert news and anecdotes a&out local e"ents* .is satirical and timel$ chronicles earned him the nic@name Brist`n 6pepper seed8* 0t was from his 'randfather, sittin'
11

&eside him on the &i' wa'on, that 3ario &e'an to learn the rudiments of narrati"e rh$thm* 3ario spent his childhood mo"in' from one town to another, as his fatherLs postin's were chan'ed at the whim of the railwa$ authorities* But e"en thou'h the 'eo'raph$ remained in a flu%, the cultural settin' was alwa$s the same* As the &o$ 'rew, he &ecame schooled in the local narrati"e tradition* Dith 'rowin' passion, he would sit in the ta"erns or the pia!!e and listen tirelessl$ to the master 'lass5&lowers and fishermen, who 5 in the oral tradition of the fa&ulatore 5 would swap tall tales, steeped in pun'ent political satire* 0n 1940 he mo"ed to Milan 6commutin' from (uino8 to stud$ at the Brera Art Academ$* After the war, he &e'ins to stud$ architecture at the ol$technic, &ut interrupts his studies with onl$ a few e%ams left to complete his de'ree* 7owards the end of the war, 3ario is conscripted into the arm$ of the 9alo repu&lic* .e mana'es to escape, and spends the last months of the war hidden in an attic store room* .is parents are acti"e in the resistance, his father or'ani!in' the smu''lin' of )ewish scientists and escaped British prisoners of war into 9wit!erland &$ trainP his mother carin' for wounded partisans* At the end of the war, 3ario returns to his studies at the Academ$ of Brera in Milan while attendin' courses in architecture at the ol$technic, commutin' each da$ from his home on (a'o Ma''iore* 194Y541 he turns his attention to sta'e desi'n and theatre d-cor* .e &e'ins to impro"ise monolo'ues* .e mo"es with his famil$ to Milan* Mamma Fo, in order to help her hus&and put the three children throu'h colle'e, does her &est as a shirt5ma@er* For the $oun'er Fos, this is a period of ra"enous readin'* +ramsci and Mar% are de"oured alon' with American no"elists and the first translations of Brecht, Ma$a@o"s@$ and (orca* 0n the immediate postwar $ears, 0talian theatre under'oes a "erita&le re"olution, pushed alon' mainl$ &$ the new phenomenon of piccoli teatri >#small theatres#? that pla$ a @e$ role in de"elopin' the idea of a #popular sta'e#* Fo is captured &$ this effer"escent mo"ement and pro"es to &e an insatia&le theatre'oer 5 e"en thou'h he usuall$ canLt afford to &u$ a seat and has to stand throu'h the performances* Mamma Fo @eeps an open mind and an open house for her childrenLs new acFuaintances, amon' them <milio 7adini, Ali@ ,a"alieri, iccoli, Jittorini, Morlotti, 7reccani, ,repa%, some of them alread$ famous* 3urin' his architecture studies, while wor@in' as decorator and assistant architect, 3ario &e'ins to entertain his friends with tales as tall as those he heard in the la@eside ta"erns of his childhood* 0n the summer of 19Y0, 3ario see@s out Franco arenti who is enthralled &$ the $oun' manLs comical renderin' of the para&le of ,ain and A&el, a satire in which ,ain, poer nano >#poor little thin'#?, a misera&le fool, is an$thin' &ut e"il* 0tLs Iust that e"er$ time he tries, poer nano,to mimic the splendid, &lond and &lue5e$ed A&el, he 'ets into trou&le* After sufferin' one disaster after another, he finall$ 'oes cra!$ and @ills the splendid A&el* Franco arenti enthusiasticall$ in"ites Fo to Ioin his theatre compan$* 3ario starts performin' in arentiLs summer "ariet$ show* 7his is when he has his first #encounter# with Franca Rame 5 not in person, mind, &ut in the form of a photo'raph he sees at the home of some friends* .e is thunderstruc@_

1;

For a while he continues to wor@ as assistant architect* But he soon decides to a&andon his wor@ and studies, dis'usted &$ the corruption alread$ rampant in the &uildin' sector* ,.RGNG(G+Z 7he 19Y15Y; theatre season Franca Rame and 3ario Fo meet &$ chance: the$ are &oth en'a'ed in a production of #9ette 'iorni a Milano# &$ 9piller and ,arosso, sta'ed &$ the Na"a5 arenti compan$ at the Gdeon 7heatre in Milan* 3arioLs courtin' techniFue is drastic: he pretends not to see Franca* After a couple of wee@s of this, she 'ra&s him &ac@sta'e, pushes him up a'ainst a wall and 'i"es him a passionate @iss* 7he$ are en'a'ed* 19Y1 FoLs performance is a minor success, and he is in"ited to participate in RA0Ls 6the 0talian national radioLs8 show #,ocorica#, where he earns a certain notoriet$ with his #poer nano# monolo'ues, transmitted in 1/ episodes* .is inno"ati"e use of lan'ua'e su&"erts the rhetoric of #official# narrati"e* 0t is the first e%periment with a narrati"e techniFue that com&ines re5 e%amination of histor$ with e%cursions into popular lore, a techniFue he is later to de"elop further with #Mistero &uffo#* ,reated in this period are his 'rotesFue renditions of the stories of ,ain and A&el, 9amson and 3elilah, A&raham and 0saac, Romeo and )uliet, Moses, Gthello, Ri'oletto, .amlet, )ulius ,aesar, =in' 3a"id, Nero and others* 7he series is interrupted after the ei'hteenth show, as the producers 5 who are slow to catch on to the social and political satire that permeates the monolo'ues 5 at last see fit to censure them* 19Y15Y;3ario ma@es his de&ut with a series of monolo'ues entitled # oer Nano# 6#poor little thin'#, an affectionate e%pression in the (om&ard dialect8 in the re"ue #9ette 'iorni a Milano#, where he meets Franca Rame* FoLs monolo'ues are a success, leadin' to an own show on 0talian national radio* .e &ecomes a cele&rit$* 19Y; # apa"eri e papere#, a film &$ Marcello Marchesi, with Franca Rame and Dalter ,hiari* Franca has roles in some ten5odd other commercial films* 19Y;5Y33ario Fo is on sta'e with the satirical performance #,ocorica#, with +iustino 3urano, Ji@$ <nderson and others* Franca Rame is en'a'ed &$ Remi'io aone to pla$ in a &i' re"ue compan$, Billi and Ri"a in #0 fanatici# &$ Marchesi and Mert!, music &$ =ramer* 7eatro Nuo"o, Milan* 19Y35Y4For a performance at the iccolo 7eatro in Milan, Fo writes, to'ether with Franco arenti and +iustino 3urano, directs 6in colla&oration with (ecoF8 and pla$s #0l dito nellLocchio#* 6.e is also responsi&le for sta'e desi'n and costumes*8 Franca Rame also participates in the production, which is the first reall$ satirical post5war re"ue* 7he show spar@s &oth appro"al and contro"ers$* 7he compan$ has difficult$ in findin' theatres to sta'e the pla$* 3rastic efforts of censorship &$ the 'o"ernment as well as the ,hurch: si'ns on church doors e%hort parishioners not to see the pla$* 7his &ecomes a pra%is that will hound the Fo5Rame theatre compan$ for man$ $ears* ;4 )une Franca and 3ario are married in MilanLs 9aint Am&rose Basilica* From this moment on, Franca is FoLs main colla&orator &ehind the des@ as well as on the sta'e* 19Y45YY7o'ether with arenti and 3urano, Fo writes and at the iccolo 7eatro in Milan, directs and pla$s #0 sani da le'are#* Also this pla$ is su&Iect to the same t$pe of censorship as is descri&ed a&o"e* 7hese two pla$s are the first real satirical postwar re"ues, and &oth enIo$ 'reat success with the pu&lic* 19YY Attracted &$ the possi&ilit$ to wor@ in the cinema, the couple mo"es to Rome* 3ario wor@s as screen5writer 6'a'5man8 with A'e, 9carpelli, 9cola and inelli, and for onti and 3e (aurentis as well as for other productions* 31 March 7heir son )acopo is &orn* Franca with Memo Benassi in #=in' (ear# at the 7eatro 9ta&ile of Bol!ano* 19Y: Fo writes the script for and pla$s a'ainst Franca Rame in the film #(o s"itato#, directed &$ ,arlo (i!!ani* 19Y:5YCFo colla&orates in "arious film script proIects and pla$s a'ainst Franca in se"eral films* 19YC Franca Rame in #Non andartene in 'iro tutta nuda# >#Mais nLte prom4ne donc pas tout
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nue_#? &$ +* Fe$deau at the Arlecchino 7heatre in Rome* 19YC5Y/7he #Fo5Rame ,ompan$# is esta&lished* Franca and 3ario return to Milan to esta&lish their own theatre compan$, with 3ario as pla$wri'ht, actor, director, sta'e5 and costume desi'ner* Franca is 3arioLs main te%t colla&orator and leadin' actress* 9he also assumes responsi&ilit$ for the compan$Ls administration* 7he Fo5Rame compan$ ma@es its de&ut at MilanLs iccolo 7eatro* 7he compan$ then lea"es for a first lon', annual tour 6there were to &e man$, lastin' up to 10 months and &rin'in' the compan$ to e"er$ part of 0tal$8 with a performance entitled #(adri, manichini e donne nude# and comprisin' four one5act farces: #lLuomo nudo, lLuomo in frac@# >#Gne Das Nude and Gne Dore 7ails#?, #Non tutti i ladri "en'ono per nuocere# >#7he Jirtuous Bur'lar#?, #+li im&ianchini non hanno ricordi# and #0 cada"eri si spediscono e le donne si spo'liano#* 7he four farces ma@e the most of an endless series of misunderstandin's, mista@en identities, people runnin' up and down stairs, 'a's and slapstic@* 19Y/5Y9#,omica finale# is another collection of four one5act pla$s: #Ouando sarai po"ero sarai re#, #(a Marcolfa#, #Rn morto da "endere# and #0 tre &ra"i#* 7hese are short, comical stories structured much li@e the ones FrancaLs famil$ pla$ed at the end of their performances 6#comic closures#8* From the 7eatro 9ta&ile, 3ario Fo and Franca Rame &u$ scener$, props and costumes, and set out on tour with their compan$* 7he$ also re"i"e #(adri, manichini e donne nude#* 7.< FG5RAM< ,GM ANZ .A9 079 F0R97 G <N0N+ A7 A MA)GR, 3GDN7GDN 7.<A7R< 0N M0(AN 19Y95:0Dith #+li arcan'eli non 'iocano a flipper# >#Archan'els 3onLt la$ in&all#?, at MilanLs Gdeon 7heatre, 7he Fo5Rame ,ompan$ finall$ earns national reco'nition* 7he pla$ &ecomes the 'reatest &o%5office hit in 0talian theatre* 19:0 Fo writes #(a storia "era di iero dLAn'era, che alla crociata non cLera#, produced &$ other companies with 'reat success* 19:05:17eatro Gdeon, Milan: #A"e"a due pistole con 'li occhi &ianchi e neri#* 19:1 First performance a&road with his pla$: #(adri, manichini e donne nude#, first at 9toc@holmLs Arena 7heatre, then with a production in oland* 19:15:;7eatro Gdeon, Milan: #,hi ru&a un piede 4 fortunato in amore#* 19:; 0n the sprin', RA0 60talian national tele"ision8 &roadcasts on its second channel the tele"ised "ariet$ show #,hi lLha "istoE# with Fo5Rame and others* 7o'ether with Franca Rame, 3ario Fo is in"ited to write, direct and present #,an!onissima#, a hi'hl$ popular 7J show &uilt around the national lotter$, with a different host each $ear* FoLs and RameLs s@etches &ecome an issue for the entire nation, pro"o@in' wild contro"ers$* For the first time, tele"ision is used to portra$ the li"es and difficulties of common people: the wor@5related illness of a si'nal woman, &ric@la$ers that fall to their death from the scaffoldin', etc* 7he show is "er$ successfulP durin' &roadcasts e"en ta%i dri"ers stop wor@in', and &ars with tele"isions are smac@ full of people* RA0Ls mana'ement starts to 'et ner"ous* ,uts are demanded in te%ts that ha"e alread$ &een appro"ed* All hell &rea@s loose o"er a s@etch with a Mafia theme that tells the stor$ of a murdered Iournalist* Mala'odi, a senator from 0tal$Ls (i&eral art$, reports the s@etch to the 0talian arliamentLs o"ersi'ht committee for tele"ision, on the 'rounds that #the honour of the 9icilian people is insulted &$ the claim that there e%ists a criminal or'ani!ation called the Mafia#* 60n 19/Y, rime Minister Andreotti appoints Mala'odi senator5for5life for his political ser"ices*8 Fo and Rame also recei"e death threats, written with &lood and deli"ered with the t$pical miniature, wooden coffin* 7he Fo famil$ 6includin' FrancaLs and 3arioLs se"en5$ear old son8 is placed under police protection* A fi'ht &e'ins with RA0 a&out censorship* )ust a few hours &efore the scheduled &roadcast of the
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ei'hth pro'ramme in the series, RA0Ls mana'ement declares that further cuts must &e made* 3ario and Franca refuse and threaten to lea"e the pro'ramme* As #,an!onissima# is a&out to &e aired it is still unclear what is 'oin' to happen* At the last minute RA0 confirms the cuts* 3ario and Franca wal@ off the show as a si'n of protest* 7he support the$ recei"e for their act is o"erwhelmin', includin' thousands of letters and tele'rams* RA0 is una&le to find su&stitutes for Fo and Rame, as all who are as@ed to replace them follow the instructions of 9A0 6the 0talian actors union8 to turn down the offer* Fo and Rame face fi"e law suits as a conseFuence and are ordered to pa$ se"eral &illion lire in dama'es* For 1Y $ears the$ are &anned &$ RA0 from participatin' in either pro'rammes or commercials on national radio or tele"ision 6at that time, &oth radio and tele"ision were state monopolies8* 19:35:4Gpenin' at MilanLs Gdeon 7heatre of #0sa&ella, tre cara"elle e un caccia&alle#, which tells the stor$ of the #disco"er$# of America on the &asis of a thorou'h historical in"esti'ation of the life of ,hristopher ,olum&us, the court of 0sa&ella of ,astille and the #ethnic cleansin'# of 9painLs Ara&s and )ews* 7he pla$ mar@s the &e'innin' of a maIor effort to trace the histor$ and #do'mas# of the dominant culture* 7he pla$, &latantl$ e%posin' the m$stifications of #school5&oo@# histor$ and of militarist and patriotic rhetoric, comes under "iolent attac@ &$ ri'ht5win' 'roups* Gn one occasion, Fo and Rame are assaulted as the$ lea"e the Jalle 7heatre in Rome* Gnl$ throu'h the presence of 'roups of militant wor@ers from the 0talian ,ommunist art$ 6 ,08 can the performances continue* 19:45:Y#9ettimo: ru&a un poL meno# opens at the Gdeon in Milan* 7he pla$ is dedicated to Franca Rame, who in the leadin' comic role portra$s a rather odd 'ra"e di''er whose hi'hest am&ition is to &ecome a prostitute* Dith its minutel$ detailed description of the corruption rampant in 0tal$, it anticipates &$ some thirt$ $ears the re"olution &rou'ht a&out &$ the #Mani ulite# 6#,lean hands#8 mo"ement* 19:Y5::MilanLs Gdeon 7heatre: #(a colpa 4 sempre del dia"olo#* 19::5:C7wo productions: #+li amici della &attoniera#, translated from French and adapted &$ FoP and #,i ra'iono e canto#, in colla&oration with Nuo"o ,an!oniere 0taliano, a performance &uilt on traditional fol@ son's, compiled &$ +ianni Bosio and ela&orated &$ Fo* 19:C Followin' the 9o"iet in"asion of ,!echoslo"a@ia, 3ario Fo withdraws his permission for his pla$s to &e sta'ed in ,!ech theatres* .e later refuses to authori!e cuts, proposed &$ 9o"iet censors, in a pla$ scheduled to open at a 9o"iet theatre* After these incidents, production of his wor@ all &ut ceases throu'hout the 9o"iet &loc@* 19:C5:/7eatro Man!oni in Milan: #(a si'nora 4 da &uttare#* 19:/5:99timulated &$ the political e"ents of those $ears, 3ario and Franca dis&and their compan$ and esta&lish the Associa!ione Nuo"a 9cena, composed of more than thirt$ $oun' technicians, actors and actresses* 0t is an independent theatre collecti"e, or'ani!ed in three 'roups that tour 0tal$ with productions sta'ed mainl$ &efore wor@in' class audiences and at "enues other than those offered &$ the official theatre circuit, such as case del popolo 6wor@ersL communit$ halls8, sport arenas, cinemas, &occia courts, town sFuares, etc* 7o allow mo&ilit$ and use of a"aila&le space, folda&le sta'es are &uilt on 3arioLs desi'n* Nuo"a 9cenaLs first production opens at the ,asa del popolo in ,esena 6Roma'na8 with a performance of #+rande pantomima per pupa!!i piccoli, 'randi e medi#* 7he production is also sta'ed at MilanLs Rnion .all and is pla$ed on tour* Bac@ in Milan, Nuo"a 9cena 5 encounterin' difficulties in findin' a fi%ed "enue 5 rents an old, a&andoned factor$ which it transforms into a theatrical centre* 7he centre &ecomes the home sta'e of a new compan$, 0l ,apannone di Jia ,olletta, supported &$ the theatre collecti"e and &$ a lar'e 'roup of mem&ers: wor@ers and students who contri&ute with their creati"it$ and practical s@ills* 19:95C0At +enuaLs Rnion .all and in "arious localities, Franca Rame is on sta'e with two new comic productions &$ Fo: #(Loperaio conosce 300 parole, il padrone 1000, per Fuesto lui 4 il padrone# and a dou&le feature consistin' of two one5act farces: #(e'ami pure, tanto spacco tutto lo stesso# and #0l funeral e del padrone#* Because of the pla$sL e%pressed critiFue of 9talinism and of the social5democratic position of the 0talian ,ommunist art$, the tour is hea"il$ sa&ota'ed &$ the
1Y

art$ leadership* 9ome ten5odd performances are cancelled* 7he situation is "er$ tense, FrancaLs planned openin' at MilanLs Rnion .all is cancelled* 0nstead she is in"ited to pla$ at the #,ircus Medini#, a real circus with horses, ti'ers, lions and elephants, luc@il$ all @ept in ca'es around the tent* After some initial difficulties, the production can continue 5 than@s to support or'ani!ed amon' the art$ ran@ and file and amon' the e%traparliamentar$ left 5 to enIo$ 'reat pu&lic success* Franca sends her art$ card &ac@ to ,0 9ecretar$ <nrico Berlin'uer 63ario has ne"er &een a mem&er8* 3ario sta'es #Mistero &uffo# >#Mistero Buffo#?* 7he performance ta@es the form of a lesson in the histor$ of literature that departs from a Fuestionin' of school do'ma, in particular the te%t5&oo@ interpretation of the earliest @nown te%t in 0talian 6#Rosa fresca e aulentissima#8, in which the te%tLs &latant 5 and scurrilous 5 allusion to the feminine 'enitalia is alto'ether censored* 7he actor reconstructs the lan'ua'e of the medie"al Iesters, recitin' their monolo'ues in such a wa$ as to ma@e them accessi&le to a wide audience toda$* 7he pla$ is a terrific successP it e"en &ecomes necessar$ to sta'e it at sport arenas that can hold thousands* 0t is the pla$ that more than an$ other esta&lishes FoLs fame worldwide* More than Y000 performances* 3ue to political differences, 3ario Fo and Franca Rame lea"e #Nuo"a 9cena#* 7he #,olletti"o 7eatrale (a ,omune# sees the li'ht of da$, directed &$ 3ario Fo and Franca Rame* 19C05C119C0 Arturo ,orso &e'ins as assistant director to Fo* (a ,omune produces 6at the ,apannone di "ia ,olletta8: #Jorrei morire anche stasera se do"essi sapere che non 4 ser"ito niente#, a pla$ a&out the 0talian and alestinian resistance* Followin' the terrorist attac@ on the Banca Na!ionale dellLA'ricoltura in Milan, 3ario writes and produces one of his most famous pieces: #Morte accidentale di un anarchico# >#Accidental 3eath of an Anarchist#?, a&out the stra'e di 9tato >a massacre thou'ht to &e or'ani!ed &$ or'ans of the state?* Franca Rame on sta'e in #7utti uniti, tutti inseme_ Ma, scusa, Fuello non 4 il padroneE_#, a pla$ a&out the &irth of the 0talian ,ommunist art$ in 19;1* 19C1 #Feda$in#, a piece &$ Fo, with Franca on sta'e with 10 authentic alestinian freedom fi'hters to 'ather funds and medicine for the alestinian resistance* Franca went to fetch the feda$een herself in the trainin' camps in (e&anon, with the help of the opular 3emocratic Front* 19C15C;#Grdine per 3io*ooo*ooo*ooo# with Franca Rame and other actors, while 3ario tours 0tal$ with #Mistero &uffo numero ;#* 3ue to the economic crisis, man$ factories are closed* 7o defend their Io&s, wor@ers 'o on stri@e and occup$ the factories* 0n support of this stru''le, from 19C1 to 19/Y the (a ,omune collecti"e sta'es hundreds of performances, donatin' the re"enues to the wor@ers* (a ,omune is forced to lea"e the ,apannone di "ia ,olletta* 7he contract has e%pired and the owner refuses to renew it* 19C35C43ario, Franca and their collea'ues are not deterred* 7he$ rent the Rossini ,inema on the outs@irts of Milan, where the$ sta'e # um pum, chi 4E (a oli!ia_# >#Ban' &an', whoLs thereE olice_#? 6still addressin' the stra'e di 9tato8 with 3ario Fo and other actors* 7he theatre collecti"e is su&Iected to "arious acts of repression &$ the police as well as to efforts at censorship* / MarchA 'roup of fascists @idnaps, tortures and rapes Franca Rame* 7hrou'h this &eastl$ act, the$ see@ to punish Franca and 3ario for their political acti"ism, in particular FrancaLs wor@ in the prisons since 19C0* Gutcries of indi'nation and support throu'hout 0tal$* Ma$ Followin' a two5month &rea@, Franca returns to the sta'e with a performance entitled #Basta con i fascisti#, a slide presentation with monolo'ues &$ Fo5Rame and (anfranco Binni* 7he performance is dedicated to $oun' people and addresses the cultural and political presence of
1:

fascism within the 0talian state, retellin' the &irth, histor$ and "iolence of fascism 6openin': MilanLs ,asa del popolo and tour8* aris: #Mistero &uffo# with 7h-Vtre National opulaire at 9alle +emier57rocadero* #,i ra'iono e canto N*3# written &$ Fo for the 9icilian street sin'er ,iccio Busacca* .a"in' searched in "ain for a permanent sta'e, (a ,omune occupies an a&andoned, dilapidated &uildin' in central Milan, the ala!!ina (i&ert$, formerl$ an indoor "e'eta&le mar@et* Dithin a $ear the$ ha"e /0 000 season5tic@et holders in Milan alone* 9eptem&er A few da$s after the death of Allende, (a ,omune opens its new home sta'e 5 repaired and put in order with the help of nei'h&ours and wor@ers from "arious Milan factories 5 with #+uerra di popolo in ,ile#* 7he re"enues 'o to the ,hilean resistance* 3urin' a 'uest performance in 9assari, Fo is arrested for ha"in' &loc@ed access to the theatre for policemen see@in' to stop the performance* 19C45CY ala!!ina (i&ert$: #Non si pa'a, non si pa'a_# >#,anLt pa$E DonLt pa$_#?* 0n the course of the season, Fo and Rame or'ani!e performances, demonstrations and concerts in support of the campai'n for a referendum on di"orce and as manifestations of solidarit$ with wor@ers occup$in' factories and in other wa$s ta@in' part in the political stru''le* Man$ immi'rants ha"e in the ala!!ina (i&ert$ found a place to meet to discuss their common concerns and to cele&rate their faiths* )une 19CY #Fanfani rapito#: Fo writes this piece in four da$s in support of the campai'n for a referendum for the le'ali!ation of a&ortion* 7he performances of #Non si pa'a, non si pa'a_# are interrupted and the new pla$ is sta'ed within ei'ht da$s_ 19CY 7he (a ,omune collecti"e "isits the eopleLs Repu&lic of ,hina for one month* A 'roup of 9wedish intellectuals nominate Fo as candidate for the No&el ri!e in literature* 19CY5C:#(a mariIuana della mamma 4 la pib &ella#, a pla$ a&out the dru' fad ma@in' headwa$ also in 0tal$* 19C:5CCGn the in"itation of Massimo Fichera, 3irector of RA0 ;, 3ario and Franca return to tele"ision after 1Y $ears* 7he series #0l teatro di 3ario Fo# includes #Mistero &uffo#, #9ettimo: ru&a un poLmeno_#, #,i ra'iono e canto#, #0sa&ella, tre cara"elle e un caccia&alle#, #(a si'nora 4 da &uttare# and # arliamo di donne#, for a total tele"ision time of ;1 hours* 7he political ri'ht and the ,hurch complain *** and attac@ the pro'ramme at e"er$ opportunit$_ Franca Rame recei"es the 030 ri!e as &est tele"ision actress for her performance in # arliamo di donne#* 19CC5C/3urin' this theatre season, the third edition of #Mistero &uffo# is &orn 6 ala!!ina (i&ert$, followed &$ tour*8 0n No"em&er opens at ala!!ina (i&ert$ a production of #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# >#Female parts#?, a piece mi%in' the 'rotesFue, comic and dramatic to illustrate the situation of women toda$* Alone on the sta'e is Franca Rame, who for the first time puts her name &esides FoLs on the author &$5line* 7he performance is sta'ed more than 3000 times* 0t is in these $ears that Fo &ecomes 0tal$Ls most translated author* .e is pu&lished in more than Y0 countries and in more than 30 lan'ua'es* 19C9 3ario and Franca participate in the 0nternational 7heatre Festi"al in Berlin with #Mistero &uffo# and #7utta casa, letto e chiesa#* Fo writes #(a tra'edia di Aldo Moro#, on the @idnappin' and assassination of the 0talian ,hristian 3emocratic art$ leader at the hands of the Red Bri'ades* 7he pla$, which has ne"er &een performed, is &uilt on 9ophoclesL hiloctetes* Re5ela&orates and directs for MilanLs (a 9cala 7heatre #(L.istoire du 9oldat# &$ 0'or 9tra"ins@$* Drites and directs #9toria della ti're >L7he 7ale of the 7i'erL? e altre storie#*
1C

l9/0 Franca, 3ario and their son )acopo found the (i&era Rni"ersitM di Alcatra!, a cultural and a'ricultural retreat and stud$ centre located in the hills &etween +u&&io and eru'ia* B$ &u$in' up, little &$ little, 3 C00 000 sFuare metres of forest 6that otherwise would ha"e &een felled8 and oli"e 'ro"es, the Fos pre"ent the destruction of a &eautiful "alle$* 7he$ also restore ele"en ancient and a&andoned farm houses and medie"al towers* Alcatra! &ecomes a 'atherin' place for "arious artists and cultural 'roups 5 includin' 9er'io An'ese, 9tefano Benni, 3acia Maraini, Milo Manara, Andrea a!ien!a, <lena ,ranco 5 who hold wor@shops in theatre, cartoon drawin', dance, writin', ps$choph$sical techniFues, ps$cholo'$ and craftsmanship* Alcatra! also arran'es educational pro'rammes and summer camps for $oun' people, social outcasts and persons with handicap* 7he acti"ities at the centre include eFuine therap$, comic therap$, nature wal@s and pool swimmin' includin' a swimmin' school* 0n addition, the centre offers natural 'ardenin', an ecolo'ical restaurant and a facilit$ to preser"e or'anicall$ 'rown fruit and produce* 7o date, the centre has had more than 3000 'uests* 0t is directed &$ )acopo Fo* #Buona sera con Franca Rame# 5 &$ and with Fo 5 RA0 ; 6;0 shows8* March 9weden: 9toc@holms 9tadsteater 67he ,it$ 7heatre of 9toc@holm8 sta'es #Mistero &uffo# and #7utta casa, letto e chiesa#* Ma$ Fo is in"ited &$ <ast BerlinLs Berliner <nsem&le to sta'e a production at Bertolt BrechtLs presti'ious theatre in the sprin' of 19/1* 3ario Fo prepares an adaptation of BrechtLs #7hree5penn$ Gpera# that is reIected for its political content* 7he main resistance comes from BrechtLs dau'hter 6the Berlin Dall has not $et fallen8* 7he same adaptation is used when the pla$ is sta'ed a $ear later at 7urinLs 7eatro 9ta&ile* 3ario and Franca are in"ited to participate at the 0talian 7heatre Festi"al in New Zor@* .owe"er, the R9 3epartment of 9tate denies them entr$ "isas to the Rnited 9tates* Gn ;9 Ma$, a lar'e 'roup of R9 artists and intellectuals or'ani!e a protest a'ainst the rulin'* Amon' the protesters are Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer, Martin 9corsese, <llen 9tewart, 9ol Zurric@, <"e Merriam and others* 3ecem&er France: 7h-Vtre de (L<st arisien sta'es #Mistero &uffo# and #7utta casa, letto e chiesa#* +erman$: Franca on sta'e with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# at the Jol@shochschule in Fran@furt and the 3eutsches 9chauspielhaus in Bochum and in .am&ur'* 19/15 7he Rni"ersit$ of ,openha'en awards Fo with the presti'ious 9onnin' ri!e, which he dedicates to Franca* 19/1 Franca in a production &$ RA0: #Mrs DarrenLs rofession# &$ +* B* 9haw, directed &$ +ior'io Al&erta!!i* 19/15/;#7utta casa, letto e chiesa# in a new "ersion, MilanLs Gdeon 7heatre followed &$ tour* Franca writes #(o stupro# and, with 3ario, #Rna madre# 6a&out political prisoners8, two monolo'ues that are inserted in "arious performances* Fo writes #,lacson, trom&ette e pernacchi# >#7rumpets and rasp&erries#?, a comed$ a&out terrorism* 19/; 7urinLs 7eatro 9ta&ile produces and Fo directs his new pla$ #(LGpera dello s'hi'na!!o#, a free adaptation of )ohn +a$Ls #7he Be''arLs Gpera#, which also ser"ed as point of departure for BrechtLs #7hree5penn$ Gpera#* 3ario Fo writes and produces #0l fa&ula!!o osceno#, &ased on #Mistero &uffo# and #9toria della ti're#* Dith him on sta'e is Franca Rame who recites the two monolo'ues #(o stupro# and #(a madre#* (ondon: FrancaLs performance of #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# at the Ri"erside 9tudios is recei"ed with loud acclaim &$ critics and pu&lic ali@e* 7he same piece, in <n'lish translation >#Female arts#?, is performed &$ Z"onne Br$celand at the National 7heatre* 3ario and Franca to'ether write #,oppia aperta# >#7he Gpen ,ouple#?, which is immediatel$ sta'ed at 9toc@holmLs famous istol 7heatre, translated and directed &$ Anna and ,arlo Barsotti*
1/

7he pla$ enIo$s 'reat success with critics and pu&lic* 19/3 Ma$ (ondon: Fo at the Ri"erside 9tudios with #Mistero &uffo#* ,anada: Franca is in"ited to participate in the Festi"al Ou-&-Kois du )eune 7h-Vtre with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa#* 19/35/4Followin' the pla$Ls clamorous success in 9weden, 3ario and Franca sta'e #,oppia aperta# with Nicola de Buono in the role of the hus&and 67eatro ,ia@ in Milan8* 7he Ministerial ,ommission for ,ensorship &ans the pla$ to minors under 1/ 6_8* 7he rulin' is later recalled after protests from the press and the pu&lic* )anuar$ ,u&a: Festi"al de teatro de la .a&ana with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa#* Ma$ Ar'entina: 7eatro Municipal +eneral 9an Martin with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# and #Mistero &uffo#* 3urin' a performance, a $outh throws a militar$ tear5'as 'renade into the theatre* 0t e%plodes, creatin' panic amon' the audience of well o"er 1000 persons* <"er$ e"enin' throu'hout the sta$ in Ar'entina, $oun' and not so $oun' 5 fascists in &lac@ leather Iac@ets throw stones at the windows of the theatre 5 while tens of policemen stand &$, watchin' complacentl$* Dindows up to the third floor are &ro@en* Meanwhile, 'roups of ,atholics 6insti'ated &$ fier$ press articles &$ the Bishop of Buenos Aires, written &efore the arri"al of the compan$8, carr$in' o"ersi!ed ima'es of )esus on their chests, pra$ in the lo&&$ of the theatre* Gthers interrupt the performances with shouts e"er$ time the word #pope# was mentioned* 7hese people are carried out of the theatre &$ the police* Reactions of support from authorities and the pu&lic, includin' the mothers of la!a de Ma$o* ,olom&ia: 7eatro ,olon with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# and #Mistero &uffo#* Au'ust Franca and 3ario at <din&ur'hLs Frin'e 7heatre Festi"al with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# and #Mistero &uffo#* 7our in Finland, 7ampere: Festi"al of the 7heatre of 3ario Fo* la$s and performances &$ Fo5 Rame are sta'ed all o"er the cit$* 3ario presents #Mistero &uffo# and Franca #7utta casa, letto e chiesa#* 7he$ are in"ited &$ )oseph app to sta'e a production at New Zor@Ls u&lic 7heatre, &ut are denied entr$ into the R9A for a second time* Fo writes # atapunfete#, a te%t for clowns, performed and directed &$ Ronald and Alfred ,olom&aioni* 3urin' the summer, Fo writes #Ouasi per caso una donna: <lisa&etta# >#<li!a&eth: Almost &$ ,hance a Doman#?, #3io li fa poi li accoppa# and #(isistrata romana#, the latter a monolo'ue that has ne"er &een sta'ed* (ondon: Ri"erside 9tudios with #(a storia della maschera#* Fo5Rame at <din&ur'hLs Frin'e 7heatre Festi"al* 19/45/Y7he first production of #Ouasi per caso una donna: <lisa&etta# opens in the autumn* 7he lar'e num&er of people who come to see the pla$ durin' the season earn 3ario and Franca A+09Ls #+olden 7ic@et# award* Ma$5)une +erman$: 7he 0nternational 7heatre Festi"al in Munich with #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# and #Mistero &uffo#* Ma$ +enuaLs 7eatro della 7osse sta'es #(a "era storia di iero dLAn'era che alla crociata non cLera#, directed &$ 7onino ,onte, sta'e desi'n and costumes &$ (ele (u!!ati* No"em&er American producer Ale%ander ,ohen sta'es a Broadwa$ production of #Accidental 3eath of an Anarchist#, with adaptations &$ Richard Nelsan, at New Zor@Ls Belasco 7heatre* 7he R9 3epartment of 9tate finall$ 5 after personal inter"ention &$ resident Rea'an_ 5 'rants Fo and Rame a limited, si%5da$ entr$ "isa*
19

19/Y5/:For the Biennial e%hi&ition in Jenice, Fo writes and sta'es 6with Rome Rni"ersit$Ls 7eatro Ateneo8 #.elleFuin, .arle@in, Arlecchino# at JeniceLs ala!!o del ,inema* .e also writes #3iario di <"a# for FrancaP &ut has $et to sta'e it* 9eptem&er Franca is in"ited to ,openha'en &$ the 3anish actorsL union to present a few of her monolo'ues at a &enefit performance* Franca "isits 7c&in'en, .eidel&er', 9tutt'art and Fran@furt with the 7heater Am 7urm to perform #,oppia aperta# with +ior'io Bia"ati* Ma$5)une R9A: 3ario and Franca are finall$ 'ranted a normal entr$ "isa for the Rnited 9tates* Gn the in"itation of .ar"ard Rni"ersit$, the$ perform #Mistero &uffo# and #7utta casa, letto e chiesa# at ,am&rid'eLs American Repertor$ 7heater, the New .a"en Rni"ersit$ Repertor$ 7heatre, Dashin'tonLs =enned$ ,enter, BaltimoreLs 7heater of Nations and New Zor@Ls )o$ce 7heater* 7he$ hold a fi"e5da$ theatre seminar at New Zor@ Rni"ersit$ as well as "arious wor@shops* Franca 'i"es a lessonAperformance at Dheaton ,olle'e in Norton, Massachusetts* Au'ust Fo recei"es the remio <duardo from 7aormina Arte* Franca at the Free Festi"al in <din&ur'h with #,oppia aperta#* articipatin' in the festi"al are "arious companies presentin' Fo5Rame te%ts in <n'lish translation: Zoric@ 7heatre ,o*, ,atwal@ 7heatre roductions, Fo5Rame 7heatre roIect, Darehouse 7heatre, 7he 3rama 3epartment and Borderline 7heatre* 19/:5/CFranca opens at MilanLs 7eatro Nuo"o with # arti femminili#, two one5act pla$s &$ 3ario Fo and Franca Rame: #Rna 'iornata FualunFue# >#An Grdinar$ 3a$#? and an updated "ersion of #,oppia aperta#* 7he same season sees the openin' of #0l ratto della Francesca# with Franca Rame and others* 3ecem&er a'ani 6Naples8: 3ario Fo recei"es the #Fifth national award a'ainst "iolence and the ,amorra# from the Associa!ione 7orre* Fe&ruar$ 3ario Fo directs RossiniLs #7he Bar&er of 9e"ille# at 3e Nederlandse Gpera in Amsterdam* 7he same production 5 with another cast is later sta'ed at the 7eatro etru!!elli in Bari* April 3ario and Franca are in ,am&rid'e, Massachusetts, to direct Archan'els 3onLt la$ Flipper# at the American Repertor$ 7heatre* )une 0n New Zor@ to recei"e the G&ie ri!e* )ul$ Franca Rame at the 9an Francisco 7heater Festi"al with #,oppia aperta#* 9he holds a theatre wor@shop with well o"er a hundred participants, num&erin' actors, mimes, acro&ats and ma'icians who ha"e come from all parts of the Rnited 9tates to share e%periences* 19/C5//At the Festi"al dellLRnitM, &efore an audience of o"er 10 000, 3ario Fo presents his piece #(a ra"a e la fa"a# 6title later chan'ed to #(a parte del leone#8, a tra'icomic monolo'ue on the political situation in 0tal$* Franca Rame continues with # arti femminili# and participates in a production for RA0 ;, #Rna lepre con la faccia da &am&ina#, a film &$ +ianni 9era on the ecolo'ical disaster in 9e"eso* 0n the meantime, Fo writes scripts for the ei'ht episodes of #7rasmissione for!ata# planned for RA0 3, where he also assumes the roles of director, costume desi'ner, sta'e desi'ner and actor 6with Franca and others8* <le"en more $ears ha"e a'ain passed since their last colla&oration with RA0 tele"ision* 7he$ are awarded the A'ro 3olce ri!e in ,ampione dL0talia* )une Franca tours 7urin for RA0 ;Ls production of # arti femminili#* 19//5/9Franca Rame continues her 0talian tour of # arti femminili#* Fo has a film role in #Musica per "ecchi animali#, directed &$ 9tefano Benni* March 3e Nederlandse Gpera reopens with #7he Bar&er of 9e"ille#, a'ain directed &$ Fo* l9/9 #(ettera dalla ,ina# &$ 3ario Fo sta'ed at MilanLs Arco della ace and in other 0talian cities as part of demonstrations a'ainst the e"ents at 7ienanmen 9Fuare* Ma$ Bra!il: As part of the e%hi&ition #0talia Ji"a#, the 7eatro etru!!elli sta'es FoLs production of #7he Bar&er of 9e"ille# in 9ao aolo and Rio de )aneiro* 0n the same cities, 3ario and Franca perform #Mistero &uffo# and # arti femminili# to a pu&lic alread$ acFuainted with their theatre
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throu'h se"eral productions &$ "arious Bra!ilian theatre companies* 19/9590Fo writes two pla$s: #0l &raccato#, a ne"er5pla$ed piece with a Mafia theme, and #0l papa e la stre'a# >#7he ope and the Ditch#?, on the le'ali!ation of dru's* 7he latter is sta'ed with Franca Rame, who than@s to the lar'e audience she reaches durin' the season a'ain recei"es the #+olden tic@et# award from A+09* April5)une aris: on the in"itation of Antoine Jite!, Artistic 3irector of the ,om-die FranKaise, Fo sta'es Moli4reLs #(e m-decin mal'r- lui# and #(e m-decin "olant#* 9adl$, Jite! 5 who had fou'ht to ha"e Fo inau'urate his planned Moli4re c$cle 5 is una&le to witness the triumphs that the productions reap with critics and pu&lic ali@e* .e passes awa$ towards the end of April* Fo is the first 0talian director to sta'e a production at the ,om-die FranKaise* Amon' the spectators is resident Mitterrand, who praises the productions in a personal letter to 3ario Fo* Ma$ Fo is in"ited &$ the Berliner <nsem&le to sta'e a production in Bertolt BrechtLs old theatre in the sprin' of 1991* 7he proIect is ne"er finali!ed* )ul$ Franca Rame films #,oppia aperta# for 9wiss national tele"ision* 1990591Fo writes and produces at MilanLs 7eatro Nuo"o #Witti_ 9tiamo precipitando_#, a comic5 'rotesFue farce a&out A039* 7he piece with 3ario Fo, Franca Rame and others on sta'e 5 is pla$ed at man$ of the countr$Ls maIor theatres* 0n se"eral cities, it is alternated with #Mistero &uffo#, alwa$s in hi'h demand* 7he open5ended structure of #Mistero &uffo# allows it to e"ol"e o"er the $ears, permittin' Fo to address the "arious issues which o"er time attracts his interest and that of the pu&lic* April As part of the <le"enth 0nternational 7heatre Festi"al, 3ario and Franca sta'e #Mistero &uffo# in alma and 9e"ille* Ma$ Fo is in"ited to participate with a new production at 9e"illeLs 199; Dorld <%hi&ition on the occasion of the fifth anni"ersar$ of the disco"er$ of America* Ma$ FoLs production of #7he Bar&er of 9e"ille# at 3e Nederlandse Gpera is filmed &$ 3utch national tele"ision* 199159;3ario Fo on sta'e with his new monolo'ue #)ohan adan a la desco"erta de le Americhe#* 7he te%t is the fruit of his research on the li"es of a 'roup of <uropeans shipwrec@ed in the earl$ 1:th ,entur$* Rsin' testimonials reco"ered from that time, Fo tells the stor$ 5 in a rein"ented, antiFue lan'ua'e 5 of a 'roup of Mississippi 0ndians resistin' the <uropean incursion* 7his fi"e centuries old stru''le mar@s the &e'innin' of the undefeated 9eminole nationLs fi'ht for its sur"i"al, an epic stor$ that from the &e'innin' has &een censored from the pa'es of histor$* Gcto&er 3ario and Franca at the 0talian 7heatre festi"al in Moscow, or'ani!ed &$ the Russian Driters Association and <70* 7he$ sta'e #Mistero &uffo# at the 7a'an@a 7heatre* April 9pain: the ,entro 3ramatico in Jalencia puts on a production of FoLs 19:; pla$ #0sa&ella, tre cara"elle e un caccia&alle#, sli'htl$ re"ised on occasion of the #cele&ration# of the Fuincentenial anni"ersar$ of the #disco"er$# of America* Fo participates with #)ohan adan# in the Dorld <%hi&ition in 9e"ille in 199;* # arliamo di donne#, consistin' of two one5act pieces 6#(L<roina# and #+rassa 4 &ello#8, is sta'ed in 9eptem&er at MilanLs 7eatro Nuo"o* 7he pieces are written with Franca Rame who also pla$s the leadin' roles* #(L<roina# tells the tra'ic stor$ of a mother of three dru'5addicted children, of which one dies of an o"erdose and another of A039* 7o sa"e the life of the third child, the mother prostitutes herself to afford to @eep him with dru's: #A dru' addiction can &e cured &ut A039 can onl$ @ill#* 0n #+rassa 4 &ello#, Franca 5 in a foam ru&&er &od$ suit to ma@e her loo@ 'rossl$ o"erwei'ht 5 airs thou'hts on femininit$, what it means to &e se%$, slimmin', dietin', lo"e and life in 'eneral* As often happens when Franca is on sta'e, se"eral performances are cancelled &ecause the theatre owners 'et cold feet followin' a &i'oted press campai'n* )une Fo directs a new production of #7he Bar&er of 9e"ille#, this time for the aris Gpera pla$in' at the Gpera +arnier* Gcto&er 3e Nederlandse Gpera opens with #7he Bar&er of 9e"ille# for $et another season* Also continuin' for another season are FoLs productions of Moli4reLs #(e m-decin mal'r- lui# and
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#(e m-decin "olant# at the ,om-die FranKaise* 199;593#9ettimo: ru&a un poL meno_ n* ;# &$ 3ario Fo and Franca Rame* 0n this one5act pla$, sta'ed as the flood5'ates of the wide5reachin' 'raft scandal @nown in 0tal$ as #tan'entopoli# >#&ri&e cit$#? opened, Franca Rame tal@s in simple terms a&out the thie"er$ that has &ecome custom in 0tal$Ls political esta&lishment* No em&ellishments are necessar$ for dramatic effects* )ul$ 1993 At the Festi"al dei 3ue Mondi in 9poleto, Franca Rame and others read #3ario Fo incontra Ru!!ante#* 19935943ario Fo writes and pla$s in #Mamma_ 0 sanculotti_#, a piece that, in the tradition of comic theatre, throu'h dance, mime and son', tells the stor$ of a pu&lic prosecutor who in"esti'ates 'raft and corruption in and out of arliament* 1994 #Rn palcoscenico per le donne#: At MilanLs orta Romana 7heatre, Franca Rame or'ani!es a theatrical re"iew, &$ and for women, with $oun' pla$wri'htAactresses* 0n Au'ust, the re"iew is pla$ed in ,esenatico with 'reat success* April Franca: a new season with #9ettimo: ru&a un poL meno n* ;#* Ma$ 0n cooperation with the Municipalit$ of ,er"ia, Franca or'ani!es a performance for a 'roup of 0talian and forei'n actors and actresses* articipants come from 3enmar@, the Rnited =in'dom, the Rnited 9tates and 7ur@e$* Au'ust At the Rossini Gpera Festi"al in esaro, Fo directs RossiniLs #(L0taliana in Al'eri#* 199459Y0n Gcto&er, Franca opens in Milan with #9essoE +ra!ie, tanto per 'radire_#, &$ Franca Rame and )acopo and 3ario Fo, &ased on )acopo FoLs &oo@ (o !en e lLarte di scopare 6more than 300 000 copies sold8* 0n the 'rotesFue and ironic te%t, Franca Rame 5 departin' from her own first se%ual e%periences 5 illustrates how we are @ept in the dar@ as we 'row up, with the idea that se%ualit$ 5 a&o"e all womenLs se%ualit$ 5 is somethin' indecent* At first, the Ministerial ,ommission for ,ensorship &ans the performance for minors under 1/ $ears* After two months of press campai'ns and liti'ation, the &an is dropped, and the performance is descri&ed as #&rimmin' with profound maternal lo"e and therefore recommended to minors#* 3ecem&er FoLs production of RossiniLs #(L0taliana in Al'eri# is sta'ed at 3e Nederlandse Gpera to resoundin' international acclaim* 7he production is filmed &$ 3utch national tele"ision* Franca "isits 7oronto with an enthusiasticall$ recei"ed performance of #9essoE +ra!ie, tanto per 'radire_#* )anuar$ 3ario Fo opens in Florence with #3ario Fo recita Ru!!ante#, a satirical monolo'ue and an homa'e to An'elo Beolco* 7he te%t is an ela&oration of the one alread$ read at the Festi"al in 9poleto, enriched with new material* 7he performance meets with unanimous praise from 0tal$Ls theatre critics and draws a lar'e audience* Dalter Jaleri, who mana'es the Fo5Rame compan$Ls forei'n &oo@in's, prepares an international tour in France, the Rnited =in'dom, +erman$ and the Rnited 9tates* 9cheduled for the tour are performances of #)ohan adan a la scoperta de le Americhe# and #9essoE +ra!ie, tanto per 'radire_#, as well as seminars at leadin' uni"ersities with central fi'ures in American theatre* Gn 1C )ul$, 3ario is struc@ &$ cere&ral ischaemia and loses /0 per cent of his si'ht* All plans are put on hold* 0n order to honour commitments to technical and administrati"e personnel, Franca Rame continues in the autumn with her 0talian tour of #9essoE +ra!ie, tanto per 'radire_#, while 3ario rests and recuperates* .is condition is 'ood and impro"es da$ &$ da$* 199:59C3ario &e'ins to reassume his tas@s: he holds classes in theatre schools and at uni"ersities, and 'i"es a special performance of #Arlecchino# at JeniceLs 7eatro +oldoni* )ul$ .e writes #Bi&&ia dei "illani# for the festi"al of Bene"ento* 7he performance is sta'ed in 9eptem&er* Ma$ 3ario and Franca "isit ,openha'en, where the$ hold an open seminar at Fol@teatret* Franca arran'es a theatre e"enin' with 3anish actresses and 'i"es performances of #9essoE +ra!ie, tanto per 'radire_#* 7he couple also inau'urates an e%hi&ition of their drawin's, costumes and puppets at the National Museum*

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0n the autumn, 3ario and Franca continue with their 0talian tour of #Mistero &uffo# and #9essoE +ra!ie, tanto per 'radire_#, mer'in' the two pieces into a sin'le performance pla$ed at maIor theatres as well at sports arenas &efore lar'e audiences 6up to Y000 people8* 0n order not to tire 3ario too much, the acti"ities of the compan$ are otherwise reduced* 3urin' this tour, 3ario and Franca write #0l dia"olo con le !inne#, a comic5'rotesFue spectacle that for its richness and "ariet$ in lan'ua'e, its theatrical in"ention and its elements of son' and dance, is &est descri&ed as an opera* 0t is a 'reat success* 3ario is now cured of his illness, and his e$esi'ht has impro"ed so much that Franca 'i"es him a computeri!ed t$pewriter 6he refuses to use a computer8, 7he$ are "er$ happ$_ 199C59/For the Festi"al of 7aormina, ,7FR, +0+A and 7aormina Arte produce #0l dia"olo con le !inne#, directed &$ 3ario Fo, who also desi'ns costumes and d-cor* Gn sta'e are Franca Rame and +ior'io Al&erta!!i* 7he pla$ opens on C Au'ust 199C at the 7eatro Jittorio <manuele in Messina* 7he production continues the followin' season and is ta@en on tour throu'hout 0tal$, where it meets with 'reat success* 9 Gcto&er 199C 3ario Fo recei"es the No&el ri!e in literature* (AZ9 30R<,7<3 BZ 3AR0G FG AN3 FRAN,A RAM< 19:; +(0 AM0,0 3<((A BA77GN0<RA 5 7eatro Ridotto, Jenice* 19:3 ,.0 RRBA RN 0<3< d FGR7RNA7G 0N AMGR< 5 (illa 7eatern, .elsin@i* 19:C (A A99<++0A7A 3<((A 3GM<N0,A 5 &$ M* Archard, translation and arran'ement &$ 3ario FoP 7eatro 3urini, Milan* 19:/ <NWG )ANNA,,0: ;; ,ANWGN0 5 7eatro Gdeon, Milan* 19C/ (A 97GR0A 30 RN 9G(3A7G 6(L.097G0R< 3R 9G(3A78 5 &$ 0* 9tra"ins@$P 7eatro alla 9cala, Milan* 19/1 (LG <RA 3<((G 9+.0+NAWWG 5 ela&oration of #7he Be''ars Gpera# &$ )* +a$P 7eatro 9ta&ile, 7urin* 19/: 7R77A ,A9A, (<77G < ,.0<9A5 Bel'ium and France* 19/C 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 3e Nederlandse Gpera, Amsterdam* 19/C AR,.AN+<(9 3GNL7 (AZ F(0 <R 5 American Repertor$ 7heater, ,am&rid'e 6Mass*8* 19// 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 7eatro etru!!elli, Bari* 19/9 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP tour with 7eatro etru!!elli in Bra!il 69ao aolo and Rio de )aneiro8* 1990 (< M23<,0N MA(+R2 (R0A(< M23<,0N JG(AN7 5 &$ Moli4reP ,om-die FranKaise, aris* 1990 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 3e Nederlandse Gpera, Amsterdam* 1991 0( M<30,G <R FGRWAA0( M<30,G JG(AN7< 5 &$ Moli4reP ,om-die FranKaise, aris* 199; 09AB<((A, 7R< ,ARAJ<((< < RN ,A,,0ABA((< 5 ,entro 3ramatico Nacional, Jalencia* 199; 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 3e Nederlandse Gpera, Amsterdam 6filmed for 3utch 7J8* 199; 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP Gpera +arnier, aris* 1994 (L07A(0ANA 0N A(+<R0 5 &$ +* RossiniP esaro Gpera Festi"al, esaro* 1994 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 3e Nederlandse Gpera, Amsterdam* 199: 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 0srael 6produced &$ Arturo ,orso8* 199C 7.< BARB<R GF 9<J0((< 5 &$ +* RossiniP 9weden 6sta'ed &$ ,arlo Barsotti8*

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DGR= 0N F0(M AN3 7<(<J090GN 19Y; A AJ<R0 < A <R<, a film &$ Marcello Marchesi with Franca Rame and Dalter ,hiari* 19Y: MGN<70N< 3A Y (0R<, a tele"ision comed$ &$ 3ario Fo for RA0* 19Y: (G 9J07A7G, a film &$ ,arlo (i!!ani with Franca Rame, script &$ 3ario Fo* 19:1 ,.0 (L.A J097GE, a tele"ision series for RA0 ; 6: episodes8* 19:; ,ANWGN0990MA, a tele"ision series for RA0 1 613 episodes8* Fo writes the te%ts, directs and 5 with Franca Rame 5 hosts the show, which is one of the most popular on 0talian tele"ision* 3ue to the political content of some of the s@etches, the show is censured* 3ario Fo and Franca Rame lea"e the show in protest* As a conseFuence, the$ are sued &$ RA0Ls mana'ement which &ans them from tele"ision for 1Y $ears* 19C: FANFAN0 RA 07G, film* 19CC 0( 7<A7RG 30 3AR0G FG, se"en tele"ised comedies &$ and with 3ario Fo and Franca Rame, for RA0 ;* 19C/ BRGNA9<RA ,GN FRAN,A RAM<, a tele"ision series for RA0 ; 6;0 episodes8* 19C/ AR(0AMG 30 3GNN<, ; episodes with Franca Rame* 19/1 MR9 DARR<NL9 RGF<990GN &$ +* B* 9haw, directed for tele"ision &$ +* Al&erta!!i, with Franca Rame* 19// 7RA9M0990GN< FGRWA7A with 3ario Fo and Franca Rame, for RA0 3* 19/9 RNA (< R< ,GN (A FA,,0A 3A BAMB0NA, film for tele"ision &$ +* 9erra, with Franca Rame* 19/9 RNA +0GRNA7A ORA(RNOR< and ,G 0A A <R7A for RA0 ;, with Franca Rame* 19/9 RGM<990 9 G90, 3ario Fo* 19/9 MR90,A <R J<,,.0 AN0MA(0, film for tele"ision &$ 9* Benni, with 3ario Fo* 1990 ,G 0A A <R7A, 9wiss national tele"ision, with Franca Rame* 1991 9<770MG: RRBA RN GL M<NG, for RA0 ;* 1991 M097<RG BRFFG, for RA0 ;, with 3ario Fo and Franca Rame* 1993 RRWWAN7<, for RA0 ;*

,GRN7R0<9 0N D.0,. 7.< 7.<A7R< GF 3AR0G FG AN3 FRAN,A RAM< .A9 B<<N (AZ<3 Ar'entina 3enmar@ Australia Austria Bel'ium Bra!il Bul'aria ,anada ,hile ,hina ,olom&ia ,!echoslo"a@ia 9wit!erland <n'land <stonia Finland France +erman$ +reece +reenland .un'ar$ 0celand 0ndia 0reland 0srael

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7ur@e$ 9outh =orea 9o"iet Rnion Rnited 9tates Rru'ua$ Jene!uela Zu'osla"ia Wim&a&we Romania 9cotland 9in'apore 9outh Africa 9pain 9weden

)apan =en$a (u%em&our' Malta Me%ico Monaco 7he Netherlands New +uinea New Wealand Norwa$ ara'ua$ eru ortu'al uerto Rico oland

,070<9 .G970N+ <e.0B079 GF 7.< 7.<A7R< GF 3AR0G FG AN3 FRAN,A RAM< 07A(Z: Ber'amo, ,esena, Forli, Milan, alermo, esaro, Riccione, Jenice 9 A0N: Barcelona, Madrid 3<NMAR=: ,openha'en F0N(AN3: .elsin@i 7he N<7.<R(AN39: Amsterdam 7he e%hi&its contain paintin's, mas@s, hand5 and strin' puppets, tapestries, s@etches for sta'e desi'n, sta'e machiner$, direction notes and costumes* 7ranslated &$ aul ,laesson From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es 199C, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, 199/ 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 199C 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #3ario Fo 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA199CAfo*html Nobel Lecture
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No&el (ecture, 3ecem&er C, 199C Contra Jogulatores %blo&uentes 'gainst Jesters (ho #e a)e an! Insult #A'ainst Iesters who defame and insult#* (aw issued &$ <mperor Frederic@ 00 6Messina 1;;18, declarin' that an$one ma$ commit "iolence a'ainst Iesters without incurrin' 7he drawin's 0Lm showin' $ou are mine* ,opies of these, sli'htl$ reduced in si!e, ha"e &een distri&uted amon' $ou* For some time itLs &een m$ ha&it to use ima'es when preparin' a speech: rather than write it down, 0 illustrate it* 7his allows me to impro"ise, to e%ercise m$ ima'ination 5 and to o&li'e $ou to use $ours* As 0 proceed, 0 will from time to time indicate to $ou where we are in the manuscript* 7hat wa$ $ou wonLt lose the thread* 7his will &e of help especiall$ to those of $ou who donLt understand either 0talian or 9wedish* <n'lish5spea@ers will ha"e a tremendous ad"anta'e o"er the rest &ecause the$ will ima'ine thin's 0L"e neither said nor thou'ht* 7here is of course the pro&lem of the two lau'hters: those who understand 0talian will lau'h immediatel$, those who donLt will ha"e to wait for Anna >Barsotti?Ls 9wedish translation* And then there are those of $ou who wonLt @now whether to lau'h the first time or the second* An$wa$, letLs 'et started* (adies and 'entlemen, the title 0L"e selected for this little chat is #contra Io'ulatores o&loFuentes#, which $ou all reco'ni!e as (atin, mediae"al (atin to &e precise* 0tLs the title of a law issued in 9icil$ in 1;;1 &$ <mperor Frederic@ 00 of 9wa&ia, an emperor #anointed &$ +od#, who we were tau'ht in school to re'ard a so"erei'n of e%traordinar$ enli'htenment, a li&eral* #)o'ulatores o&loFuentes# means #Iesters who defame and insult#* 7he law in Fuestion allowed an$ and all citi!ens to insult Iesters, to &eat them and e"en 5 if the$ were in that mood 5 to @ill them, without runnin' an$ ris@ of &ein' &rou'ht to trial and condemned* 0 hasten to assure $ou that this law no lon'er is in "i'our, so 0 can safel$ continue* (adies and 'entlemen, Friends of mine, noted men of letters, ha"e in "arious radio and tele"ision inter"iews declared: #7he hi'hest pri!e should no dou&t &e awarded to the mem&ers of the 9wedish Academ$, for ha"in' had the coura'e this $ear to award the No&el ri!e to a Iester*# 0 a'ree* Zours is an act of coura'e that &orders on pro"ocation* 0tLs enou'h to ta@e stoc@ of the uproar it has caused: su&lime poets and writers who normall$ occup$ the loftiest of spheres, and who rarel$ ta@e interest in those who li"e and toil on hum&ler planes, are suddenl$ &owled o"er &$ some @ind of whirlwind* (i@e 0 said, 0 applaud and concur with m$ friends* 7hese poets had alread$ ascended to the arnassian hei'hts when $ou, throu'h $our insolence, sent them topplin' to earth, where the$ fell face and &ell$ down in the mire of normalit$* 0nsults and a&use are hurled at the 9wedish Academ$, at its mem&ers and their relati"es &ac@ to the se"enth 'eneration* 7he wildest of them clamour: #3own with the =in' *** of Norwa$_#* 0t appears the$ 'ot the d$nast$ wron' in the confusion* 6At this point $ou ma$ turn the pa'e* As $ou see there is an ima'e of a na@ed poet &owled o"er &$ a whirlwind*8
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9ome landed prett$ hard on their nether parts* 7here were reports of poets and writers whose ner"es and li"ers suffered terri&l$* For a few da$s thereafter there was not a pharmac$ in 0tal$ that could muster up a sin'le tranFuilli!er* But, dear mem&ers of the Academ$, letLs admit it, this time $ouL"e o"erdone it* 0 mean come on, first $ou 'i"e the pri!e to a &lac@ man, then to a )ewish writer* Now $ou 'i"e it to a clown* Dhat 'i"esE As the$ sa$ in Naples: pa!!iMmmeE .a"e we lost our sensesE Also the hi'her cler'$ ha"e suffered their moments of madness* 9undr$ potentates 5 'reat electors of the ope, &ishops, cardinals and prelates of Gpus 3ei 5 ha"e all 'one throu'h the ceilin', to the point that the$L"e e"en petitioned for the reinstatement of the law that allowed Iesters to &e &urned at the sta@e* G"er a slow fire* Gn the other hand 0 can tell $ou there is an e%traordinar$ num&er of people who reIoice with me o"er $our choice* And so 0 &rin' $ou the most festi"e than@s, in the name of a multitude of mummers, Iesters, clowns, tum&lers and stor$tellers* 67his is where we are now >indicates a pa'e?*8 And spea@in' of stor$tellers, 0 mustnLt for'et those of the small town on (a'o Ma''iore where 0 was &orn and raised, a town with a rich oral tradition* 7he$ were the old stor$tellers, the master 'lass5&lowers who tau'ht me and other children the craftsmanship, the art, of spinnin' fantastic $arns* De would listen to them, &urstin' with lau'hter 5 lau'hter that would stic@ in our throats as the tra'ic allusion that surmounted each sarcasm would dawn on us* 7o this da$ 0 @eep fresh in m$ mind the stor$ of the Roc@ of ,ald-* #Man$ $ears a'o#, &e'an the old 'lass5&lower, #wa$ up on the crest of that steep cliff that rises from the la@e there was a town called ,ald-* As it happened, this town was sittin' on a loose splinter of roc@ that slowl$, da$ &$ da$, was slidin' down towards the precipice* 0t was a splendid little town, with a campanile, a fortified tower at the "er$ pea@ and a cluster of houses, one after the other* 0tLs a town that once was and that now is 'one* 0t disappeared in the 1Yth centur$* #L.e$L, shouted the peasants and fishermen down in the "alle$ &elow* LZouLre slidin', $ouLll fall down from thereL* #But the cliff dwellers wouldnLt listen to them, the$ e"en lau'hed and made fun of them: LZou thin@ $ouLre prett$ smart, tr$in' to scare us into runnin' awa$ from our houses and our land so $ou can 'ra& them instead* But weLre not that stupid*L #9o the$ continued to prune their "ines, sow their fields, marr$ and ma@e lo"e* 7he$ went to mass* 7he$ felt the roc@ slide under their houses &ut the$ didnLt thin@ much a&out it* L)ust the roc@ settlin'* Ouite normalL, the$ said, reassurin' each other* #7he 'reat splinter of roc@ was a&out to sin@ into the la@e* LDatch out, $ouL"e 'ot water up to $our an@lesL, shouted the people alon' the shore* LNonsense, thatLs Iust draina'e water from the fountains, itLs Iust a &it humidL, said the people of the town, and so, slowl$ &ut surel$, the whole town was swallowed &$ the la@e* #+ur'le *** 'ur'le *** splash *** the$ sin@ **** houses, men, women, two horses, three don@e$s *** heehaw *** 'ur'le* Rndaunted, the priest continued to recei"e the confession of a nun: L7e a&sol"i *** animus *** santi *** 'uur'le *** Aame *** 'ur'le ***L 7he tower disappeared, the campanile san@ with &ells and all: 3on' *** din' *** dop *** ploc@ ***
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#<"en toda$#, continued the old 'lass5&lower, #if $ou loo@ down into the water from that outcrop that still Iuts out from the la@e, and if in that same moment a thunderstorm &rea@s out, and the li'htnin' illuminates the &ottom of the la@e, $ou can still see 5 incredi&le as it ma$ seem_ 5 the su&mer'ed town, with its streets still intact and e"en the inha&itants themsel"es, wal@in' around and 'li&l$ repeatin' to themsel"es: LNothin' has happenedL* 7he fish swim &ac@ and forth &efore their e$es, e"en into their ears* But the$ Iust &rush them off: LNothin' to worr$ a&out* 0tLs Iust some @ind of fish thatLs learned to swim in the airL* #LAtchoo_L L+od &less $ou_L L7han@ $ou *** itLs a &it humid toda$ *** more than $esterda$ *** &ut e"er$thin'Ls fineL* 7he$L"e reached roc@ &ottom, &ut as far as the$Lre concerned, nothin' has happened at all*# 3istur&in' thou'h it ma$ &e, thereLs no den$in' that a tale li@e this still has somethin' to tell us* 0 repeat, 0 owe much to these master 'lass5&lowers of mine, and the$ 5 0 assure $ou 5 are immensel$ 'rateful to $ou, mem&ers of this Academ$, for rewardin' one of their disciples* And the$ e%press their 'ratitude with e%plosi"e e%u&erance* 0n m$ home town, people swear that on the ni'ht the news arri"ed that one of their own stor$tellers was to &e awarded the No&el ri!e, a @iln that had &een standin' cold for some fift$ $ears suddenl$ erupted in a &roadside of flames, spra$in' hi'h into the air 5 li@e a firewor@s finale 5 a m$riad splinters of coloured 'lass, which then showered down on the surface of the la@e, releasin' an impressi"e cloud of steam* 6Dhile $ou applaud, 0Lll ha"e a drin@ of water* >7urnin' to the interpreter:? Dould $ou li@e someE 0tLs important that $ou tal@ amon' $oursel"es while we drin@, &ecause if $ou tr$ to hear the 'ur'le 'ur'le 'ur'le the water ma@es as we swallow weLll cho@e on it and start cou'hin'* 9o instead $ou can e%chan'e niceties li@e #Gh, what a lo"el$ e"enin' it is, isnLt itE#* <nd of intermission: we turn to a new pa'e, &ut donLt worr$, itLll 'o faster from here*8 A&o"e all others, this e"enin' $ouLre due the loud and solemn than@s of an e%traordinar$ master of the sta'e, little5@nown not onl$ to $ou and to people in France, Norwa$, Finland *** &ut also to the people of 0tal$* Zet he was, until 9ha@espeare, dou&tless the 'reatest pla$wri'ht of renaissance <urope* 0Lm referrin' to Ru!!ante Beolco, m$ 'reatest master alon' with Moli4re: &oth actors5 pla$wri'hts, &oth moc@ed &$ the leadin' men of letters of their times* A&o"e all, the$ were despised for &rin'in' onto the sta'e the e"er$da$ life, Io$s and desperation of the common peopleP the h$pocris$ and the arro'ance of the hi'h and mi'ht$P and the incessant inIustice* And their maIor, unfor'i"a&le fault was this: in tellin' these thin's, the$ made people lau'h* (au'hter does not please the mi'ht$* Ru!!ante, the true father of the ,ommedia dellLArte, also constructed a lan'ua'e of his own, a lan'ua'e of and for the theatre, &ased on a "ariet$ of ton'ues: the dialects of the o Jalle$, e%pressions in (atin, 9panish, e"en +erman, all mi%ed with onomatopoeic sounds of his own in"ention* 0t is from him, from Beolco Ru!!ante, that 0L"e learned to free m$self from con"entional literar$ writin' and to e%press m$self with words that $ou can chew, with unusual sounds, with "arious techniFues of rh$thm and &reathin', e"en with the ram&lin' nonsense5speech of the 'rammelot* Allow me to dedicate a part of this presti'ious pri!e to Ru!!ante* A few da$s a'o, a $oun' actor of 'reat talent said to me: #Maestro, $ou should tr$ to proIect $our ener'$, $our enthusiasm, to $oun' people* Zou ha"e to 'i"e them this char'e of $ours* Zou ha"e to
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share $our professional @nowled'e and e%perience with them#* Franca 5 thatLs m$ wife 5 and 0 loo@ed at each other and said: #.eLs ri'ht#* But when we teach others our art, and share this char'e of fantas$, what end will it ser"eE Dhere will it leadE 0n the past couple of months, Franca and 0 ha"e "isited a num&er of uni"ersit$ campuses to hold wor@shops and seminars &efore $oun' audiences* 0t has &een surprisin' 5 not to sa$ distur&in' 5 to disco"er their i'norance a&out the times we li"e in* De told them a&out the proceedin's now in course in 7ur@e$ a'ainst the accused culprits of the massacre in 9i"as* 7hirt$5se"en of the countr$Ls foremost democratic intellectuals, meetin' in the Anatolian town to cele&rate the memor$ of a famous mediae"al Iester of the Gttoman period, were &urned ali"e in the dar@ of the ni'ht, trapped inside their hotel* 7he fire was the handiwor@ of a 'roup of fanatical fundamentalists that enIo$ed protection from elements within the +o"ernment itself* 0n one ni'ht, thirt$5se"en of the countr$Ls most cele&rated artists, writers, directors, actors and =urdish dancers were erased from this <arth* 0n one &low these fanatics destro$ed some of the most important e%ponents of 7ur@ish culture* 7housands of students listened to us* 7he loo@s in their faces spo@e of their astonishment and incredulit$* 7he$ had ne"er heard of the massacre* But what impressed me the most is that not e"en the teachers and professors present had heard of it* 7here 7ur@e$ is, on the Mediterranean, practicall$ in front of us, insistin' on Ioinin' the <uropean ,ommunit$, $et no one had heard of the massacre* 9al"ini, a noted 0talian democrat, was ri'ht on the mar@ when he o&ser"ed: #7he widespread i'norance of e"ents is the main &uttress of inIustice#* But this a&sent5mindedness on the part of the $oun' has &een conferred upon them &$ those who are char'ed to educate and inform them: amon' the a&sent5minded and uninformed, school teachers and other educators deser"e first mention* Zoun' people easil$ succum& to the &om&ardment of 'ratuitous &analities and o&scenities that each da$ is ser"ed to them &$ the mass media: heartless 7J action films where in the space of ten minutes the$ are treated to three rapes, two assassinations, one &eatin' and a serial crash in"ol"in' ten cars on a &rid'e that then collapses, whereupon e"er$thin' 5 cars, dri"ers and passen'ers 5 precipitates into the sea *** onl$ one person sur"i"es the fall, &ut he doesnLt @now how to swim and so drowns, to the cheers of the crowd of curious onloo@ers that suddenl$ has appeared on the scene* At another uni"ersit$ we spoofed the proIect 5 alas well under wa$ 5 to manipulate 'enetic material, or more specificall$, the proposal &$ the <uropean arliament to allow patent ri'hts on li"in' or'anisms* De could feel how the su&Iect sent a chill throu'h the audience* Franca and 0 e%plained how our <urocrats, @indled &$ powerful and u&iFuitous multinationals, are preparin' a scheme worth$ the plot of a sci5fiAhorror mo"ie entitled #Fran@ensteinLs pi' &rother#* 7he$Lre tr$in' to 'et the appro"al of a directi"e which 6and 'et this_8 would authori!e industries to ta@e patents on li"in' &ein's, or on parts of them, created with techniFues of 'enetic manipulation that seem ta@en strai'ht out of #7he 9orcererLs Apprentice#* 7his is how it would wor@: &$ manipulatin' the 'enetic ma@e5up of a pi', a scientist succeeds in ma@in' the pi' more human5li@e* B$ this arran'ement it &ecomes much easier to remo"e from the pi' the or'an of $our choice 5 a li"er, a @idne$ 5 and to transplant it in a human* But to assure that the transplanted pi'5or'ans arenLt reIected, itLs also necessar$ to transfer certain pieces of 'enetic information from the pi' to the human* 7he result: a human pi' 6e"en thou'h $ou will sa$ that there are alread$ plent$ of those8* And e"er$ part of this new creature, this humani!ed pi', will &e su&Iect to patent lawsP and whosoe"er wishes a part of it will ha"e to pa$ cop$ri'ht fees to the compan$ that #in"ented# it* 9econdar$ illnesses, monstrous deformations, infectious diseases 5 all are optionals, included in the
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price *** 7he ope has forcefull$ condemned this monstrous 'enetic witchcraft* .e has called it an offence a'ainst humanit$, a'ainst the di'nit$ of man, and has 'one to pains to underscore the proIectLs total and irrefuta&le lac@ of moral "alue* 7he astonishin' thin' is that while this is happenin', an American scientist, a remar@a&le ma'ician 5 $ouL"e pro&a&l$ read a&out him in the papers 5 has succeeded in transplantin' the head of a &a&oon* .e cut the heads off two &a&oons and switched them* 7he &a&oons didnLt feel all that 'reat after the operation* 0n fact, it left them paral$sed, and the$ &oth died shortl$ thereafter, &ut the e%periment wor@ed, and thatLs the 'reat thin'* But hereLs the ru&: this modern5da$ Fran@enstein, a certain rofessor Dhite, is all the while a distin'uished mem&er of the Jatican Academ$ of 9ciences* 9ome&od$ should warn the ope* 9o, we enacted these criminal farces to the @ids at the uni"ersities, and the$ lau'hed their heads off* 7he$ would sa$ of Franca and me: #7he$Lre a riot, the$ come up with the most fantastic stories#* Not for a moment, not e"en with an in@lin' in their spines, did the$ 'rasp that the stories we told were true* 7hese encounters ha"e stren'thened us in our con"iction that our Io& is 5 in @eepin' with the e%hortation of the 'reat 0talian poet 9a"inio 5 #to tell our own stor$#* Gur tas@ as intellectuals, as persons who mount the pulpit or the sta'e, and who, most importantl$, address to $oun' people, our tas@ is not Iust to teach them method, li@e how to use the arms, how to control &reathin', how to use the stomach, the "oice, the falsetto, the contracampo* 0tLs not enou'h to teach a techniFue or a st$le: we ha"e to show them what is happenin' around us* 7he$ ha"e to &e a&le to tell their own stor$* A theatre, a literature, an artistic e%pression that does not spea@ for its own time has no rele"ance* Recentl$, 0 too@ part in a lar'e conference with lots of people where 0 tried to e%plain, especiall$ to the $oun'er participants, the ins and outs of a particular 0talian court case* 7he ori'inal case resulted in se"en separate proceedin's, at the end of which three 0talian left5win' politicians were sentenced to ;1 $ears of imprisonment each, accused of ha"in' murdered a police commissioner* 0L"e studied the documents of the case 5 as 0 did when 0 prepared Accidental 3eath of an Anarchist 5 and at the conference 0 recounted the facts pertainin' to it, which are reall$ Fuite a&surd, e"en farcical* But at a certain point 0 reali!ed 0 was spea@in' to deaf ears, for the simple reason that m$ audience was i'norant not onl$ of the case itself, &ut of what had happened fi"e $ears earlier, ten $ears earlier: the "iolence, the terrorism* 7he$ @new nothin' a&out the massacres that occurred in 0tal$, the trains that &lew up, the &om&s in the pia!!e or the farcical court cases that ha"e dra''ed on since then* 7he terri&l$ difficult thin' is that in order to tal@ a&out what is happenin' toda$, 0 ha"e to start with what happened thirt$ $ears a'o and then wor@ m$ wa$ forward* 0tLs not enou'h to spea@ a&out the present* And pa$ attention, this isnLt Iust a&out 0tal$: the same thin' happens e"er$where, all o"er <urope* 0L"e tried in 9pain and encountered the same difficult$P 0L"e tried in France, in +erman$, 0L"e $et to tr$ in 9weden, &ut 0 will* 7o conclude, let me share this medal with Franca* Franca Rame, m$ companion in life and in art who $ou, mem&ers of the Academ$, ac@nowled'e in $our moti"ation of the pri!e as actress and authorP who has had a hand in man$ of the te%ts of our theatre* 6At this "er$ moment, Franca is on sta'e in a theatre in 0tal$ &ut will Ioin me the da$ after
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tomorrow* .er fli'ht arri"es midda$, if $ou li@e we can all head out to'ether to pic@ her up at the airport*8 Franca has a "er$ sharp wit, 0 assure $ou* A Iournalist put the followin' Fuestion to her: #9o how does it feel to &e the wife of a No&el ri!e winnerE 7o ha"e a monument in $our homeE# 7o which she answered: #0Lm not worried* Nor do 0 feel at all at a disad"anta'eP 0L"e &een in trainin' for a lon' time* 0 do m$ e%ercises each mornin': 0 'o down on m$ hand and @nees, and that wa$ 0L"e accustomed m$self to &ecomin' a pedestal to a monument* 0Lm prett$ 'ood at it*# (i@e 0 said, she has a sharp wit* At times she e"en turns her iron$ a'ainst herself* Dithout her at m$ side, where she has &een for a lifetime, 0 would ne"er ha"e accomplished the wor@ $ou ha"e seen fit to honour* 7o'ether weL"e sta'ed and recited thousands of performances, in theatres, occupied factories, at uni"ersit$ sit5ins, e"en in deconsecrated churches, in prisons and cit$ par@s, in sunshine and pourin' rain, alwa$s to'ether* DeL"e had to endure a&use, assaults &$ the police, insults from the ri'ht5thin@in', and "iolence* And it is Franca who has had to suffer the most atrocious a''ression* 9he has had to pa$ more dearl$ than an$ one of us, with her nec@ and lim& in the &alance, for the solidarit$ with the hum&le and the &eaten that has &een our premise* 7he da$ it was announced that 0 was to &e awarded the No&el ri!e 0 found m$self in front of the theatre on Jia di orta Romana in Milan where Franca, to'ether with +ior'io Al&erta!!i, was performin' 7he 3e"il with 7its* 9uddenl$ 0 was surrounded &$ a thron' of reporters, photo'raphers and camera5wieldin' 7J5crews* A passin' tram stopped, une%pectedl$, the dri"er stepped out to 'reet me, then all the passen'ers stepped out too, the$ applauded me, and e"er$one wanted to sha@e m$ hand and con'ratulate me *** when at a certain point the$ all stopped in their trac@s and, as with a sin'le "oice, shouted #DhereLs FrancaE#* 7he$ &e'an to holler #Francaaa# until, after a little while, she appeared* 3iscom&o&ulated and mo"ed to tears, she came down to em&race me* At that moment, as if out of nowhere, a &and appeared, pla$in' nothin' &ut wind instruments and drums* 0t was made up of @ids from all parts of the cit$ and, as it happened, the$ were pla$in' to'ether for the first time* 7he$ struc@ up # orta Romana &ella, orta Romana# in sam&a &eat* 0L"e ne"er heard an$thin' pla$ed so out of tune, &ut it was the most &eautiful music Franca and 0 had e"er heard* Belie"e me, this pri!e &elon's to &oth of us* 7han@ $ou* 7ranslated from 0talian &$ aul ,laesson ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 199C 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #3ario Fo 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA199CAfo5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^

Gao *ing+ian No&el (ecture

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7he ,ase for (iterature +ao ein'Iian deli"ered his No&el (ecture in Bgrssalen at the 9wedish Academ$ in 9toc@holm, C 3ecem&er ;000* ein'Iian was introduced &$ .orace <n'dahl, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;000 was awarded to +ao ein'Iian #for an hu"re of uni"ersal "alidit$, &itter insi'hts and lin'uistic in'enuit$, which has opened new paths for the ,hinese no"el and drama#* Born: 4 )anuar$ 1940, +an!hou, ,hina Residence at the time of the award: France ri!e moti"ation: #for an hu"re of uni"ersal "alidit$, &itter insi'hts and lin'uistic in'enuit$, which has opened new paths for the ,hinese no"el and drama# (an'ua'e: ,hinese Biography +ao ein'Iian, &orn )anuar$ 4, 1940 in +an!hou 6)ian'%i pro"ince8 in eastern ,hina, is toda$ a French citi!en* Driter of prose, translator, dramatist, director, critic and artist* +ao ein'Iian 'rew up durin' the aftermath of the )apanese in"asion, his father was a &an@ official and his mother an amateur actress who stimulated the $oun' +aoLs interest in the theatre and writin'* .e recei"ed his &asic education in the schools of the eopleLs Repu&lic and too@ a de'ree in French in 19:; at the 3epartment of Forei'n (an'ua'es in BeiIin'* 3urin' the ,ultural Re"olution 619::5C:8 he was sent to a re5education camp and felt it necessar$ to &urn a suitcase full of manuscripts* Not until 19C9 could he pu&lish his wor@ and tra"el a&road, to France and 0tal$* 3urin' the period 19/05/C he pu&lished short stories, essa$s and dramas in literar$ ma'a!ines in ,hina and also four &oo@s: remier essai sur les techniFues du roman moderneAA reliminar$ 3iscussion of the Art of Modern Fiction 619/18 which 'a"e rise to a "iolent polemic on #modernism#, the narrati"e A i'eon ,alled Red Bea@ 619/Y8, ,ollected la$s 619/Y8 and 0n 9earch of a Modern Form of 3ramatic Representation 619/C8* 9e"eral of his e%perimental and pioneerin' pla$s 5 inspired in part &$ Brecht, Artaud and Bec@ett 5 were produced at the 7heatre of opular Art in BeiIin': his theatrical de&ut with 9i'nal dLalarmeA9i'nal Alarm 619/;8 was a tempestuous success, and the a&surd drama which esta&lished his reputation ArrBt de &usABus 9top 619/38 was condemned durin' the campai'n a'ainst #intellectual pollution# 6descri&ed &$ one eminent mem&er of the part$ as the most pernicious piece of writin' since the foundation of the eopleLs Repu&lic8P (L.omme sau"a'eADild Man 619/Y8 also 'a"e rise to heated domestic polemic and international attention* 0n 19/: (Lautre ri"eA7he Gther 9hore was &anned and since then none of his pla$s ha"e &een performed in ,hina* 0n order to a"oid harassment he undertoo@ a ten5month wal@in'5tour of the forest and mountain re'ions of 9ichuan ro"ince, tracin' the course of the Zan'!i ri"er from its source to the coast* 0n 19/C he left ,hina and settled down a $ear later in aris as a political refu'ee* After the massacre on the 9Fuare of .ea"enl$ eace in 19/9 he left the ,hinese ,ommunist art$* After pu&lication of (a fuiteAFu'iti"es, which ta@es place a'ainst the &ac@'round of this massacre, he was declared persona non 'rata &$ the re'ime and his wor@s were &anned* 0n the summer of 19/;, +ao ein'Iian had alread$ started wor@in' on his prodi'ious no"el (a Monta'ne de lLimeA9oul Mountain, in which 5 &$ means of an od$sse$ in time and space throu'h the ,hinese countr$side 5 he enacts an indi"idualLs search for roots, inner peace and li&ert$* 7his is supplemented &$ the more auto&io'raphical (e (i"re dLun homme seulAGne ManLs Bi&le* A num&er of his wor@s ha"e &een translated into "arious lan'ua'es, and toda$ se"eral of his pla$s
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are &ein' produced in "arious parts of the world* 0n 9weden he has &een translated and introduced &$ +gran MalmF"ist, and two of his pla$s 69ummer Rain in e@in', Fu'iti"es8 ha"e &een performed at the Ro$al 3ramatic 7heatre in 9toc@holm* +ao ein'Iian paints in in@ and has had some thirt$ international e%hi&itions and pro"ides the co"er illustrations for his own &oo@s* Awards: ,he"alier de lLGrdre des Arts et des (ettres 199;P ri% ,ommunaut- franKaise de Bel'iFue 1994 6for (e somnam&ule8, ri% du Nou"el An chinois 199C 6for 9oul Mountain8* A selection of wor@s &$ +ao ein'Iian in <n'lish Dild Man: a ,ontemporar$ ,hinese 9po@en 3rama* 7ransl* and annotated &$ Bruno Rou&ice@* Asian 7heatre )ournal* Jol* C, Nr ;* Fa1l 1990* Fu'iti"es* 7ransl* &$ +re'or$ B* (ee* 0n: (ee, +re'or$ B*, ,hinese Dritin' and <%ile* ,entral ,hinese 9tudies of the Rni"erstit$ of ,hica'o, 1993* 7he Gther 9hore : la$s &$ +ao ein'Iian* 7ransl* &$ +il&ert ,*F* Fon'* .on' =on': 7he ,hinese Rni"ersit$ ress, 1999* 9oul Mountain* 7ransl* &$ Ma&el (ee* .arper,ollins, 1999* Gne ManLs Bi&le* 7ransl* &$ Ma&el (ee* .arper,ollins, ;00;* ,ontemporar$ 7echniFue and National ,haracter in Fiction* 7ransl* &$ N' Mau5san'* ><%tract from A reliminar$ 3iscussion of the Art of Modern Fiction, 19/1*? #7he Joice of the 0ndi"idual#* 9toc@holm )ournal of <ast Asian 9tudies :, 199Y* #Dithout isms#* 7ransl* &$ D* (au, 3* 9au"iat j M* Dilliams* )ournal of the Griental 9ociet$ of Australia* Jols* ;C j ;/, 199Y59:* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 199Y5;000, <ditor .orace <n'dahl, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, ;00; 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;000 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #+ao ein'Iian 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;000A'ao*html Nobel Lecture ,he Case or Literature 0 ha"e no wa$ of @nowin' whether it was fate that has pushed me onto this dais &ut as "arious luc@$ coincidences ha"e created this opportunit$ 0 ma$ as well call it fate* uttin' aside discussion of the e%istence or non5e%istence of +od, 0 would li@e to sa$ that despite m$ &ein' an atheist 0 ha"e alwa$s shown re"erence for the un@nowa&le* A person cannot &e +od, certainl$ not replace +od, and rule the world as a 9upermanP he will onl$ succeed in creatin' more chaos and ma@e a 'reater mess of the world* 0n the centur$ after Niet!sche man5made disasters left the &lac@est records in the histor$ of human@ind* 9upermen of all t$pes called leader of the people, head of the nation and commander of the race did not &aul@ at resortin' to "arious "iolent means in perpetratin' crimes that in no wa$ resem&le the ra"in's of a "er$ e'otistic philosopher* .owe"er, 0 do not wish to waste this tal@ on literature &$ sa$in' too much a&out politics and histor$, what 0 want to do is to use this opportunit$ to spea@ as one writer in the "oice of an indi"idual* A writer is an ordinar$ person, perhaps he is more sensiti"e &ut people who are hi'hl$ sensiti"e are
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often more frail* A writer does not spea@ as the spo@esperson of the people or as the em&odiment of ri'hteousness* .is "oice is ine"ita&l$ wea@ &ut it is precisel$ this "oice of the indi"idual that is more authentic* Dhat 0 want to sa$ here is that literature can onl$ &e the "oice of the indi"idual and this has alwa$s &een so* Gnce literature is contri"ed as the h$mn of the nation, the fla' of the race, the mouthpiece of a political part$ or the "oice of a class or a 'roup, it can &e emplo$ed as a mi'ht$ and all5 en'ulfin' tool of propa'anda* .owe"er, such literature loses what is inherent in literature, ceases to &e literature, and &ecomes a su&stitute for power and profit* 0n the centur$ Iust ended literature confronted precisel$ this misfortune and was more deepl$ scarred &$ politics and power than in an$ pre"ious period, and the writer too was su&Iected to unprecedented oppression* 0n order that literature safe'uard the reason for its own e%istence and not &ecome the tool of politics it must return to the "oice of the indi"idual, for literature is primaril$ deri"ed from the feelin's of the indi"idual and is the result of feelin's* 7his is not to sa$ that literature must therefore &e di"orced from politics or that it must necessaril$ &e in"ol"ed in politics* ,ontro"ersies a&out literar$ trends or a writer1s political inclinations were serious afflictions that tormented literature durin' the past centur$* 0deolo'$ wrea@ed ha"oc &$ turnin' related contro"ersies o"er tradition and reform into contro"ersies o"er what was conser"ati"e or re"olutionar$ and thus chan'ed literar$ issues into a stru''le o"er what was pro'ressi"e or reactionar$* 0f ideolo'$ unites with power and is transformed into a real force then &oth literature and the indi"idual will &e destro$ed* ,hinese literature in the twentieth centur$ time and a'ain was worn out and indeed almost suffocated &ecause politics dictated literature: &oth the re"olution in literature and re"olutionar$ literature ali@e passed death sentences on literature and the indi"idual* 7he attac@ on ,hinese traditional culture in the name of the re"olution resulted in the pu&lic prohi&ition and &urnin' of &oo@s* ,ountless writers were shot, imprisoned, e%iled or punished with hard la&our in the course of the past one hundred $ears* 7his was more e%treme than in an$ imperial d$nastic period of ,hina1s histor$, creatin' enormous difficulties for writin's in the ,hinese lan'ua'e and e"en more for an$ discussion of creati"e freedom* 0f the writer sou'ht to win intellectual freedom the choice was either to fall silent or to flee* .owe"er the writer relies on lan'ua'e and not to spea@ for a prolon'ed period is the same as suicide* 7he writer who sou'ht to a"oid suicide or &ein' silenced and furthermore to e%press his own "oice had no option &ut to 'o into e%ile* 9ur"e$in' the histor$ of literature in the <ast and the Dest this has alwa$s &een so: from Ou Zuan to 3ante, )o$ce, 7homas Mann, 9ol!henits$n, and to the lar'e num&ers of ,hinese intellectuals who went into e%ile after the 7iananmen massacre in 19/9* 7his is the ine"ita&le fate of the poet and the writer who continues to see@ to preser"e his own "oice* 3urin' the $ears when Mao Wedon' implemented total dictatorship e"en fleein' was not an option* 7he monasteries on far awa$ mountains that pro"ided refu'e for scholars in feudal times were totall$ ra"a'ed and to write e"en in secret was to ris@ one1s life* 7o maintain one1s intellectual autonom$ one could onl$ tal@ to oneself, and it had to &e in utmost secrec$* 0 should mention that it was onl$ in this period when it was utterl$ impossi&le for literature that 0 came to comprehend wh$ it was so essential: literature allows a person to preser"e a human consciousness* 0t can &e said that tal@in' to oneself is the startin' point of literature and that usin' lan'ua'e to communicate is secondar$* A person pours his feelin's and thou'hts into lan'ua'e that, written as words, &ecomes literature* At the time there is no thou'ht of utilit$ or that some da$ it mi'ht &e pu&lished $et there is the compulsion to write &ecause there is recompense and consolation in the
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pleasure of writin'* 0 &e'an writin' m$ no"el 9oul Mountain to dispel m$ inner loneliness at the "er$ time when wor@s 0 had written with ri'orous self5censorship had &een &anned* 9oul Mountain was written for m$self and without the hope that it would &e pu&lished* From m$ e%perience in writin', 0 can sa$ that literature is inherentl$ man1s affirmation of the "alue of his own self and that this is "alidated durin' the writin', literature is &orn primaril$ of the writer1s need for self5fulfilment* Dhether it has an$ impact on societ$ comes after the completion of a wor@ and that impact certainl$ is not determined &$ the wishes of the writer* 0n the histor$ of literature there are man$ 'reat endurin' wor@s which were not pu&lished in the lifetimes of the authors* 0f the authors had not achie"ed self5affirmation while writin', how could the$ ha"e continued to writeE As in the case of 9ha@espeare, e"en now it is difficult to ascertain the details of the li"es of the four 'eniuses who wrote ,hina1s 'reatest no"els, )ourne$ to the Dest, Dater Mar'in, )in in' Mei and 3ream of Red Mansions* All that remains is an auto&io'raphical essa$ &$ 9hi Naian and had he not as he said consoled himself &$ writin', how else could he ha"e de"oted the rest of his life to that hu'e wor@ for which he recei"ed no recompense durin' lifeE And was this not also the case with =af@a who pioneered modern fiction and with Fernando essoa the most profound poet of the twentieth centur$E 7heir turnin' to lan'ua'e was not in order to reform the world and while profoundl$ aware of the helplessness of the indi"idual the$ still spo@e out, for such is the ma'ic of lan'ua'e* (an'ua'e is the ultimate cr$stallisation of human ci"ilisation* 0t is intricate, incisi"e and difficult to 'rasp and $et it is per"asi"e, penetrates human perceptions and lin@s man, the percei"in' su&Iect, to his own understandin' of the world* 7he written word is also ma'ical for it allows communication &etween separate indi"iduals, e"en if the$ are from different races and times* 0t is also in this wa$ that the shared present time in the writin' and readin' of literature is connected to its eternal spiritual "alue* 0n m$ "iew, for a writer of the present to stri"e to emphasise a national culture is pro&lematical* Because of where 0 was &orn and the lan'ua'e 0 use, the cultural traditions of ,hina naturall$ reside within me* ,ulture and lan'ua'e are alwa$s closel$ related and thus characteristic and relati"el$ sta&le modes of perception, thou'ht and articulation are formed* .owe"er a writer1s creati"it$ &e'ins precisel$ with what has alread$ &een articulated in his lan'ua'e and addresses what has not &een adeFuatel$ articulated in that lan'ua'e* As the creator of lin'uistic art there is no need to stic@ on oneself a stoc@ national la&el that can &e easil$ reco'nised* (iterature transcends national &oundaries N throu'h translations it transcends lan'ua'es and then specific social customs and inter5human relationships created &$ 'eo'raphical location and histor$ N to ma@e profound re"elations a&out the uni"ersalit$ of human nature* Furthermore, the writer toda$ recei"es multicultural influences outside the culture of his own race so, unless it is to promote tourism, emphasisin' the cultural features of a people is ine"ita&l$ suspect* (iterature transcends ideolo'$, national &oundaries and racial consciousness in the same wa$ as the indi"idual1s e%istence &asicall$ transcends this or that 5ism* 7his is &ecause man1s e%istential condition is superior to an$ theories or speculations a&out life* (iterature is a uni"ersal o&ser"ation on the dilemmas of human e%istence and nothin' is ta&oo* Restrictions on literature are alwa$s e%ternall$ imposed: politics, societ$, ethics and customs set out to tailor literature into decorations for their "arious framewor@s* .owe"er, literature is neither an em&ellishment for authorit$ or a sociall$ fashiona&le item, it has its own criterion of merit: its aesthetic Fualit$* An aesthetic intricatel$ related to the human emotions is the onl$ indispensa&le criterion for literar$ wor@s* 0ndeed, such Iud'ements differ from person to person &ecause the emotions are in"aria&l$ that of different indi"iduals* .owe"er such su&Iecti"e aesthetic Iud'ements do ha"e uni"ersall$ reco'nised standards* 7he capacit$ for critical
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appreciation nurtured &$ literature allows the reader to also e%perience the poetic feelin' and the &eaut$, the su&lime and the ridiculous, the sorrow and the a&surdit$, and the humour and the iron$ that the author has infused into his wor@* oetic feelin' does not deri"e simpl$ from the e%pression of the emotions ne"ertheless un&ridled e'otism, a form of infantilism, is difficult to a"oid in the earl$ sta'es of writin'* Also, there are numerous le"els of emotional e%pression and to reach hi'her le"els reFuires cold detachment* oetr$ is concealed in the distanced 'a!e* Furthermore, if this 'a!e also e%amines the person of the author and o"erarches &oth the characters of the &oo@ and the author to &ecome the author1s third e$e, one that is as neutral as possi&le, the disasters and the refuse of the human world will all &e worth$ of scrutin$* 7hen as feelin's of pain, hatred and a&horrence are aroused so too are feelin's of concern and lo"e for life* An aesthetic &ased on human emotions does not &ecome outdated e"en with the perennial chan'in' of fashions in literature and in art* .owe"er literar$ e"aluations that fluctuate li@e fashions are premised on what is the latest: that is, whate"er is new is 'ood* 7his is a mechanism in 'eneral mar@et mo"ements and the &oo@ mar@et is not e%empted, &ut if the writer1s aesthetic Iud'ement follows mar@et mo"ements it will mean the suicide of literature* <speciall$ in the so5 called consumerist societ$ of the present, 0 thin@ one must resort to cold literature* 7en $ears a'o, after concludin' 9oul Mountain which 0 had written o"er se"en $ears, 0 wrote a short essa$ proposin' this t$pe of literature: #(iterature is not concerned with politics &ut is purel$ a matter of the indi"idual* 0t is the 'ratification of the intellect to'ether with an o&ser"ation, a re"iew of what has &een e%perienced, reminiscences and feelin's or the portra$al of a state of mind*# #7he so5called writer is nothin' more than someone spea@in' or writin' and whether he is listened to or read is for others to choose* 7he writer is not a hero actin' on orders from the people nor is he worth$ of worship as an idol, and certainl$ he is not a criminal or enem$ of the people* .e is at times "ictimised alon' with his writin's simpl$ &ecause of other1s needs* Dhen the authorities need to manufacture a few enemies to di"ert people1s attention, writers &ecome sacrifices and worse still writers who ha"e &een duped actuall$ thin@ it is a 'reat honour to &e sacrificed*# #0n fact the relationship of the author and the reader is alwa$s one of spiritual communication and there is no need to meet or to sociall$ interact, it is a communication simpl$ throu'h the wor@* (iterature remains an indispensa&le form of human acti"it$ in which &oth the reader and the writer are en'a'ed of their own "olition* .ence, literature has no dut$ to the masses*# #7his sort of literature that has reco"ered its innate character can &e called cold literature* 0t e%ists simpl$ &ecause human@ind see@s a purel$ spiritual acti"it$ &e$ond the 'ratification of material desires* 7his sort of literature of course did not come into &ein' toda$* .owe"er, whereas in the past it mainl$ had to fi'ht oppressi"e political forces and social customs, toda$ it has to do &attle with the su&"ersi"e commercial "alues of consumerist societ$* For it to e%ist depends on a willin'ness to endure the loneliness*# #0f a writer de"otes himself to this sort of writin' he will find it difficult to ma@e a li"in'* .ence the writin' of this sort of literature must &e considered a lu%ur$, a form of pure spiritual 'ratification* 0f this sort of literature has the 'ood fortune of &ein' pu&lished and circulated it is due to the efforts of the writer and his friends, ,ao eueFin and =af@a are such e%amples* 3urin' their lifetimes, their wor@s were unpu&lished so the$ were not a&le to create literar$ mo"ements or to &ecome cele&rities* 7hese writers li"ed at the mar'ins and seams of societ$, de"otin' themsel"es to this sort of spiritual acti"it$ for which at the time the$ did not hope for an$ recompense* 7he$ did not see@ social appro"al &ut simpl$ deri"ed pleasure from writin'*#
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#,old literature is literature that will flee in order to sur"i"e, it is literature that refuses to &e stran'led &$ societ$ in its Fuest for spiritual sal"ation* 0f a race cannot accommodate this sort of non5utilitarian literature it is not merel$ a misfortune for the writer &ut a tra'ed$ for the race*# 0t is m$ 'ood fortune to &e recei"in', durin' m$ lifetime, this 'reat honour from the 9wedish Academ$, and in this 0 ha"e &een helped &$ man$ friends from all o"er the world* For $ears without thou'ht of reward and not shir@in' difficulties the$ ha"e translated, pu&lished, performed and e"aluated m$ writin's* .owe"er 0 will not than@ them one &$ one for it is a "er$ lon' list of names* 0 should also than@ France for acceptin' me* 0n France where literature and art are re"ered 0 ha"e won the conditions to write with freedom and 0 also ha"e readers and audiences* Fortunatel$ 0 am not lonel$ althou'h writin', to which 0 ha"e committed m$self, is a solitar$ affair* Dhat 0 would also li@e to sa$ here is that life is not a cele&ration and that the rest of the world is not peaceful as in 9weden where for one hundred and ei'ht$ $ears there has &een no war* 7his new centur$ will not &e immune to catastrophes simpl$ &ecause there were so man$ in the past centur$, &ecause memories are not transmitted li@e 'enes* .umans ha"e minds &ut are not intelli'ent enou'h to learn from the past and when male"olence flares up in the human mind it can endan'er human sur"i"al itself* 7he human species does not necessaril$ mo"e in sta'es from pro'ress to pro'ress, and here 0 ma@e reference to the histor$ of human ci"ilisation* .istor$ and ci"ilisation do not ad"ance in tandem* From the sta'nation of Medie"al <urope to the decline and chaos in recent times on the mainland of Asia and to the catastrophes of two world wars in the twentieth centur$, the methods of @illin' people &ecame increasin'l$ sophisticated* 9cientific and technolo'ical pro'ress certainl$ does not impl$ that human@ind as a result &ecomes more ci"ilised* Rsin' some scientific 5ism to e%plain histor$ or interpretin' it with a historical perspecti"e &ased on pseudo5dialectics ha"e failed to clarif$ human &eha"iour* Now that the utopian fer"our and continuin' re"olution of the past centur$ ha"e crum&led to dust, there is una"oida&l$ a feelin' of &itterness amon'st those who ha"e sur"i"ed* 7he denial of a denial does not necessaril$ result in an affirmation* Re"olution did not merel$ &rin' in new thin's &ecause the new utopian world was premised on the destruction of the old* 7his theor$ of social re"olution was similarl$ applied to literature and turned what had once &een a realm of creati"it$ into a &attlefield in which earlier people were o"erthrown and cultural traditions were trampled upon* <"er$thin' had to start from !ero, modernisation was 'ood, and the histor$ of literature too was interpreted as a continuin' uphea"al* 7he writer cannot fill the role of the ,reator so there is no need for him to inflate his e'o &$ thin@in' that he is +od* 7his will not onl$ &rin' a&out ps$cholo'ical d$sfunction and turn him into a madman &ut will also transform the world into a hallucination in which e"er$thin' e%ternal to his own &od$ is pur'ator$ and naturall$ he cannot 'o on li"in'* Gthers are clearl$ hell: presuma&l$ it is li@e this when the self loses control* Needless to sa$ he will turn himself into a sacrifice for the future and also demand that others follow suit in sacrificin' themsel"es* 7here is no need to rush to complete the histor$ of the twentieth centur$* 0f the world a'ain sin@s into the ruins of some ideolo'ical framewor@ this histor$ will ha"e &een written in "ain and later people will re"ise it for themsel"es* 7he writer is also not a prophet* Dhat is important is to li"e in the present, to stop &ein' hoodwin@ed, to cast off delusions, to loo@ clearl$ at this moment of time and at the same time to
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scrutinise the self* 7his self too is total chaos and while Fuestionin' the world and others one ma$ as well loo@ &ac@ at one1s self* 3isaster and oppression do usuall$ come from another &ut man1s cowardice and an%iet$ can often intensif$ the sufferin' and furthermore create misfortune for others* 9uch is the ine%plica&le nature of human@ind1s &eha"iour, and man1s @nowled'e of his self is e"en harder to comprehend* (iterature is simpl$ man focusin' his 'a!e on his self and while he does a thread of consciousness which sheds li'ht on this self &e'ins to 'row* 7o su&"ert is not the aim of literature, its "alue lies in disco"erin' and re"ealin' what is rarel$ @nown, little @nown, thou'ht to &e @nown &ut in fact not "er$ well @nown of the truth of the human world* 0t would seem that truth is the unassaila&le and most &asic Fualit$ of literature* 7he new centur$ has alread$ arri"ed* 0 will not &other a&out whether or not it is in fact new &ut it would seem that the re"olution in literature and re"olutionar$ literature, and e"en ideolo'$, ma$ ha"e all come to an end* 7he illusion of a social utopia that enshrouded more than a centur$ has "anished and when literature throws off the fetters of this and that 5ism it will still ha"e to return to the dilemmas of human e%istence* .owe"er the dilemmas of human e%istence ha"e chan'ed "er$ little and will continue to &e the eternal topic of literature* 7his is an a'e without prophecies and promises and 0 thin@ it is a 'ood thin'* 7he writer pla$in' prophet and Iud'e should also cease since the man$ prophecies of the past centur$ ha"e all turned out to &e frauds* And there is no need to manufacture new superstitions a&out the future, it is much &etter to wait and see* 0t would &e &est also for the writer to re"ert to the role of witness and stri"e to present the truth* 7his is not to sa$ that literature is the same as a document* Actuall$ there are few facts in documented testimonies and the reasons and moti"es &ehind incidents are often concealed* .owe"er, when literature deals with the truth the whole process from a person1s inner mind to the incident can &e e%posed without lea"in' an$thin' out* 7his power is inherent in literature as lon' as the writer sets out to portra$ the true circumstances of human e%istence and is not Iust ma@in' up nonsense* 0t is a writer1s insi'hts in 'raspin' truth that determine the Fualit$ of a wor@, and word 'ames or writin' techniFues cannot ser"e as su&stitutes* 0ndeed, there are numerous definitions of truth and how it is dealt with "aries from person to person &ut it can &e seen at a 'lance whether a writer is em&ellishin' human phenomena or ma@in' a full and honest portra$al* 7he literar$ criticism of a certain ideolo'$ turned truth and untruth into semantic anal$sis, &ut such principles and tenets are of little rele"ance in literar$ creation* .owe"er whether or not the writer confronts truth is not Iust an issue of creati"e methodolo'$, it is closel$ lin@ed to his attitude towards writin'* 7ruth when the pen is ta@en up at the same time implies that one is sincere after one puts down the pen* .ere truth is not simpl$ an e"aluation of literature &ut at the same time has ethical connotations* 0t is not the writer1s dut$ to preach moralit$ and while stri"in' to portra$ "arious people in the world he also unscrupulousl$ e%poses his self, e"en the secrets of his inner mind* For the writer truth in literature appro%imates ethics, it is the ultimate ethics of literature* 0n the hands of a writer with a serious attitude to writin' e"en literar$ fa&rications are premised on the portra$al of the truth of human life, and this has &een the "ital life force of wor@s that ha"e endured from ancient times to the present* 0t is precisel$ for this reason that +ree@ tra'ed$ and 9ha@espeare will ne"er &ecome outdated* (iterature does not simpl$ ma@e a replica of realit$ &ut penetrates the surface la$ers and reaches
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deep into the inner wor@in's of realit$P it remo"es false illusions, loo@s down from 'reat hei'hts at ordinar$ happenin's, and with a &road perspecti"e re"eals happenin's in their entiret$* Gf course literature also relies on the ima'ination &ut this sort of Iourne$ in the mind is not Iust puttin' to'ether a whole lot of ru&&ish* 0ma'ination that is di"orced from true feelin's and fa&rications that are di"orced from the &asis of life e%periences can onl$ end up insipid and wea@, and wor@s that fail to con"ince the author himself will not &e a&le to mo"e readers* 0ndeed, literature does not onl$ rel$ on the e%periences of ordinar$ life nor is the writer &ound &$ what he has personall$ e%perienced* 0t is possi&le for the thin's heard and seen throu'h a lan'ua'e carrier and the thin's related in the literar$ wor@s of earlier writers all to &e transformed into one1s own feelin's* 7his too is the ma'ic of the lan'ua'e of literature* As with a curse or a &lessin' lan'ua'e has the power to stir &od$ and mind* 7he art of lan'ua'e lies in the presenter &ein' a&le to con"e$ his feelin's to others, it is not some si'n s$stem or semantic structure reFuirin' nothin' more than 'rammatical structures* 0f the li"in' person &ehind lan'ua'e is for'otten, semantic e%positions easil$ turn into 'ames of the intellect* (an'ua'e is not merel$ concepts and the carrier of concepts, it simultaneousl$ acti"ates the feelin's and the senses and this is wh$ si'ns and si'nals cannot replace the lan'ua'e of li"in' people* 7he will, moti"es, tone and emotions &ehind what someone sa$s cannot &e full$ e%pressed &$ semantics and rhetoric alone* 7he connotations of the lan'ua'e of literature must &e "oiced, spo@en &$ li"in' people, to &e full$ e%pressed* 9o as well as ser"in' as a carrier of thou'ht literature must also appeal to the auditor$ senses* 7he human need for lan'ua'e is not simpl$ for the transmission of meanin', it is at the same time listenin' to and affirmin' a person1s e%istence* Borrowin' from 3escartes, it could &e said of the writer: 0 sa$ and therefore 0 am* .owe"er, the 0 of the writer can &e the writer himself, can &e eFuated to the narrator, or &ecome the characters of a wor@* As the narrator5su&Iect can also &e he and $ou, it is tripartite* 7he fi%in' of a @e$5spea@er pronoun is the startin' point for portra$in' perceptions and from this "arious narrati"e patterns ta@e shape* 0t is durin' the process of searchin' for his own narrati"e method that the writer 'i"es concrete form to his perceptions* 0n m$ fiction 0 use pronouns instead of the usual characters and also use the pronouns 0, $ou, and he to tell a&out or to focus on the prota'onist* 7he portra$al of the one character &$ usin' different pronouns creates a sense of distance* As this also pro"ides actors on the sta'e with a &roader ps$cholo'ical space 0 ha"e also introduced the chan'in' of pronouns into m$ drama* 7he writin' of fiction or drama has not and will not come to an end and there is no su&stance to flippant announcements of the death of certain 'enres of literature or art* Born at the start of human ci"ilisation, li@e life, lan'ua'e is full of wonders and its e%pressi"e capacit$ is limitless* 0t is the wor@ of the writer to disco"er and de"elop the latent potential inherent in lan'ua'e* 7he writer is not the ,reator and he cannot eradicate the world e"en if it is too old* .e also cannot esta&lish some new ideal world e"en if the present world is a&surd and &e$ond human comprehension* .owe"er, he can certainl$ ma@e inno"ati"e statements either &$ addin' to what earlier people ha"e said or else startin' where earlier people stopped* 7o su&"ert literature was ,ultural Re"olution rhetoric* (iterature did not die and writers were not destro$ed* <"er$ writer has his place on the &oo@shelf and he has life as lon' as he has readers* 7here is no 'reater consolation for a writer than to &e a&le to lea"e a &oo@ in human@ind1s "ast treasur$ of literature that will continue to &e read in future times* (iterature is onl$ actualised and of interest at that moment in time when the writer writes it and the reader reads it* Rnless it is pretence, to write for the future onl$ deludes oneself and others as well*
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(iterature is for the li"in' and moreo"er affirms the present of the li"in'* 0t is this eternal present and this confirmation of indi"idual life that is the a&solute reason wh$ literature is literature, if one insists on see@in' a reason for this hu'e thin' that e%ists of itself* Dhen writin' is not a li"elihood or when one is so en'rossed in writin' that one for'ets wh$ one is writin' and for whom one is writin' it &ecomes a necessit$ and one will write compulsi"el$ and 'i"e &irth to literature* 0t is this non5utilitarian aspect of literature that is fundamental to literature* 7hat the writin' of literature has &ecome a profession is an u'l$ outcome of the di"ision of la&our in modern societ$ and a "er$ &itter fruit for the writer* 7his is especiall$ the case in the present a'e where the mar@et econom$ has &ecome per"asi"e and &oo@s ha"e also &ecome commodities* <"er$where there are hu'e undiscriminatin' mar@ets and not Iust indi"idual writers &ut e"en the societies and mo"ements of past literar$ schools ha"e all 'one* 0f the writer does not &end to the pressures of the mar@et and refuses to stoop to manufacturin' cultural products &$ writin' to satisf$ the tastes of fashions and trends, he must ma@e a li"in' &$ some other means* (iterature is not a &est5sellin' &oo@ or a &oo@ on a ran@ed list and authors promoted on tele"ision are en'a'ed in ad"ertisin' rather than in writin'* Freedom in writin' is not conferred and cannot &e purchased &ut comes from an inner need in the writer himself* 0nstead of sa$in' that Buddha is in the heart it would &e &etter to sa$ that freedom is in the heart and it simpl$ depends on whether one ma@es use of it* 0f one e%chan'es freedom for somethin' else then the &ird that is freedom will fl$ off, for this is the cost of freedom* 7he writer writes what he wants without concern for recompense not onl$ to affirm his self &ut also to challen'e societ$* 7his challen'e is not pretence and the writer has no need to inflate his e'o &$ &ecomin' a hero or a fi'hter* .eroes and fi'hters stru''le to achie"e some 'reat wor@ or to esta&lish some meritorious deed and these lie &e$ond the scope of literar$ wor@s* 0f the writer wants to challen'e societ$ it must &e throu'h lan'ua'e and he must rel$ on the characters and incidents of his wor@s, otherwise he can onl$ harm literature* (iterature is not an'r$ shoutin' and furthermore cannot turn an indi"idual1s indi'nation into accusations* 0t is onl$ when the feelin's of the writer as an indi"idual are dispersed in a wor@ that his feelin's will withstand the ra"a'es of time and li"e on for a lon' time* 7herefore it is actuall$ not the challen'e of the writer to societ$ &ut rather the challen'e of his wor@s* An endurin' wor@ is of course a powerful response to the times and societ$ of the writer* 7he clamour of the writer and his actions ma$ ha"e "anished &ut as lon' as there are readers his "oice in his writin's continues to re"er&erate* 0ndeed such a challen'e cannot transform societ$* 0t is merel$ an indi"idual aspirin' to transcend the limitations of the social ecolo'$ and ta@in' a "er$ inconspicuous stance* .owe"er this is &$ no means an ordinar$ stance for it is one that ta@es pride in &ein' human* 0t would &e sad if human histor$ is onl$ manipulated &$ the un@nowa&le laws and mo"es &lindl$ with the current so that the different "oices of indi"iduals cannot &e heard* 0t is in this sense that literature fills in the 'aps of histor$* Dhen the 'reat laws of histor$ are not used to e%plain human@ind it will &e possi&le for people to lea"e &ehind their own "oices* .istor$ is not all that human@ind possesses, there is also the le'ac$ of literature* 0n literature the people are in"entions &ut the$ retain an essential &elief in their own self5worth* .onoura&le mem&ers of the Academ$, 0 than@ $ou for awardin' this No&el ri!e to literature, to literature that is unwa"erin' in its independence, that a"oids neither human sufferin' nor political oppression and that furthermore does not ser"e politics* 0 than@ all of $ou for awardin' this most presti'ious pri!e for wor@s that are far remo"ed from the writin's of the mar@et, wor@s that ha"e aroused little attention &ut are actuall$ worth readin'* At the same time, 0 also than@ the 9wedish
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Academ$ for allowin' me to ascend this dais to spea@ &efore the e$es of the world* A frail indi"idual1s wea@ "oice that is hardl$ worth listenin' to and that normall$ would not &e heard in the pu&lic media has &een allowed to address the world* .owe"er, 0 &elie"e that this is precisel$ the meanin' of the No&el ri!e and 0 than@ e"er$one for this opportunit$ to spea@* 7ranslation &$ Ma&el (ee 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #No&el (ecture 5 (iterature ;000#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;000A'ao5lecture5e*html ^^^^^^^^^ Na!ine Gor!i)er 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 1991 was awarded to Nadine +ordimer #who throu'h her ma'nificent epic writin' has 5 in the words of Alfred No&el 5 &een of "er$ 'reat &enefit to humanit$#* Born: ;0 No"em&er 19;3, 9prin's, 9outh Africa Residence at the time of the award: 9outh Africa ri!e moti"ation: #who throu'h her ma'nificent epic writin' has 5 in the words of Alfred No&el 5 &een of "er$ 'reat &enefit to humanit$# (an'ua'e: <n'lish Biography Born in 9prin's, 9outh Africa, ;0A11A19;3* 3au'hter of 0sidore and Nan +ordimer* .as li"ed all her life, and continues to li"e, in 9outh Africa* rincipal wor@s: 10 no"els, includin' A +uest of .onour, 7he ,onser"ationist, Bur'erLs 3au'hter, )ul$Ls eople, A 9port of Nature, M$ 9onLs 9tor$ and her most recent, None to Accompan$ Me* 10 short stor$ collections, the most recent )ump, pu&lished 1991, and Dh$ .a"enLt Zou Dritten: 9elected 9tories 19Y0519C;, pu&lished 199;* Non5fiction: 7he <ssential +estureP Gn the MinesP 7he Blac@ 0nterpreters* Amon' honorar$ de'rees: from Zale, .ar"ard, ,olum&ia, New 9chool for 9ocial Research, R9AP Rni"ersit$ of (eu"en, Bel'ium, Rni"ersit$ of Zor@ 6<n'land8, Rni"ersities of ,ape 7own and the Ditwatersrand 69outh Africa8, ,am&rid'e Rni"ersit$ 6<n'land8* ,ommandeur de lLGrdre des Arts et des (ettres 6France8* Jice5 resident of 0nternational <N* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19915199Y, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 199C 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e*

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,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1991 Addendum, Ma$ ;00Y Married to Reinhold ,assirer* 14 no"els, includin' A +uest of .onour, 7he ,onser"ationist, Bur'erLs 3au'hter, )ul$Ls eople, 7he ic@up, and her most recent +et A (ife, pu&lished ;00Y* 11 short stor$ collections, the most recent (oot, pu&lished ;003, and )ump 199;* .onorar$ Mem&er American Academ$ of Arts j 9ciences, .onorar$ Mem&er American Academ$ j 0nstitute of Arts j (etters, Fellow of the Ro$al 9ociet$ of (iterature, +oodwill Am&assador RN3 * Grder of 7he 9outhers ,ross, 9outh Africa, Grder of Friendship, Repu&lic of ,u&a, residential Medal of .onour of the Repu&lic of ,hile* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;00Y 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Nadine +ordimer 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1991A'ordimer*html Nobel Lecture No&el (ecture, 3ecem&er C, 1991 (riting an! Being In the beginning -as the (or!. 7he Dord was with +od, si'nified +odLs Dord, the word that was ,reation* But o"er the centuries of human culture the word has ta@en on other meanin's, secular as well as reli'ious* 7o ha"e the word has come to &e s$non$mous with ultimate authorit$, with presti'e, with awesome, sometimes dan'erous persuation, to ha"e rime 7ime, a 7J tal@ show, to ha"e the 'ift of the 'a& as well as that of spea@in' in ton'ues* 7he word flies throu'h space, it is &ounced from satellites, now nearer than it has e"er &een to the hea"en from which it was &elie"ed to ha"e come* But its most si'nificant transformation occured for me and m$ @ind lon' a'o, when it was first scratched on a stone ta&let or traced on pap$rus, when it materiali!ed from sound to spectacle, from &ein' heard to &ein' read as a series of si'ns, and then a scriptP and tra"elled throu'h time from parchment to +uten&er'* For this is the 'enesis stor$ of the writer* 0t is the stor$ that wrote her or him into &ein'* 0t was, stran'el$, a dou&le process, creatin' at the same time &oth the writer and the "er$ purpose of the writer as a mutation in the a'enc$ of human culture* 0t was &oth onto'enesis as the ori'in and de"elopment of an indi"idual &ein', and the adaptation, in the nature of that indi"idual, specificall$ to the e%ploration of onto'enesis, the ori'in and de"elopment of the indi"idual &ein'* For we writers are e"ol"ed for that tas@* (i@e the prisoners incarcerated with the Ia'uar in Bor'esL stor$1, L7he +odLs 9criptL, who was tr$in' to read, in a ra$ of li'ht which fell onl$ once a da$, the meanin' of &ein' from the mar@in' on the creatureLs pelt, we spend our li"es attemptin' to interpret throu'h the word the readin's we ta@e in the societies, the world of which we are part* 0t is in this sense, this ine%trica&le, ineffa&le participation, that writin' is alwa$s and at once an e%ploration of self and of the worldP of indi"idual and collecti"e &ein'* Bein' here* .umans, the onl$ self5re'ardin' animals, &lessed or cursed with this torturin' hi'her facult$, ha"e
4;

alwa$s wanted to @now wh$* And this is not Iust the 'reat ontolo'ical Fuestion of wh$ we are here at all, for which reli'ions and philosophies ha"e tried to answer conclusi"el$ for "arious peoples at "arious times, and science tentati"el$ attempts da!!lin' &its of e%plantation we are perhaps 'oin' to die out in our millenia, li@e dinosaurs, without ha"in' de"eloped the necessar$ comprehension to understand as a whole* 9ince humans &ecame self5re'ardin' the$ ha"e sou'ht, as well, e%planations for the common phenomena of procreation, death, the c$cle of seasons, the earth, sea, wind and stars, sun and moon, plent$ and disaster* Dith m$th, the writerLs ancestors, the oral stor$5 tellers, &e'an to feel out and formulate these m$steries, usin' the elements of dail$ life 5 o&ser"a&le realit$ 5 and the facult$ of the ima'ination 5 the power of proIection into the hidden 5 to ma@e stories* Roland Barthes; as@s, LDhat is characteristic of m$thEL And answers: L7o transform a meanin' into form*L M$ths are stories that mediate in this wa$ &etween the @nown and un@nown* ,laude (e"i5 9trauss3 wittil$ de5m$tholo'i!es m$th as a 'enre &etween a fair$ tale and a detecti"e stor$* Bein' hereP we donLt @now who5dun5it* But somethin' satisf$in', if not the answer, can &e in"ented* M$th was the m$ster$ plus the fantas$ 5 'ods, anthropomorphi!ed animals and &irds, chimera, phantasma'orical creatures 5 that posits out of the ima'ination some sort of e%planation for the m$ster$* .umans and their fellow creatures were the materialit$ of the stor$, &ut as Ni@os =a!ant!a@is4 once wrote, LArt is the representation not of the &od$ &ut of the forces which created the &od$*L 7here are man$ pro"en e%planations for natural phenomena nowP and there are new Fuestions of &ein' arisin' out of some of the answers* For this reason, the 'enre of m$th has ne"er &een entirel$ a&andoned, althou'h we are inclined to thin@ of it as archaic* 0f it dwindled to the childrenLs &edtime tale in some societies, in parts of the world protected &$ forests or deserts from international me'aculture it has continued, ali"e, to offer art as a s$stem of mediation &etween the indi"idual and &ein'* And it has made a whirlin' come&ac@ out of 9pace, an 0carus in the a"atar of Batman and his @ind, who ne"er fall into the ocean of failure to deal with the 'ra"it$ forces of life* 7hese new m$ths, howe"er, do not see@ so much to enli'hten and pro"ide some sort of answers as to distract, to pro"ide a fantas$ escape route for people who no lon'er want to face e"en the ha!ard of answers to the terrors of their e%istence* 6 erhaps it is the positi"e @nowled'e that humans now possess the means to destro$ their whole planet, the fear that the$ ha"e in this wa$ themsel"es &ecome the 'ods, dreadfull$ char'ed with their own continued e%istence, that has made comic5 &oo@ and mo"ie m$th escapist*8 7he forces of &ein' remain* 7he$ are what the writer, as distinct from the contemporar$ popular m$thma@er, still en'a'e toda$, as m$th in its ancient form attempted to do* .ow writers ha"e approached this en'a'ement and continue to e%periment with it has &een and is, perhaps more than e"er, the stud$ of literar$ scholars* 7he writer in relation to the nature of percei"a&le realit$ and what is &e$ond 5 impercei"a&le realit$ 5 is the &asis for all these studies, no matter what resultin' concepts are la&elled, and no matter in what cate'ori!ed microfiles writers are stowed awa$ for the annals of literar$ historio'raph$* Realit$ is constructed out of man$ elements and entities, seen and unseen, e%pressed, and left une%pressed for &reathin'5space in the mind* Zet from what is re'arded as old5hat ps$cholo'ical anal$sis to modernism and post5 modernism, structuralism and poststructuralism, all literar$ studies are aimed at the same end: to pin down to a consistenc$ 6and what is consistenc$ if not the principle hidden within the riddleE8P to ma@e definiti"e throu'h methodolo'$ the writerLs 'rasp at the forces of &ein'* But life is aleator$ in itselfP &ein' is constantl$ pulled and shaped this wa$ and that &$ circumstances and different le"els of consciousness* 7here is no pure state of &ein', and it follows that there is no pure te%t, LrealL te%t, totall$ incorporatin' the aleator$* 0t surel$ cannot &e reached &$ an$ critical methodolo'$, howe"er interestin' the attempt* 7o deconstruct a te%t is in a wa$ a contradiction, since to deconstruct it is to ma@e another construction out of the pieces, as Roland BarthesY does so fascinatin'l$, and admits to, in his lin'uistic and semantical dissection of Bal!acLs stor$, L9arrasineL* 9o the literar$ scholars end up &ein' some @ind of stor$teller, too*
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erhaps there is no other wa$ of reachin' some understandin' of &ein' than throu'h artE Driters themsel"es donLt anal$!e what the$ doP to anal$!e would &e to loo@ down while crossin' a can$on on a ti'htrope* 7o sa$ this is not to m$stif$ the process of writin' &ut to ma@e an ima'e out of the intense inner concentration the writer must ha"e to cross the chasms of the aleator$ and ma@e them the wordLs own, as an e%plorer plants a fla'* ZeatsL inner Llonel$ impulse of deli'htL in the pilotLs solitar$ fli'ht, and his Lterri&le &eaut$L &orn of mass uprisin', &oth opposed and conIoinedP <* M* ForsterLs modest Lonl$ connectLP )o$ceLs chosen, wil$ Lsilence, cunnin' and e%ileLP more contemporar$, +a&riel +arcka M\rFue!Ls la&$rinth in which power o"er others, in the person of 9imon Boli"ar, is led to the thrall of the onl$ unassaila&le power, death 5 these are some e%amples of the writerLs endlessl$ "aried wa$s of approachin' the state of &ein' throu'h the word* An$ writer of an$ worth at all hopes to pla$ onl$ a poc@et5torch of li'ht 5 and rarel$, throu'h 'enius, a sudden flam&eau 5 into the &lood$ $et &eautiful la&$rinth of human e%perience, of &ein'* Anthon$ Bur'ess: once 'a"e a summar$ definition of literature as Lthe aesthetic e%ploration of the worldL* 0 would sa$ that writin' onl$ &e'ins there, for the e%ploration of much &e$ond, which ne"ertheless onl$ aesthetic means can e%press* .ow does the writer &ecome one, ha"in' &een 'i"en the wordE 0 do not @now if m$ own &e'innin's ha"e an$ particular interest* No dou&t the$ ha"e much in common with those of others, ha"e &een descri&ed too often &efore as a result of this $earl$ assem&l$ &efore which a writer stands* For m$self, 0 ha"e said that nothin' factual that 0 write or sa$ will &e as truthful as m$ fiction* 7he life, the opinions, are not the wor@, for it is in the tension &etween standin' apart and &ein' in"ol"ed that the ima'ination transforms &oth* (et me 'i"e some minimal account of m$self* 0 am what 0 suppose would &e called a natural writer* 0 did not ma@e an$ decision to &ecome one* 0 did not, at the &e'innin', e%pect to earn a li"in' &$ &ein' read* 0 wrote as a child out of the Io$ of apprehendin' life throu'h m$ senses 5 the loo@ and scent and feel of thin'sP and soon out of the emotions that pu!!led me or ra'ed within me and which too@ form, found some enli'htenment, solace and deli'ht, shaped in the written word* 7here is a little =af@aC para&le that 'oes li@e thisP L0 ha"e three do's: .old5him, 9ei!e5him, and Ne"ermore* .old5him and 9ei!e5him are ordinar$ little 9chipper@es and no&od$ would notice them if the$ were alone* But there is Ne"ermore, too* Ne"ermore is a mon'rel +reat 3ane and has an apperance that centuries of the most careful &reedin' could ne"er ha"e produced* Ne"ermore is a '$ps$*L 0n the small 9outh African 'old5 minin' town where 0 was 'rowin' up 0 was Ne"ermore the mon'rel 6althou'h 0 could scarel$ ha"e &een descri&ed as a +reat 3ane ***8 in whom the accepted characteristics of the townspeople could not &e traced* 0 was the +$ps$, tin@erin' with words second5hand, mendin' m$ own efforts at writin' &$ learnin' from what 0 read* For m$ school was the local li&rar$* roust, ,he@ho" and 3ostoe"s@$, to name onl$ a few to whom 0 owe m$ e%istence as a writer, were m$ professors* 0n that period of m$ life, $es, 0 was e"idence of the theor$ that &oo@s are made out of other &oo@s * * * But 0 did not remain so for lon', nor do 0 &elie"e an$ potential writer could* Dith adolescence comes the first reachin' out to otherness throu'h the dri"e of se%ualit$* For most children, from then on the facult$ of the ima'ination, manifest in pla$, is lost in the focus on da$ dreams of desire and lo"e, &ut for those who are 'oin' to &e artists of one @ind or another the first life5crisis after that of &irth does somethin' else in addition: the ima'ination 'ains ran'e and e%tends &$ the su&Iecti"e fle% of new and tur&ulent emotions* 7here are new perceptions* 7he writer &e'ins to &e a&le to enter into other li"es* 7he process of standin' apart and &ein' in"ol"ed has come* Rn@nowin'l$, 0 had &een addressin' m$self on the su&Iect of &ein', whether, as in m$ first stories, there was a childLs contemplation of death and murder in the necessit$ to finish off, with a death &low, a do"e mauled &$ a cat, or whether there was wonderin' disma$ and earl$ consciousness of racism that came of m$ wal@ to school, when on the wa$ 0 passed store@eepers, themsel"es <ast <uropean immi'rants @ept lowest in the ran@s of the An'lo5,olonial social scale for whites in the
44

minin' town, rou'hl$ those whom colonial societ$ ran@ed lowest of all, discounted as less than human 5 the &lac@ miners who were the storesL customers* Gnl$ man$ $ears later was 0 to reali!e that if 0 had &een a child in that cate'or$ 5 &lac@ 5 0 mi'ht not ha"e &ecome a writer at all, since the li&rar$ that made this possi&le for me was not open to an$ &lac@ child* For m$ formal schoolin' was s@etch$, at &est* 7o address oneself to others &e'ins a writerLs ne%t sta'e of de"elopment* 7o pu&lish to an$one who would read what 0 wrote* 7hat was m$ natural, innocent assumption of what pu&lication meant, and it has not chan'ed , that is what it means to me toda$, in spite of m$ awareness that most people refuse to &elie"e that a writer does not ha"e a particular audience in mindP and m$ other awareness: of the temptations, conscious and unconscious, which lure the writer into @eepin' a corner of the e$e on who will ta@e offense, who will appro"e what is on the pa'e 5 a temptation that, li@e <ur$diceLs stra$in' 'lance, will lead the writer &ac@ into the 9hades of a destro$ed talent* 7he alternati"e is not the malediction of the i"or$ tower, another destro$er of creati"it$* Bor'es once said he wrote for his friends and to pass the time* 0 thin@ this was an irritated flippant response to the crass Fuestion 5 often an accusation 5 LFor whom do $ou writeEL, Iust as 9artreLs admonition that there are times when a writer should cease to write, and act upon &ein' onl$ in another wa$, was 'i"en in the frustration of an unresol"ed conflict &etween distress at inIustice in the world and the @nowled'e that what he @new how to do &est was write* Both Bor'es and 9artre, from their totall$ different e%tremes of den$in' literature a social purpose, were certainl$ perfectl$ aware that it has its implicit and unaltera&le social role in e%plorin' the state of &ein', from which all other roles, personal amon' friends, pu&lic at the protest demonstration, deri"e* Bor'es was not writin' for his friends, for he pu&lished and we all ha"e recei"ed the &ount$ of his wor@* 9artre did not stop writin', althou'h he stood at the &arricades in 19:/* 7he Fuestion of for whom do we write ne"ertheless pla'ues the writer, a tin can attached to the tail of e"er$ wor@ pu&lished* rincipall$ it Ian'les the inference of tendentiousness as praise or deni'ration* 0n this conte%t, ,amus/ dealt with the Fuestion &est* .e said that he li@ed indi"iduals who ta@e sides more than literatures that do* LGne either ser"es the whole of man or does not ser"e him at all* And if man needs &read and Iustice, and if what has to &e done must &e done to ser"e this need, he also needs pure &eaut$ which is the &read of his heart*L 9o ,amus called for L,oura'e in and talent in oneLs wor@*L And M\rFue!9 redefined tender fiction thus: 7he &est wa$ a writer can ser"e a re"olution is to write as well as he can* 0 &elie"e that these two statements mi'ht &e the credo for all of us who write* 7he$ do not resol"e the conflicts that ha"e come, and will continue to come, to contemporar$ writers* But the$ state plainl$ an honest possi&ilit$ of doin' so, the$ turn the face of the writer sFuarel$ to her and his e%istence, the reason to &e, as a writer, and the reason to &e, as a responsi&le human, actin', li@e an$ other, within a social conte%t* Bein' here: in a particular time and place* 7hat is the e%istential position with particular implications for literature* ,!eslaw Milos!10 once wrote the cr$: LDhat is poetr$ which does not ser"e nations or peopleEL and Brecht 11 wrote of a time when Lto spea@ of trees is almost a crimeL* Man$ of us ha"e had such despairin' thou'hts while li"in' and writin' throu'h such times, in such places, and 9artreLs solution ma@es no sense in a world where writers were 5 and still are 5 censored and for&idden to write, where, far from a&andonin' the word, li"es were and are at ris@ in smu''lin' it, on scraps of paper, out of prisons* 7he state of &ein' whose onto'enesis we e%plore has o"erwhelmin'l$ included such e%periences* Gur approaches, in Ni@os =a!ant!a@isL1; words, ha"e to Lma@e the decision which harmoni!es with the fearsome rh$thm of our time*L 9ome of us ha"e seen our &oo@s lie for $ears unread in our own countries, &anned, and we h"e 'one on writin'* Man$ writers ha"e &een imprisoned* (oo@in' at Africa alone 5 9o$in@a, N'u'i wa 7hion'Lo, )ac@ MapanIe, in their countries, and in m$ own countr$, 9outh Africa, )erem$ ,ronin,
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Mon'ane Dall$ 9erote, Bre$ten Bre$ten&ach, 3ennis Brutus, )a@i 9ero@e: all these went to prison for the coura'e shown in their li"es, and ha"e continued to ta@e the ri'ht, as poets, to spea@ of trees* Man$ of the 'reats, from 7homas Mann to ,hinua Ache&e, cast out &$ political conflict and oppression in different countries, ha"e endured the trauma of e%ile, from which some ne"er reco"er as writers, and some do not sur"i"e at all* 0 thin@ of the 9outh Africans, ,an 7hem&a, Ale% la +uma, Nat Na@asa, 7odd Matshi@i!a* And some writers, o"er half a centur$ from )oseph Roth to Milan =undera, ha"e had to pu&lish new wor@s first in the word that is not their own, a forei'n lan'ua'e* 7hen in 19// the fearsome rh$thm of our time Fuic@ened in an unprecedented fren!$ to which the writer was summoned to su&mit the word* 0n the &road span of modern times since the <nli'htenment writers ha"e suffered oppro&rium, &annin's and e"en e%ile for other than political reasons* Flau&ert dra''ed into court for indecenc$, o"er Madame Bo"ar$, 9trind&er' arrai'ned for &lasphem$, o"er Marr$in', (awrenceLs (ad$ ,hatterle$Ls (o"er &anned 5 there ha"e &een man$ e%amples of so5called offense a'ainst h$pocritical &our'eois mores, Iust as there ha"e &een of treason a'ainst political dictatorships* But in a period when it would &e unheard of for countries such as France, 9weden and Britain to &rin' such char'es a'ainst freedom of e%pression, there has risen a force that ta@es its appallin' authorit$ from somethin' far more widespread than social mores, and far more powerful than the power of an$ sin'le political re'ime* 7he edict of a world reli'ion has sentenced a writer to death* For more than three $ears, now, where"er he is hidden, where"er he mi'ht 'o, 9alman Rushdie has e%isted under the Muslim pronouncement upon him of the fatwa* 7here is no as$lum for him an$where* <"er$ mornin' when this writer sits down to write, he does not @now if he will li"e throu'h the da$P he does not @now whether the pa'e will e"er &e filled* 9alman Rushdie happens to &e a &rilliant writer, and the no"el for which he is &ein' pilloried, 7he 9atanic Jerses, is an inno"ati"e e%ploration of one of the most intense e%periences of &ein' in our era, the indi"idual personalit$ in transition &etween two cultures &rou'ht to'ether in a post5colonial world* All is re5 e%amined throu'h the refraction of the ima'inationP the meanin' of se%ual and filial lo"e, the rituals of social acceptance, the meanin' of a formati"e reli'ious faith for indi"iduals remo"ed from its su&Iecti"it$ &$ circumstance opposin' different s$stems of &elief, reli'ious and secular, in a different conte%t of li"in'* .is no"el is a true m$tholo'$* But althou'h he has done for the postcolonial consciousness in <urope what +unter +rass did for the post5Na!i one with 7he 7in 3rum and 3o' Zears, perhaps e"en has tried to approach what Bec@ett did for our e%istential an'uish in Daitin' For +odot, the le"el of his achie"ement should not matter* <"en if he were a mediocre writer, his situation is the terri&le concern of e"er$ fellow writer for, apart from his personal pli'ht, what implications, what new threat a'ainst the carrier of the word does it &rin'E 0t should &e the concern of indi"iduals and a&o"e all, of 'o"ernments and human ri'hts or'ani!ations all o"er the world* Dith dictatorships apparentl$ "anFuished, this murderous new dictate in"o@in' the power of international terrorism in the name of a 'reat and respected reli'ion should and can &e dealt with onl$ &$ democratic 'o"ernments and the Rnited Nations as an offense a'ainst humanit$* 0 return from the horrific sin'ular threat to those that ha"e &een 'eneral for writers of this centur$ now in its final, summin'5up decade* 0n repressi"e re'imes an$where 5 whether in what was the 9o"iet &loc, (atin America, Africa, ,hina 5 most imprisoned writers ha"e &een shut awa$ for their acti"ities as citi!ens stri"in' for li&eration a'ainst the oppression of the 'eneral societ$ to which the$ &elon'* Gthers ha"e &een condemned &$ repressi"e re'imes for ser"in' societ$ &$ writin' as well as the$ canP for this aesthetic "enture of ours &ecomes su&"ersi"e when the shameful secrets of our times are e%plored deepl$, with the artistLs re&ellious inte'rit$ to the state of &ein' manifest in life around her or himP then the writerLs themes and characters ine"ita&l$ are formed &$ the pressures and distortions of that societ$ as the life of the fisherman is determined &$ the power of the sea* 7here is a parado%* 0n retainin' this inte'rit$, the writer sometimes must ris@ &oth the stateLs
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indictment of treason, and the li&eration forcesL complaint of lac@ of &lind commitment* As a human &ein', no writer can stoop to the lie of Manichean L&alanceL* 7he de"il alwa$s has lead in his shoes, when placed on his side of the scale* Zet, to paraphrase coarsel$ M\rFue!Ls dictum 'i"en &$ him &oth as a writer and a fi'hter for Iustice, the writer must ta@e the ri'ht to e%plore, warts and all, &oth the enem$ and the &elo"ed comrade in arms, since onl$ a tr$ for the truth ma@es sense of &ein', onl$ a tr$ for the truth ed'es towards Iustice Iust ahead of ZeatsLs &east slouchin' to &e &orn* 0n literature, from life, we pa'e throu'h each otherLs faces we read each loo@in' e$e *** 0t has ta@en li"es to &e a&le to do so* 7hese are the words of the 9outh African poet and fi'hter forIustice and peace in our countr$, Mon'ane 9erote*13 7he writer is of ser"ice to human@ind onl$ insofar as the writer uses the word e"en a'ainst his or her own lo$alties, trusts the state of &ein', as it is re"ealed, to hold somewhere in its comple%it$ filaments of the cord of truth, a&le to &e &ound to'ether, here and there, in art: trusts the state of &ein' to $ield somewhere fra'mentar$ phrases of truth, which is the final word of words, ne"er chan'ed &$ our stum&lin' efforts to spell it out and write it down, ne"er chan'ed &$ lies, &$ semantic sophistr$, &$ the dirt$in' of the word for the purposes of racism, se%ism, preIudice, domination, the 'lorification of destruction, the curses and the praise5son's* 1* #7he +odLs 9cript# from (a&$rinths j Gther Dritin's &$ )or'e (uis Bor'es* 7ranslator un@nown* <dited &$ 3onald .* Zates j )ames <* =ir&$* en'uin Modern ,lassics, pa'e C1* ;* M$tholo'ies &$ Roland Barthes* 7ranslated &$ Annette (a"ers* .ill j Dan', pa'e 131* 3* .istorie de ($n% &$ ,laude (-"i59trauss*L*** Ie les situais M mi5chemin entre le conte de f-es et le roman policierL* lon, pa'e 13* 4* Report to +reco &$ Ni@os =a!ant!a@is* Fa&er j Fa&er, pa'e 1Y0* Y* 9AW &$ Roland Barthes* 7ranslated &$ Richard Miller* )onathan ,ape* :* (ondon G&ser"er re"iew* 19A4A/1* Anthon$ Bur'ess* C* 7he 7hird Gcta"o Note&oo@ from Deddin' reparations in the ,ountr$ &$ Fran! =af@a* 3efiniti"e <dition* 9ec@er j Dar&ur'* /* ,arnets 194;5Y &$ Al&ert ,amus* 9* +a&riel +krcia M\rFue!* 0n an inter"iewP m$ notes do not 'i"e the Iournal or date* 10* L3edicationL from 9elected oems &$ ,!eslaw Milos!* 7he <cco ress* 11* #7o osterit$L from 9elected oems &$ Bertolt Brecht* 7ranslated &$ .* R* .a$s* +ro"e ress, pa'e 1C3* 1;* Report to +reco &$ Ni@os =a!ant!a@is* Fa&er j Fa&er* 13* A 7ou'h 7ale &$ Mon'ane Dall$ 9erote* =liptown Boo@s* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19915199Y, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 199C
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,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1991 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Nadine +ordimer 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1991A'ordimer5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^ G.nter Grass Born: 1: Gcto&er 19;C, 3an!i' 6now +dans@8, Free ,it$ of 3an!i' 6now oland8 Residence at the time of the award: Federal Repu&lic of +erman$ ri!e moti"ation: #whose frolicsome &lac@ fa&les portra$ the for'otten face of histor$# (an'ua'e: +erman Biography +cnter +rass was &orn in 19;C in 3an!i'5(an'fuhr of olish5+erman parents* After militar$ ser"ice and capti"it$ &$ American forces 194454:, he wor@ed as a farm la&ourer and miner and studied art in 3csseldorf and Berlin* 19Y:5Y9 he made his li"in' as a sculptor, 'raphic artist and writer in aris, and su&seFuentl$ Berlin* 0n 19YY +rass &ecame a mem&er of the sociall$ critical +ruppe 4C 6later descri&ed with 'reat warmth in 7he Meetin' at 7el'te8, his first poetr$ was pu&lished in 19Y: and his first pla$ produced in 19YC* .is maIor international &rea@throu'h came in 19Y9 with his alle'orical and wide5ran'in' picaresFue no"el 7he 7in 3rum 6filmed &$ 9chlgndorff8, a satirical panorama of +erman realit$ durin' the first half of this centur$, which, with ,at and Mouse and 3o' Zears, was to form what is called the 3an!i' 7rilo'$* 0n the 19:0s +rass &ecame acti"e in politics, participatin' in election campai'ns on &ehalf of the 9ocial 3emocrat part$ and Dill$ Brandt* .e dealt with the responsi&ilit$ of intellectuals in (ocal Anaesthetic, From the 3iar$ of a 9nail and in his #+erman tra'ed$# 7he le&eians Rehearse the Rprisin', and pu&lished political speeches and essa$s in which he ad"ocated a +erman$ free from fanaticism and totalitarian ideolo'ies* .is childhood home, 3an!i', and his &road and su''esti"e fa&ulations were to reappear in two successful no"els criticisin' ci"ilisation, 7he Flounder and 7he Rat, which reflect +rassLs commitment to the peace mo"ement and the en"ironmental mo"ement* Jehement de&ate and criticism were aroused &$ his mammoth no"el <in weites Feld which is set in the 33R in the $ears of the collapse of communism and the fall of the Berlin wall* 0n M$ ,entur$ he presents the histor$ of the past centur$ from a personal point of "iew, $ear &$ $ear* As a 'raphic artist, +rass has often &een responsi&le for the co"ers and illustrations for his own wor@s* +rass was resident of the A@ademie der =cnste in Berlin 19/35/:, acti"e within the +erman AuthorsL u&lishin' ,ompan$ and <N* .e has &een awarded a lar'e num&er of pri!es, amon' them reis der +ruppe 4C 19Y/, #(e meilleur li"re -tran'er# 19:;, the Bcchner ri!e 19:Y, the Fontane ri!e 19:/, remio 0nterna!ionale Mondello 19CC, the Ale%ander5MaIa@ows@i Medal, +dans@ 19C9, the Antonio Feltrinelli ri!e 19/;, +roler (iteraturpreis der Ba$erischen A@ademie 1994* .e has honorar$ doctorates from =en$on ,olle'e and the Rni"ersities of .ar"ard, o!nan and +dans@* A selection of wor@s &$ +cnter +rass in <n'lish 7he 7in 3rum* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* (ondon: 9ec@er j Dar&ur', 19:;* ,at and Mouse* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* 9an 3ie'o: .arcourt Brace, 19:3* 3o' Zears* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt, Brace j Dorld, 19:Y*
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Four la$s* 0ntrod* &$ Martin <sslin* New Zor@: .arcourt, Brace j Dorld, 19:C* 9pea@ out_ 9peeches, Gpen (etters, ,ommentaries* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* (ondon: 9ec@er j Dar&ur', 19:9* (ocal Anaesthetic* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt, Brace j Dorld, 19C0* From the 3iar$ of a 9nail* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19C3* 0n the <'' and Gther oems* 7ransl* &$ Michael .am&ur'er and ,hristopher Middleton* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19CC* 7he Meetin' at 7el'te* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19/1* 7he Flounder* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19C/* .ead&irths, or, the +ermans are 3$in' Gut* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19/;* 7he Rat* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* 9an 3ie'o: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19/C* 9how Zour 7on'ue* 7ransl* &$ )ohn <* Doods* 9an 3ie'o: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19/C* 7wo 9tates Gne NationE 7ransl* &$ =rishna Dinston with A*9* Densin'er* 9an 3ie'o: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 1990P (ondon: 9ec@er j Dar&ur'* 7he ,all of the 7oad* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 199;* 7he le&eians Rehearse the Rprisin'* 7ransl* &$ Ralph Manheim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace, 199:* M$ ,entur$* 7ransl* &$ Michael .enr$ .eim* New Zor@: .arcourt Brace, 1999* 7oo far afield* 7ransl* &$ =rishna Dinston* (ondon: Fa&er, ;000* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 199Y5;000, <ditor .orace <n'dahl, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, ;00; 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1999 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #+cnter +rass 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1999A'rass*html 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 1999 was awarded to +cnter +rass #whose frolicsome &lac@ fa&les portra$ the for'otten face of histor$#* Nobel Lecture 7o Be ,ontinued *** +cnter +rass +cnter +rass deli"ered his No&el (ecture in Bgrssalen at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm, C 3ecem&er 1999* ,op$ri'ht f No&el Media AB 1999 hoto: .ans Mehlin /,o Be Continue! .../ .onoured Mem&ers of the 9wedish Academ$, (adies and +entlemen: .a"in' made this announcement, nineteenth5centur$ wor@s of fiction would 'o on and on* Ma'a!ines and newspapers 'a"e them all the space the$ wished: the seriali!ed no"el was in its he$da$* Dhile the earl$ chapters appeared in Fuic@ succession, the core of the wor@ was &ein' written out &$ hand, and its conclusion was $et to &e concei"ed* Nor was it onl$ tri"ial horror stories or tearIer@ers that thus held the reader in thrall* Man$ of 3ic@ensL no"els came out in serial form, in instalments* 7olsto$Ls Anna =arenina was a seriali!ed no"el* Bal!acLs time, a tireless
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pro"ider of mass5produced seriali!ations, 'a"e the still anon$mous writer lessons in the techniFue of suspense, of &uildin' to a clima% at the end of a column* And nearl$ all FontaneLs no"els appeared first in newspapers and ma'a!ines as seriali!ations* Ditness the pu&lisher of the Jossisiche Weitun', where 7rials and 7ri&ulations first saw print, who e%claimed in a ra'e, #Dill this sluttish stor$ ne"er end_# But &efore 0 'o on spinnin' these strands of m$ tal@ or mo"e on to others, 0 wish to point out that from a purel$ literar$ point of "iew this hall and the 9wedish Academ$ that in"ited me here are far from alien to me* M$ no"el 7he Rat, which came out almost fourteen $ears a'o and whose catastrophic course alon' "arious o&liFue le"els of narration one or two of m$ readers ma$ recall, features a eulo'$ deli"ered &efore Iust such an audience as $ou, an encomium to the rat or, to &e more precise, the la&orator$ rat* 7he rat has &een awarded a No&el ri!e* At last, one mi'ht sa$* 9heLs &een on the list for $ears, e"en the short list* Representati"e of millions of e%perimental animals H from 'uinea pi' to rhesus mon@e$ H the white5haired, red5e$ed la&orator$ rat is finall$ 'ettin' her due* For she more than an$one H or so claims the narrator of m$ no"el H has made possi&le all the No&elified research and disco"eries in the field of medicine and, as far as No&el (aureates Datson and ,ric@ are concerned, on the "irtuall$ &oundless turf of 'ene manipulation* 9ince then mai!e and other "e'eta&les H to sa$ nothin' of all sorts of animals H can &e cloned more or less le'all$, which is wh$ the rat5men, who increasin'l$ ta@e o"er as the no"el comes to a close, that is, durin' the post5 human era, are called Datsoncric@s* 7he$ com&ine the &est of &oth 'enera* .umans ha"e much of the rat in them and "ice "ersa* 7he world seems to use the s$nthesis to re'ain its health* After the Bi' Ban', when onl$ rats, coc@roaches, flies, and the remains of fish and fro' e''s sur"i"e and it is time to ma@e order out of the chaos, the Datsoncric@s, who miraculousl$ escape, do more than their share* But since this strand of the narrati"e could as easil$ ha"e ended with #7o Be ,ontinued ***# and the No&el ri!e speech in praise of the la&orator$ rat is certainl$ not meant to 'i"e the no"el a happ$ end, 0 can now H as what mi'ht &e called a matter of principle H turn to narration as a form of sur"i"al as well as a form of art* eople ha"e alwa$s told tales* (on' &efore humanit$ learned to write and 'raduall$ &ecame literate, e"er$&od$ told tales to e"er$&od$ else and e"er$&od$ listened to e"er$&od$ elseLs tales* Before lon' it &ecame clear that some of the still illiterate stor$tellers told more and &etter tales than others, that is, the$ could ma@e more people &elie"e their lies* And there were those amon' them who found artful wa$s of stemmin' the peaceful flow of their tales and di"ertin' it into a tri&utar$, that, far from dr$in' up, turned suddenl$ and ama!in'l$ into a &road &ed, thou'h now full of flotsam and Ietsam, the stuff of su&5plots* And &ecause these primordial stor$tellers H who were not dependent upon da$ or lamp li'ht and could carr$ on perfectl$ well in the dar@, who were in fact adept at e%ploitin' dus@ or dar@ness to add to the suspense H &ecause the$ stopped at nothin', neither dr$ stretches nor thunderin' waterfalls, e%cept perhaps to interrupt the course of action with a #7o Be ,ontinued ***# if the$ sensed their audienceLs attention fla''in', man$ of their listeners felt mo"ed to start tellin' tales of their own* Dhat tales were told when no one could $et write and therefore no one wrote them downE From the da$s of ,ain and A&el there were tales of murder and manslau'hter* Feuds H &lood feuds, in particular H were alwa$s 'ood for a stor$* +enocide entered the picture Fuite earl$ alon' with floods and drou'hts, fat $ears and lean $ears* (en'th$ lists of cattle and sla"es were perfectl$ accepta&le, and no tale could &e &elie"a&le without detailed 'enealo'ies of who came &efore whom and who came after, heroic tales especiall$* (o"e trian'les, popular e"en now, and tales of monsters H half man, half &east H who made their wa$ throu'h la&$rinths or la$ in wait in the &ulrushes attracted mass audiences from the outset, to sa$ nothin' of le'ends of 'ods and idols and accounts of sea Iourne$s, which were then handed down, polished, enlar'ed upon, modified,
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transmo'rified into their opposites, and finall$ written down &$ a stor$teller whose name was supposedl$ .omer or, in the case of the Bi&le, &$ a collecti"e of stor$tellers* 0n ,hina and ersia, in 0ndia and the eru"ian hi'hlands, where"er writin' flourished, stor$tellers H whether as 'roups or indi"iduals, anon$mousl$ or &$ name H turned into literati* Dritin'5fi%ated as we are, we nonetheless retain the memor$ of oral stor$tellin', the spo@en ori'ins of literature* And a 'ood thin' too, &ecause if we were to for'et that all stor$tellin' comes throu'h the lips H now inarticulate, hesitant, now swift, as if dri"en &$ fear, now in whisper, to @eep the secrets re"ealed from reachin' the wron' ears, now loudl$ and clearl$, all the wa$ from self5ser"in' &luster to sniffin' out the "er$ essence of life H if our faith in writin' were to ma@e us for'et all that, our stor$tellin' would &e &oo@ish, dr$ as dust* Zet how 'ood too that we ha"e so man$ &oo@s a"aila&le to us and that whether we read them aloud or to oursel"es the$ are permanent* 7he$ ha"e &een m$ inspiration* Dhen 0 was $oun' and mallea&le, masters li@e Mel"ille and 3g&lin or (uther with his Bi&lical +erman prompted me to read aloud as 0 wrote, to mi% in@ with spit* Nor ha"e thin's chan'ed much since* Dell into m$ fifth decade of endurin', no, relishin' the moil and toil called writin', 0 chew tou'h, strin'$ clauses into mana'ea&le mush, &a&&le to m$self in &lissful isolation, and put pen to paper onl$ when 0 hear the proper tone and pitch, resonance and re"er&eration* Zes, 0 lo"e m$ callin'* 0t @eeps me compan$, a compan$ whose pol$phonic chatter calls for literal transcription into m$ manuscripts* And there is nothin' 0 li@e more than to meet &oo@s of mine H &oo@s that ha"e lon' since flown the coop and &een e%propriated &$ readers H when 0 read out loud to an audience what now lies peacefull$ on the pa'e* For &oth the $oun', weaned earl$ from lan'ua'e, and the old, 'ri!!led $et still rapacious, the written word &ecomes spo@en, and the ma'ic wor@s a'ain and a'ain* 0t is the shaman in the author earnin' a &it on the side, writin' a'ainst the current of time, l$in' his wa$ to tena&le truths* And e"er$one &elie"es his tacit promise: 7o Be ,ontinued *** But how did 0 &ecome a writer, poet, and artist H all at once and all on fri'htenin' white paperE Dhat homemade hu&ris put a child up to such cra!inessE After all, 0 was onl$ twel"e when 0 reali!ed 0 wanted to &e an artist* 0t coincided with the out&rea@ of the 9econd Dorld Dar, when 0 was li"in' on the outs@irts of 3an!i'* But m$ first opportunit$ for professional de"elopment had to wait until the followin' $ear, when 0 found a temptin' offer in the .itler Zouth ma'a!ine .ilf mit_ 6(end a .and8* 0t was a stor$ contest* Dith pri!es* 0 immediatel$ set to writin' m$ first no"el* 0nfluenced &$ m$ motherLs &ac@'round, it &ore the title 7he =ashu&ians, &ut the action did not ta@e place in the painful present of that small and dwindlin' peopleP it too@ place in the thirteenth centur$ durin' a period of interre'num, a 'rim period when &ri'ands and ro&&er &arons ruled the hi'hwa$s and the onl$ recourse a peasant had to Iustice was a @ind of @an'aroo court* All 0 can remem&er of it is that after a &rief outline of the economic conditions in the =ashu&ian hinterland 0 started in on pilla'es and massacres with a "en'eance* 7here was so much throttlin', sta&&in', and s@ewerin', so man$ @an'aroo5court han'in's and e%ecutions that &$ the end of the first chapter all the prota'onists and a 'oodl$ num&er of the minor characters were dead and either &uried or left to the crows* 9ince m$ sense of st$le did not allow me to turn corpses into spirits and the no"el into a 'host stor$, 0 had to admit defeat with an a&rupt end and no #7o Be ,ontinued ***#* Not for 'ood, of course, &ut the neoph$te had learned his lesson: ne%t time he would ha"e to &e a &it more 'entle with his characters* But first 0 read and read some more* 0 had m$ own wa$ of readin': with m$ fin'ers in m$ ears* (et me sa$ &$ wa$ of e%planation that m$ $oun'er sister and 0 'rew up in straitened circumstances, that is, in a two5room flat and hence without rooms of our own or e"en so much as a corner to oursel"es* 0n the lon' run it turned out to &e an ad"anta'e, thou'h: 0 learned at an earl$ a'e to concentrate in the midst of people or surrounded &$ noise* Dhen 0 read 0 mi'ht ha"e &een under a
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&ell IarP 0 was so in"ol"ed in the world of the &oo@ that m$ mother, who li@ed a practical Io@e, once demonstrated her sonLs complete and utter a&sorption to a nei'h&our &$ replacin' a roll 0 had &een ta@in' an occasional &ite from with a &ar of soap H almoli"e, 0 &elie"e H whereupon the two women H m$ mother not without a certain pride H watched me reach &lindl$ for the soap, sin@ m$ teeth into it, and chew it for a 'ood minute &efore it tore me awa$ from m$ ad"enture on the pa'e* 7o this da$ 0 can concentrate as 0 did in m$ earl$ $ears, &ut 0 ha"e ne"er read more o&sessi"el$* Gur &oo@s were @ept in a &oo@case &ehind &lue5curtained panes of 'lass* M$ mother &elon'ed to a &oo@ clu&, and the no"els of 3ostoe"s@$ and 7olsto$ stood side &$ side and mi%ed in with no"els &$ .amsun, Raa&e, and Jic@$ Baum* 9elma (a'erlgfLs +gsta Berlin' was within eas$ reach* 0 later mo"ed on to the Municipal (i&rar$, &ut m$ motherLs collection pro"ided the initial impulse* A punctilious &usinesswoman forced to sell her wares to unrelia&le customers on credit, she was also a 'reat lo"er of &eaut$: she listened to opera and operetta, melodies on her primiti"e radio, enIo$ed hearin' m$ promisin' stories, and freFuentl$ went to the Municipal 7heatre, e"en ta@in' me alon' from time to time* 7he onl$ reason 0 rehearse here these anecdotes of a pett$ &our'eois childhood after paintin' them with epic stro@es decades a'o in wor@s peopled &$ fictitious characters is to help me answer the Fuestion #Dhat made $ou &ecome a writerE# 7he a&ilit$ to da$dream at len'th, the Io& of punnin' and pla$in' with lan'ua'e in 'eneral, the addiction to l$in' for its own sa@e rather than for mine &ecause stic@in' to the truth would ha"e &een a &ore H in short, what is loosel$ @nown as talent was certainl$ a factor, &ut it was the a&rupt intrusion of politics into the famil$ id$ll that turned the all too fli'ht$ cate'or$ of talent into a &allast with a certain permanence and depth* M$ motherLs fa"ourite cousin, li@e her a =ashu&ian &$ &irth, wor@ed at the olish post office of the Free ,it$ of 3an!i'* .e was a re'ular at our house and alwa$s welcome* Dhen the Dar &ro@e out the .e"elius 9Fuare post office &uildin' held out for a time a'ainst the 995.eimwehr, and m$ uncle was rounded up with those who finall$ surrendered* 7he$ were tried summaril$ and put &efore a firin' sFuad* 9uddenl$ he was no more* 9uddenl$ and permanentl$ his name was no lon'er mentioned* .e &ecame a non5person* Zet he must ha"e li"ed on in me throu'h the $ears when at fifteen 0 donned a uniform, at si%teen 0 learned what fear was, at se"enteen 0 landed in an American GD camp, at ei'hteen 0 wor@ed in the &lac@ mar@et, studied to &e a stone5mason and started sculptin' in stone, prepared for admission to art school and wrote and drew, drew and wrote, fleet5footed "erse, Fui!!ical one5acts, and on it went until 0 found the material unwield$ H 0 seem to ha"e an in&orn need for aesthetic pleasure* And &eneath the detritus of it all la$ m$ motherLs fa"ourite cousin, the olish postal cler@, shot and &uried, onl$ to &e found &$ me 6who elseE8 and e%humed and resuscitated &$ literar$ artificial respiration under other names and 'uises, thou'h this time in a no"el whose maIor and minor characters, full of life and &eans as the$ are, ma@e it throu'h a num&er of chapters, some e"en holdin' out till the end and thus ena&lin' the writer to @eep his recurrent promise: 7o Be ,ontinued *** And so on and so forth* 7he pu&lication of m$ first two no"els, 7he 7in 3rum and 3o' Zears, and the no"ella 0 stuc@ &etween them, ,at and Mouse, tau'ht me earl$ on, as a relati"el$ $oun' writer, that &oo@s can cause offence, stir up fur$, e"en hatred, that what is underta@en out of lo"e for oneLs countr$ can &e ta@en as soilin' oneLs nest* From then on 0 ha"e &een contro"ersial* Dhich means that li@e writers &anished to 9i&eria or suchli@e places 0 am in 'ood compan$* 9o 0 ha"e no 'rounds to complainP on the contrar$, writers should consider the condition of permanent contro"ersialit$ to &e in"i'oratin', part of the ris@ in"ol"ed in choosin' the profession* 0t is a fact of life that writers ha"e alwa$s and with due consideration and 'reat pleasure spit in the soup of the hi'h and mi'ht$* 7hat is what ma@es the histor$ of literature analo'ous to the de"elopment and refinement of censorship* 7he ill humour of the powers5that5&e forced 9ocrates to drain the cup of hemloc@ to the dre's, sent
Y;

G"id into e%ile, made 9eneca open his "eins* For centuries and to the present da$ the finest fruits of the western 'arden of literature ha"e 'raced the inde% of the ,atholic church* .ow much eFui"ocation did the <uropean <nli'htenment learn from the censorship practised &$ princes with a&solute powerE .ow man$ +erman, 0talian, 9panish, and ortu'uese writers did fascism dri"e from their lands and lan'ua'esE .ow man$ writers fell "ictim to the (eninist59talinist rei'n of terrorE And what constraints are writers under toda$ in countries li@e ,hina, =en$a, or ,roatiaE 0 come from the land of &oo@5&urnin'* De @now that the desire to destro$ a hated &oo@ is still 6or once more8 part of the spirit of our times and that when necessar$ it finds appropriate tele'enic e%pression and therefore a mass audience* Dhat is much worse, howe"er, is that the persecution of writers, includin' the threat of murder and murder itself, is on the rise throu'hout the world, so much so that the world has 'rown accustomed to the terror of it* 7rue, the part of the world that calls itself free raises a hue and cr$ when, as in 199Y in Ni'eria, a writer li@e =en 9aro5Diwa and his supporters are sentenced to death and @illed for ta@in' a stand a'ainst the contamination of their countr$, &ut thin's immediatel$ 'o &ac@ to normal, &ecause ecolo'ical considerations mi'ht affect the profits of the worldLs num&er one oil colossus 9hell* Dhat ma@es &oo@s H and with them writers H so dan'erous that church and state, polit&uros and the mass media feel the need to oppose themE 9ilencin' and worse are seldom the result of direct attac@s on the rei'nin' ideolo'$* Gften all it ta@es is a literar$ allusion to the idea that truth e%ists onl$ in the plural H that there is no such thin' as a sin'le truth &ut onl$ a multitude of truths H to ma@e the defenders of one or another truth sense dan'er, mortal dan'er* 7hen there is the pro&lem that writers are &$ definition una&le to lea"e the past in peace: the$ are Fuic@ to open closed wounds, peer &ehind closed doors, find s@eletons in the cup&oard, consume sacred cows or, as in the case of )onathan 9wift, offer up 0rish children, #stewed, roasted, &a@ed, or &oiled#, to the @itchens of the <n'lish no&ilit$* 0n other words, nothin' is sacred to them, not e"en capitalism, and that ma@es them offensi"e, e"en criminal* But worst of all the$ refuse to ma@e common cause with the "ictors of histor$: the$ ta@e pleasure millin' a&out the frin'es of the historical process with the losers, who ha"e plent$ to sa$ &ut no platform to sa$ it on* B$ 'i"in' them a "oice, the$ call the "ictor$ into Fuestion, &$ associatin' with them, the$ Ioin ran@s with them* Gf course the powers5that5&e, no matter what period costume the$ ma$ &e wearin', ha"e nothin' a'ainst literature as such* 7he$ enIo$ it as an ornament and e"en promote it* At present its role is to entertain, to ser"e the fun culture, to de5emphasi!e the ne'ati"e side of thin's and 'i"e people hope, a li'ht in the dar@ness* Dhat is &asicall$ called for, thou'h not Fuite so e%plicitl$ as durin' the ,ommunist $ears, is a #positi"e hero#* 0n the Iun'le of the free mar@et econom$ he is li@el$ to pa"e his wa$ to success Ram&o5li@e with corpses and a smileP he is an ad"enturer who is alwa$s up for a Fuic@ fuc@ &etween &attles, a winner who lea"es a trail of losers &ehind him, in short, the perfect role model for our 'lo&ali!ed world* And the demand for the hard5&oiled he5man who alwa$s lands on his feet is unfailin'l$ met &$ the media: )ames Bond has spawned an$ num&er of 3oll$5li@e children* +ood will continue to pre"ail o"er e"il as lon' as it assumes his cool5'u$ pose* 3oes that ma@e his opposite or enem$ a ne'ati"e heroE Not necessaril$* 0 ha"e m$ roots, as $ou will ha"e noticed from $our readin', in the 9panish or Moorish school of the picaresFue no"el* 7iltin' at windmills has remained a model for that school down throu'h the a'es, and the picaroLs "er$ e%istence deri"es from the comic nature of defeat* .e pees on the pillars of power and saws awa$ at the throne @nowin' full well he will ma@e no dent in either: once he mo"es on, the e%alted temple ma$ loo@ a &it sha&&$, the throne ma$ wo&&le sli'htl$, &ut that is all* .is humour is part and parcel of his despair* Dhile 3ie +gtterdSmmerun' drones on &efore an ele'ant Ba$reuth audience, he sits sni''erin' in the &ac@ row, &ecause in his theatre comed$ and tra'ed$ 'o hand in hand* .e scorns the fateful march of the "ictors and stic@s his foot out to trip them, $et much as his failure ma@es us lau'h the lau'hter stic@s in our throat: e"en his wittiest c$nicisms ha"e a tra'ic cast to them* Besides, from the point of "iew of the philistine, ri'htist or leftist, he is a formalist H
Y3

e"en a mannerist H of the first order: he holds the sp$'lass the wron' wa$P he sees time as a train on a sidin': he puts mirrors e"er$whereP $ou can ne"er tell whose "entriloFuist he isP 'i"en his perspecti"e, he can e"en accept dwarfs and 'iants into his entoura'e* 7he reason Ra&elais was constantl$ on the run from the secular police and the .ol$ 0nFuisition is that his lar'er5than5life +ar'antua and anta'ruel had turned the world accordin' to scholasticism on its head* 7he lau'hter the$ unleashed was positi"el$ infernal* Dhen +ar'antua stooped &are5arsed on the towers of Notre53ame and pissed the len'th and &readth of aris under water, e"er$one who did not drown 'uffawed* Gr to 'o &ac@ to 9wift: his modest culinar$ proposal for relie"in' the hun'er in 0reland could &e &rou'ht up to date if at the ne%t economic summit the &oard set for the heads of state were 'roanin' with lusciousl$ prepared street children from Bra!il or southern 9udan* 9atire is the name of the art form 0 ha"e in mind, and in satire e"er$thin' is permitted, e"en tic@lin' the funn$ &one with the 'rotesFue* Dhen .einrich Bgll 'a"e his No&el (ecture here on ; Ma$ 19C3, he &rou'ht the seemin'l$ opposin' positions of reason and poetr$ into closer and closer pro%imit$ and &emoaned the lac@ of time to 'o into another aspect of the issue: #0 ha"e had to pass o"er humour, which, thou'h no class pri"ile'e, is i'nored in his poetr$ as a hidin' place for resistance*# Now Bgll @new that )ean aul, the poet in Fuestion, had a place in the +erman ,ulture .all of Fame, little read thou'h he is nowada$sP he @new to what e%tent 7homas MannLs literar$ oeu"re was suspected H &$ &oth the ri'ht and the left H of iron$ at the time 6and still is, 0 mi'ht add8* ,learl$ what Bgll had in mind was not &ell$5lau'h humour &ut rather inaudi&le, &etween5the5lines humour, the chronic suscepti&ilit$ to melanchol$ of his clown, the desperate wit of the man who collected silence, an acti"it$, &$ the wa$, that has &ecome Fuite the thin' in the media and H under the 'uise of #"oluntar$ self5control# on the part of the free Dest H a &eni'n dis'uise for censorship* B$ the earl$ fifties, when 0 had started writin' consciousl$, .einrich Bgll was a well5@nown if not alwa$s well5recei"ed author* Dith Dolf'an' =oeppen, +cnter <ich, and Arno 9chmidt he stood apart from the culture industr$* ost5war +erman literature, still $oun', was ha"in' a hard time with +erman, which had &een corrupted &$ the Na!i re'ime* 0n addition, BgllLs 'eneration H &ut also the $oun'er writers li@e m$self H were st$mied to a certain e%tent &$ a prohi&ition that came from 7heodor Adorno: #0t is &ar&aric to write a poem after Auschwit!, and that is wh$ it has &ecome impossi&le to write poetr$ toda$ ***# 0n other words, no more #7o Be ,ontinued ***# 7hou'h write we did* De wrote &$ &earin' in mind, li@e Adorno in his Minima Moralia: Reflections from 3ama'ed (ife 619Y18, that Auschwit! mar@s a rift, an un&rid'ea&le 'ap in the histor$ of ci"ili!ation* 0t was the onl$ wa$ we could 'et round the prohi&ition* <"en so, AdornoLs writin' on the wall has retained its power to this da$* All the writers of m$ 'eneration did pu&lic &attle with it* No one had the desire or a&ilit$ to @eep silent* 0t was our dut$ to ta@e the 'oose step out of +erman, to lure it out of its id$lls and fo''ed inwardness* De, the children who had had our fin'ers &urned, we were the ones to repudiate the a&solutes, the ideolo'ical &lac@ or white* 3ou&t and scepticism were our 'odparents and the multitude of 'ra$ "alues their present to us* 0n an$ case, such was the asceticism 0 imposed on m$self &efore disco"erin' the richness of a lan'ua'e 0 had all too sweepin'l$ pronounced 'uilt$: its seduci&le softness, its tendenc$ to plum& the depths, its utterl$ supple hardness, not to mention the sheen of its dialects, its artlessness and artfulness, its eccentricities, and &eaut$ &lossomin' from its su&Iuncti"es* .a"in' won &ac@ this capital, we in"ested it to ma@e more* 3espite AdornoLs "erdict or spurred on &$ it* 7he onl$ wa$ writin' after Auschwit!, poetr$ or prose, could proceed was &$ &ecomin' memor$ and pre"entin' the past from comin' to an end* Gnl$ then could post5war literature in +erman Iustif$ appl$in' the 'enerall$ "alid #7o Be ,ontinued ***# to itself and its descendantsP onl$ then could the wound &e @ept open and the much desired and prescri&ed for'ettin' &e re"ersed with a steadfast #Gnce upon a time#* .ow man$ times when one or another interest 'roup calls for considerin' what happened a closed chapter H we need to return to normalc$ and put our shameful past &ehind us H how man$ times
Y4

has literature resisted* And ri'htl$ so_ Because it is a position as foolish as it is understanda&leP &ecause e"er$ time the end of the post5war period is proclaimed in +erman$ H as it was ten $ears a'o, with the Dall down and unit$ in the offin' H the past catches up with us* At that time, in Fe&ruar$ 1990, 0 'a"e a tal@ to students in Fran@furt entitled #Dritin' After Auschwit!#* 0 wanted to ta@e stoc@ of m$ wor@s &oo@ &$ &oo@* 0n 7he 3iar$ of a 9nail, which came out in 19C; and in which past and present crisscross, &ut also run parallel or occasionall$ collide, 0 am as@ed &$ m$ sons how 0 define m$ profession, and 0 answer, #A writer, children, is someone who writes a'ainst the current of time*# Dhat 0 said to the students was: #9uch a "iew presumes that writers are not encapsulated in isolation or the sempiternal, that the$ see themsel"es as li"in' in the here and now, and, e"en more, that the$ e%pose themsel"es to the "icissitudes of time, that the$ Iump in and ta@e sides* 7he dan'ers of Iumpin' in and ta@in' sides are well @nown: 7he distance a writer is supposed to @eep is threatenedP his lan'ua'e must li"e from hand to mouthP the narrowness of current e"ents can ma@e him narrow and cur& the ima'ination he has trained to run freeP he runs the dan'er of runnin' out of &reath*# 7he ris@ 0 referred to then has remained with me throu'hout the $ears* But what would the profession of writer &e li@e without ris@E +ranted, the writer would ha"e the securit$ of, sa$, a cultural &ureaucrat, &ut he would &e the prisoner of his fears of dirt$in' his hands with the present* Gut of fear of losin' his distance he would lose himself in realms where m$ths reside and loft$ thou'hts are all* But the present, which the past is constantl$ turnin' into, would catch up to him in the end and put him throu'h the third de'ree* Because e"er$ writer is of his time, no matter how he protests &ein' &orn too earl$ or late* .e does not autonomousl$ choose what he will write a&out, that choice is made for him* At least 0 was not free to choose* (eft to m$ own de"ices, 0 would ha"e followed the laws of aesthetics and &een perfectl$ happ$ to see@ m$ place in te%ts droll and harmless* But that was not to &e* 7here were e%tenuatin' circumstances: mountains of ru&&le and cada"ers, fruit of the wom& of +erman histor$* 7he more 0 sho"elled, the more it 'rew* 0t simpl$ could not &e i'nored* Besides, 0 come from a famil$ of refu'ees, which means that in addition to e"er$thin' that dri"es a writer from &oo@ to &oo@ H common am&ition, the fear of &oredom, the mechanisms of e'ocentricit$ H 0 had the irrepara&le loss of m$ &irthplace* 0f &$ tellin' tales 0 could not recapture a cit$ &oth lost and destro$ed, 0 could at least re5conIure it* And this o&session @ept me 'oin'* 0 wanted to ma@e it clear to m$self and m$ readers, not without a &it of a chip on m$ shoulder, that what was lost did not need to sin@ into o&li"ion, that it could &e resuscitated &$ the art of literature in all its 'randeur and pettiness: the churches and cemeteries, the sounds of the ship$ards and smells of the faintl$ lappin' Baltic, a lan'ua'e on its wa$ out $et still sta&le5warm and 'rum&le5rich, sins in need of confession, and crimes tolerated if ne"er e%onerated* A similar loss has pro"ided other writers with a hot&ed of o&sessi"e topics* 0n a con"ersation datin' &ac@ man$ $ears 9alman Rushdie and 0 concurred that m$ lost 3an!i' was for me H li@e his lost Bom&a$ for him H &oth resource and refuse pit, point of departure and na"el of the world* 7his arro'ance, this o"er@ill lies at the "er$ heart of literature* 0t is the condition for a stor$ that can pull out all the stops* ainsta@in' detail, sensiti"e ps$cholo'i!in', slice5of5life realism H no such techniFues can handle our monstrous raw materials* As inde&ted as we are to the <nli'htenment tradition of reason, the a&surd course of histor$ spurns all e%clusi"el$ reasona&le e%planations* )ust as the No&el ri!e H once we di"est it of its ceremonial 'ar& H has its roots in the in"ention of d$namite, which li@e such other human head&irths as the splittin' of the atom and the li@ewise No&elified classification of the 'ene has wrou'ht &oth weal and woe in the world, so literature has an e%plosi"e Fualit$ at its root, thou'h the e%plosions literature releases ha"e a dela$ed5action effect and chan'e the world onl$ in the ma'nif$in' 'lass of time, so to spea@, it too wrea@in' cause for &oth Io$ and lamentation here &elow* .ow lon' did it ta@e the <uropean <nli'htenment from Montai'ne to Joltaire, 3iderot, =ant, (essin', and (ichten&er' to introduce a flic@er of
YY

reason into the dar@ corners of scholasticismE And e"en that flic@er often died in the process, a process censorship went a lon' wa$ towards inhi&itin'* But when the li'ht finall$ did &ri'hten thin's up, it turned out to &e the li'ht of cold reason, limited to the technicall$ doa&le, to economic and social pro'ress, a reason that claimed to &e enli'htened &ut that merel$ drummed a reason5 &ased Iar'on 6which amounted to instructions for ma@in' pro'ress at all costs8 into its offsprin', capitalism and socialism 6which were at each otherLs throats from the word 'o8* 7oda$ we can see what those &rilliant failures who were the <nli'htenmentLs offsprin' ha"e wrou'ht* De can see what a dan'erous position its dela$ed5action, word5detonated e%plosion has hurled us into* And if we are tr$in' to repair the dama'e with <nli'htenment tools, it is onl$ &ecause we ha"e no others* De loo@ on in horror as capitalism H now that his &rother, socialism, has &een declared dead H ra'es unimpeded, me'alomaniacall$ repla$in' the errors of the supposedl$ e%tinct &rother* 0t has turned the free mar@et into do'ma, the onl$ truth, and into%icated &$ its all &ut limitless power, pla$s the wildest of 'ames, ma@in' mer'er after mer'er with no 'oal than to ma%imi!e profits* No wonder capitalism is pro"in' as imper"ious to reform as the communism that mana'ed to stran'le itself* +lo&ali!ation is its motto, a motto it proclaims with the arro'ance of infalli&ilit$: there is no alternati"e* Accordin'l$, histor$ has come to an end* No more #7o Be ,ontinued ***#, no more suspense* 7hou'h perhaps there is hope that if not politics, which has a&dicated its decision5ma@in' power to economics, then at least literature ma$ come up with somethin' to cause the #new do'matism# to falter* .ow can su&"ersi"e writin' &e &oth d$namite and of literar$ Fualit$E 0s there time enou'h to wait for the dela$ed actionE 0s an$ &oo@ capa&le of suppl$in' a commodit$ in so short suppl$ as the futureE 0s it not rather the case that literature is currentl$ retreatin' from pu&lic life and that $oun' writers are usin' the internet as a pla$'roundE A standstill, to which the suspicious word #communication# lends a certain aura, is ma@in' headwa$* <"er$ scrap of time is planned down to the last ner"ous &rea@down* A cultural industr$ "ale of tears is ta@in' o"er the world* Dhat is to &e doneE M$ 'odlessness notwithstandin', all 0 can do is &end m$ @nee to a saint who has ne"er failed me and crac@ed some of the hardest nuts* #G .ol$ and 6throu'h the 'race of ,amus8 No&elified 9is$phus_ Ma$ th$ stone not remain at the top of the hill, ma$ we roll it down a'ain and li@e thee continue to reIoice in it, and ma$ the stor$ told of the drud'er$ of our e%istence ha"e no end* Amen*# But will m$ pra$er &e heardE Gr are the rumours trueE 0s the new &reed of cloned creature destined to assure the continuation of human histor$E Dhich &rin's me &ac@ to the &e'innin' of m$ tal@* Gnce more 0 open 7he Rat to the fifth chapter, in which the la&orator$ rat, representin' millions of other la&orator$ animals in the cause of research, wins the No&el ri!e, and 0 am reminded how few pri!es ha"e &een awarded to proIects that would rid the world of the scour'e of man@ind: hun'er* An$one who can pa$ the price can 'et a new pair of @idne$s* .earts can &e transplanted* De can phone an$where in the world wire5free* 9atellites and space stations or&it us solicitousl$* 7he latest weapon s$stems, concei"ed and de"eloped, the$ too, on the &asis of award5winnin' research, can help their masters to @eep death at &a$* An$thin' the human mind comes up with finds astonishin' applications* Gnl$ hun'er seems to resist* 0t is e"en increasin'* o"ert$ deepl$ rooted shades into miser$* Refu'ees are floc@in' all o"er the world accompanied &$ hun'er* 0t ta@es political will paired with scientific @now5how to root out miser$ of such ma'nitude, and no one seems resol"ed to underta@e it* 0n 19C3, Iust when terror H with the acti"e support of the Rnited 9tates H was &e'innin' to stri@e in ,hile, Dill$ Brandt spo@e &efore the Rnited Nations +eneral Assem&l$, the first +erman
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chancellor to do so* .e &rou'ht up the issue of worldwide po"ert$* 7he applause followin' his e%clamation #.un'er too is war_# was stunnin'* 0 was present when he 'a"e the speech* 0 was wor@in' on m$ no"el 7he Flounder at the time* 0t deals with the "er$ foundations of human e%istence includin' food, the lac@ and supera&undance thereof, 'reat 'luttons and untold star"elin's, the Io$s of the palate and crusts from the rich manLs ta&le* 7he issue is still with us* 7he poor counter 'rowin' riches with 'rowin' &irth rates* 7he affluent north and west can tr$ to screen themsel"es off in securit$5mad fortresses, &ut the floc@s of refu'ees will catch up with them: no 'ate can withstand the crush of the hun'r$* 7he future will ha"e somethin' to sa$ a&out all this* Gur common no"el must &e continued* And e"en if one da$ people stop or are forced to stop writin' and pu&lishin', if &oo@s are no lon'er a"aila&le, there will still &e stor$tellers 'i"in' us mouth5to5ear artificial respiration, spinnin' old stories in new wa$s: loud and soft, hec@lin' and haltin', now close to lau'hter, now on the &rin@ of tears* 7ranslated from +erman &$ Michael .enr$ .eim 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #No&el (ecture 5 (iterature 1999#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1999Alecture5e*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I)re 0ertsz 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;00; was awarded to 0mre =ert-s! #for writin' that upholds the fra'ile e%perience of the indi"idual a'ainst the &ar&aric ar&itrariness of histor$#* No&el (ecture .eure@a_ 0mre =ert-s! deli"ered his No&el (ecture 6in .un'arian8 in Bgrssalen at the 9wedish Academ$ in 9toc@holm, C 3ecem&er ;00;* Born: 9 No"em&er 19;9, Budapest, .un'ar$ Residence at the time of the award: .un'ar$ ri!e moti"ation: #for writin' that upholds the fra'ile e%perience of the indi"idual a'ainst the &ar&aric ar&itrariness of histor$# (an'ua'e: .un'arian Biography 0mre =ert-s! was &orn in Budapest on No"em&er 9, 19;9* Gf )ewish descent, in 1944 he was deported to Auschwit! and from there to Buchenwald, where he was li&erated in 194Y* Gn his return to .un'ar$ he wor@ed for a Budapest newspaper, Jil\'oss\', &ut was dismissed in 19Y1 when it adopted the ,ommunist part$ line* After two $ears of militar$ ser"ice he &e'an supportin' himself as an independent writer and translator of +erman5lan'ua'e authors such as Niet!sche, .ofmannsthal, 9chnit!ler, Freud, Roth, Ditt'enstein, and ,anetti, who ha"e all had a si'nificant influence on his own writin'*

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=ert-s!Ls first no"el, 9orstalans\' 6<n'* Fateless, 199;P see D(7 :C:4, p* /:38, a wor@ &ased on his e%periences in Auschwit! and Buchenwald, was pu&lished in 19CY* #Dhen 0 am thin@in' a&out a new no"el, 0 alwa$s thin@ of Auschwit!,# he has said* 7his does not mean, howe"er, that 9orstalans\' is auto&io'raphical in an$ simple sense: =ert-s! sa$s himself that he has used the form of the auto&io'raphical no"el &ut that it is not auto&io'raph$* 9orstalans\' was initiall$ reIected for pu&lication* Dhen pu&lished e"entuall$ in 19CY, it was recei"ed with compact silence* =ert-s! has written a&out this e%perience in A @udarc 619//P Fiasco8* 7his no"el is normall$ re'arded as the second "olume in a trilo'$ that &e'ins with 9orstalans\' and concludes with =addis a me' nem s!cletett '$erme@-rt 61990P <n'* =addish for a ,hild Not Born, 199CP see D(7 C4:1, p* ;0Y8, in a title that refers to the )ewish pra$er for the dead* 0n =addis a me' nem s!cletett '$erme@-rt, the prota'onist of 9orstalans\' and A @udarc, +$gr'$ =g"es, reappears* .is =addish is said for the child he refuses to &e'et in a world that permitted the e%istence of Auschwit!* Gther prose wor@s are A n$om@ereso# 619CCP 7he pathfinder8 and A! an'ol la&o'[ 61991P 7he <n'lish fla'P see D(7 :C:;, p* 41;8* +\l$anapl[ 6+alle$ diar$P see D(7 :C:;, p* 41;8, a diar$ in fictional form that co"ers the $ears 19:1591, was pu&lished in 199;* Jala@i m\s: A "\lto!\s @r[ni@\Ia 6199CP 0 5 another: ,hronicle of a metamorphosis8, continues this inner monolo'ue in the form of notes made durin' the $ears 199159Y* After the political uphea"als of 19/9, =ert-s! was a&le to ma@e more pu&lic appearances* .is lectures and essa$s ha"e &een collected in A holocaust mint @ultmra 61993P 7he holocaust as culture8, A 'ondolatn$i csend, amk' @i"e'!o#o!ta' mIratglt 6199/P Moments of silence while the e%ecution sFuad reloads8, and A s!\mu#gtt n$el" 6;001P 7he e%iled lan'ua'e8* 0mre =ert-s! was awarded the Branden&ur'er (iteraturpreis in 199Y, the (eip!i'er Buchpreis !ur <uropSischen JerstSndi'un' in 199C, the .erder5 reis and the D<(75(iteraturpreis in ;000, the <hrenpreis der Ro&ert5Bosch59tiftun' in ;001, and the .ans 9ahl5 reis in ;00;* .is wor@s ha"e &een translated into numerous lan'ua'es, includin' +erman, 9panish, French, <n'lish, ,!ech, Russian, 9wedish, and .e&rew* 7ranslated &$ 0"an 9anders From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;00;, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;003 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;00; 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #0mre =ert-s! 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00;A@ertes!*html Nobel Lecture ,op$ri'ht f No&el De& AB ;00; hoto: Frida Destholm 1eure2a3 0 must &e'in with a confession, a stran'e confession perhaps, &ut a candid one* From the moment 0 stepped on the airplane to ma@e the Iourne$ here and accept this $earLs No&el ri!e in (iterature, 0 ha"e &een feelin' the stead$, searchin' 'a!e of a dispassionate o&ser"er on m$ &ac@* <"en at this special moment, when 0 find m$self &ein' the center of attention, 0 feel 0 am closer to this cool and detached o&ser"er than to the writer whose wor@, of a sudden, is read around the world* 0 can onl$ hope that the speech 0 ha"e the honor to deli"er on this occasion will help me dissol"e the dualit$ and fuse the two sel"es within me*
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For now, thou'h, 0 still ha"e trou&le understandin' the 'ap that 0 sense &etween the hi'h honor and m$ life and wor@* erhaps 0 li"ed too lon' under dictatorships, in a hostile, relentlessl$ alien intellectual en"ironment, to ha"e de"eloped a distinct literar$ consciousnessP e"en to contemplate such a thin' would ha"e &een useless* Besides, all 0 heard from all sides was that what 0 'a"e so much thou'ht to, the #topic# that fore"er preoccupied me, was neither timel$ nor "er$ attracti"e* For this reason, and also &ecause 0 happen to &elie"e it, 0 ha"e alwa$s considered writin' a hi'hl$ personal, pri"ate matter* Not that such a matter necessaril$ precludes seriousness 5 e"en if this seriousness did seem somewhat ludicrous in a world where onl$ lies were ta@en seriousl$* .ere the notion that the world is an o&Iecti"e realit$ e%istin' independentl$ of us was an a%iomatic philosophical truth* Dhereas 0, on a lo"el$ sprin' da$ in 19YY, suddenl$ came to the reali!ation that there e%ists onl$ one realit$, and that is me, m$ own life, this fra'ile 'ift &estowed for an uncertain time, which had &een sei!ed, e%propriated &$ alien forces, and circumscri&ed, mar@ed up, &randed 5 and which 0 had to ta@e &ac@ from #.istor$#, this dreadful Moloch, &ecause it was mine and mine alone, and 0 had to mana'e it accordin'l$* Needless to sa$, all this turned me sharpl$ a'ainst e"er$thin' in that world, which, thou'h not o&Iecti"e, was undenia&l$ a realit$* 0 am spea@in' of ,ommunist .un'ar$, of #thri"in' and flourishin'# 9ocialism* 0f the world is an o&Iecti"e realit$ that e%ists independentl$ of us, then humans themsel"es, e"en in their own e$es, are nothin' more than o&Iects, and their life stories merel$ a series of disconnected historical accidents, which the$ ma$ wonder at, &ut which the$ themsel"es ha"e nothin' to do with* 0t would ma@e no sense to arran'e the fra'ments in a coherent whole, &ecause some of it ma$ &e far too o&Iecti"e for the su&Iecti"e 9elf to &e held responsi&le for it* A $ear later, in 19Y:, the .un'arian Re"olution &ro@e out* For a sin'le moment the countr$ turned su&Iecti"e* 9o"iet tan@s, howe"er, restored o&Iecti"it$ &efore lon'* 0 do not mean to &e facetious* ,onsider what happened to lan'ua'e in the twentieth centur$, what &ecame of words* 0 daresa$ that the first and most shoc@in' disco"er$ made &$ writers in our time was that lan'ua'e, in the form it came down to us, a le'ac$ of some primordial culture, had simpl$ &ecome unsuita&le to con"e$ concepts and processes that had once &een unam&i'uous and real* 7hin@ of =af@a, thin@ of Grwell, in whose hands the old lan'ua'e simpl$ disinte'rated* 0t was as if the$ were turnin' it round and round in an open fire, onl$ to displa$ its ashes afterward, in which new and pre"iousl$ un@nown patterns emer'ed* But 0 should li@e to return to what for me is strictl$ pri"ate 5 writin'* 7here are a few Fuestions, which someone in m$ situation will not e"en as@* )ean5 aul 9artre, for instance, de"oted an entire little &oo@ to the Fuestion: For whom do we writeE 0t is an interestin' Fuestion, &ut it can also &e dan'erous, and 0 than@ m$ luc@$ stars that 0 ne"er had to deal with it* (et us see what the dan'er consists of* 0f a writer were to pic@ a social class or 'roup that he would li@e, not onl$ to deli'ht &ut also influence, he would first ha"e to e%amine his st$le to see whether it is a suita&le means &$ which to e%ert influence* .e will soon &e assailed &$ dou&ts, and spend his time watchin' himself* .ow can he @now for sure what his readers want, what the$ reall$ li@eE .e cannot "er$ well as@ each and e"er$ one* And e"en if he did, it wouldnLt do an$ 'ood* .e would ha"e to rel$ on his ima'e of his would5&e readers, the e%pectations he ascri&ed to them, and ima'ine what would ha"e the effect on him that he would li@e to achie"e* For whom does a writer write, thenE 7he answer is o&"ious: he writes for himself* At least 0 can sa$ that 0 ha"e arri"ed at this answer fairl$ strai'htforwardl$* +ranted, 0 had it easier 5 0 had no readers and no desire to influence an$one* 0 did not &e'in writin' for a specific reason, and what 0 wrote was not addressed to an$one* 0f 0 had an aim at all, it was to &e faithful, in
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lan'ua'e and form, to the su&Iect at hand, and nothin' more* 0t was important to ma@e this clear durin' the ridiculous and sad period when literature was state5controlled and #en'a'-#* 0t would &e more difficult to answer another, perfectl$ le'itimate thou'h still rather more du&ious Fuestion: Dh$ do we writeE .ere, too, 0 was luc@$, for it ne"er occurred to me that when it came to this Fuestion, one had a choice* 0 descri&ed a rele"ant incident in m$ no"el Failure* 0 stood in the empt$ corridor of an office &uildin', and all that happened was that from the direction of another, intersectin' corridor 0 heard echoin' footsteps* A stran'e e%citement too@ hold of me* 7he sound 'rew louder and louder, and thou'h the$ were clearl$ the steps of a sin'le, unseen person, 0 suddenl$ had the feelin' that 0 was hearin' the footsteps of thousands* 0t was as if a hu'e procession was poundin' its wa$ down that corridor* And at that point 0 percei"ed the irresisti&le attraction of those footfalls, that marchin' multitude* 0n a sin'le moment 0 understood the ecstas$ of self5a&andonment, the into%icatin' pleasure of meltin' into the crowd 5 what Niet!sche called, in a different conte%t thou'h rele"antl$ for this moment too, a 3ion$sian e%perience* 0t was almost as thou'h some ph$sical force were pushin' me, pullin' me toward the unseen marchin' columns* 0 felt 0 had to stand &ac@ and press a'ainst the wall, to @eep me from $ieldin' to this ma'netic, seducti"e force* 0 ha"e related this intense moment as 0 6had8 e%perienced it* 7he source from which it spran', li@e a "ision, seemed somewhere outside of me, not in me* <"er$ artist is familiar with such moments* At one time the$ were called sudden inspirations* 9till, 0 wouldnLt classif$ the e%perience as an artistic re"elation, &ut rather as an e%istential self5disco"er$* Dhat 0 'ained from it was not m$ art 5 its tools would not &e mine for some time 5 &ut m$ life, which 0 had almost lost* 7he e%perience was a&out solitude, a more difficult life, and the thin's 0 ha"e alread$ mentioned 5 the need to step out of the mesmeri!in' crowd, out of .istor$, which renders $ou faceless and fateless* 7o m$ horror, 0 reali!ed that ten $ears after 0 had returned from the Na!i concentration camps, and halfwa$ still under the awful spell of 9talinist terror, all that remained of the whole e%perience were a few muddled impressions, a few anecdotes* (i@e it didnLt e"en happen to me, as people are wont to sa$* 0t is clear that such "isionar$ moments ha"e a lon' prehistor$* 9i'mund Freud would trace them &ac@ to a repressed traumatic e%perience* And he ma$ well &e ri'ht* 0, too, am inclined toward the rational approachP m$sticism and unreasonin' rapture of all @inds are alien to me* 9o when 0 spea@ of a "ision, 0 must mean somethin' real that assumes a supernatural 'uise 5 the sudden, almost "iolent eruption of a slowl$ ripenin' thou'ht within me* 9omethin' con"e$ed in the ancient cr$, #<ure@a_# 5 #0L"e 'ot it_# But whatE 0 once said that so5called 9ocialism for me was the petite madeleine ca@e that, dipped into roustLs tea, e"o@ed in him the fla"or of &$'one $ears* For reasons ha"in' to do with the lan'ua'e 0 spo@e, 0 decided, after the suppression of the 19Y: re"olt, to remain in .un'ar$* 7hus 0 was a&le to o&ser"e, not as a child this time &ut as an adult, how a dictatorship functions* 0 saw how an entire nation could &e made to den$ its ideals, and watched the earl$, cautious mo"es toward accommodation* 0 understood that hope is an instrument of e"il, and the =antian cate'orical imperati"e 5 ethics in 'eneral 5 is &ut the plia&le handmaiden of self5preser"ation* ,an one ima'ine 'reater freedom than that enIo$ed &$ a writer in a relati"el$ limited, rather tired, e"en decadent dictatorshipE B$ the nineteen5si%ties, the dictatorship in .un'ar$ had reached a state of consolidation that could almost &e called a societal consensus* 7he Dest later du&&ed it, with 'ood5humored for&earance, #'oulash ,ommunism#* 0t seemed that after the initial forei'n disappro"al, .un'ar$Ls own "ersion Fuic@l$ turned into the DestLs fa"orite &rand of ,ommunism* 0n the mir$ depths of this consensus, one either 'a"e up the stru''le or found the windin' paths to inner freedom* A writerLs o"erhead, after all, is "er$ lowP to practice his profession, all he needs are paper and pencil* 7he nausea and depression to which 0 awo@e each mornin' led me at once into the world 0 intended to descri&e* 0 had to disco"er that 0 had placed a man 'roanin' under the lo'ic
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of one t$pe of totalitarianism in another totalitarian s$stem, and this turned the lan'ua'e of m$ no"el into a hi'hl$ allusi"e medium* 0f 0 loo@ &ac@ now and si!e up honestl$ the situation 0 was in at the time, 0 ha"e to conclude that in the Dest, in a free societ$, 0 pro&a&l$ would not ha"e &een a&le to write the no"el @nown &$ readers toda$ as Fateless, the no"el sin'led out &$ the 9wedish Academ$ for the hi'hest honor* No, 0 pro&a&l$ would ha"e aimed at somethin' different* Dhich is not to sa$ that 0 would not ha"e tried to 'et at the truth, &ut perhaps at a different @ind of truth* 0n the free mar@etplace of &oo@s and ideas, 0, too, mi'ht ha"e wanted to produce a showier fiction* For e%ample, 0 mi'ht ha"e tried to &rea@ up time in m$ no"el, and narrate onl$ the most powerful scenes* But the hero of m$ no"el does not li"e his own time in the concentration camps, for neither his time nor his lan'ua'e, not e"en his own person, is reall$ his* .e doesnLt remem&erP he e%ists* 9o he has to lan'uish, poor &o$, in the drear$ trap of linearit$, and cannot sha@e off the painful details* 0nstead of a spectacular series of 'reat and tra'ic moments, he has to li"e throu'h e"er$thin', which is oppressi"e and offers little "ariet$, li@e life itself* But the method led to remar@a&le insi'hts* (inearit$ demanded that each situation that arose &e completel$ filled out* 0t did not allow me, sa$, to s@ip ca"alierl$ o"er twent$ minutes of time, if onl$ &ecause those twent$ minutes were there &efore me, li@e a 'apin', terrif$in' &lac@ hole, li@e a mass 'ra"e* 0 am spea@in' of the twent$ minutes spent on the arri"al platform of the Bir@enau e%termination camp 5 the time it too@ people clam&erin' down from the train to reach the officer doin' the selectin'* 0 more or less remem&ered the twent$ minutes, &ut the no"el demanded that 0 distrust m$ memor$* No matter how man$ sur"i"orsL accounts, reminiscences and confessions 0 had read, the$ all a'reed that e"er$thin' proceeded all too Fuic@l$ and unnotica&l$* 7he doors of the railroad cars were flun' open, the$ heard shouts, the &ar@in' of do's, men and women were a&ruptl$ separated, and in the midst of the hu&&u&, the$ found themsel"es in front of an officer* .e cast a fleetin' 'lance at them, pointed to somethin' with his outstretched arm, and &efore the$ @new it the$ were wearin' prison clothes* 0 remem&ered these twent$ minutes differentl$* 7urnin' to authentic sources, 0 first read 7adeus! Borows@iLs star@, unsparin' and self5tormentin' narrati"es, amon' them the stor$ entitled #7his Da$ for the +as, (adies and +entlemen#* (ater, 0 came upon a series of photo'raphs of human car'o arri"in' at the Bir@enau railroad platform 5 photo'raphs ta@en &$ an 99 soldier and found &$ American soldiers in a former 99 &arrac@s in the alread$ li&erated camp at 3achau* 0 loo@ed at these photo'raphs in utter ama!ement* 0 saw lo"el$, smilin' women and &ri'ht5e$ed $oun' men, all of them well5intentioned, ea'er to cooperate* Now 0 understood how and wh$ those humiliatin' twent$ minutes of idleness and helplessness faded from their memories* And when 0 thou'ht how all this was repeated the same wa$ for da$s, wee@s, months and $ears on end, 0 'ained an insi'ht into the mechanism of horrorP 0 learned how it &ecame possi&le to turn human nature a'ainst oneLs own life* 9o 0 proceeded, step &$ step, on the linear path of disco"er$P this was m$ heuristic method, if $ou will* 0 reali!ed soon enou'h that 0 was not the least &it interested in whom 0 was writin' for and wh$* Gne Fuestion interested me: Dhat ha"e 0 still 'ot to do with literatureE For it was clear to me that an uncrossa&le line separated me from literature and the ideals, the spirit associated with the concept of literature* 7he name of this demarcation line, as of man$ other thin's, is Auschwit!* Dhen we write a&out Auschwit!, we must @now that Auschwit!, in a certain sense at least, suspended literature* Gne can onl$ write a &lac@ no"el a&out Auschwit!, or 5 $ou should e%cuse the e%pression 5 a cheap serial, which &e'ins in Auschwit! and is still not o"er* B$ which 0 mean that nothin' has happened since Auschwit! that could re"erse or refute Auschwit!* 0n m$ writin's the .olocaust could ne"er &e present in the past tense* 0t is often said of me 5 some intend it as a compliment, others as a complaint 5 that 0 write a&out a sin'le su&Iect: the .olocaust* 0 ha"e no Fuarrel with that* Dh$ shouldnLt 0 accept, with certain
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Fualifications, the place assi'ned to me on the shel"es of li&rariesE Dhich writer toda$ is not a writer of the .olocaustE Gne does not ha"e to choose the .olocaust as oneLs su&Iect to detect the &ro@en "oice that has dominated modern <uropean art for decades* 0 will 'o so far as to sa$ that 0 @now of no 'enuine wor@ of art that does not reflect this &rea@* 0t is as if, after a ni'ht of terri&le dreams, one loo@ed around the world, defeated, helpless* 0 ha"e ne"er tried to see the comple% of pro&lems referred to as the .olocaust merel$ as the insol"a&le conflict &etween +ermans and )ews* 0 ne"er &elie"ed that it was the latest chapter in the histor$ of )ewish sufferin', which followed lo'icall$ from their earlier trials and tri&ulations* 0 ne"er saw it as a one5time a&erration, a lar'e5scale po'rom, a precondition for the creation of 0srael* Dhat 0 disco"ered in Auschwit! is the human condition, the end point of a 'reat ad"enture, where the <uropean tra"eler arri"ed after his two5thousand5$ear5old moral and cultural histor$* Now the onl$ thin' to reflect on is where we 'o from here* 7he pro&lem of Auschwit! is not whether to draw a line under it, as it wereP whether to preser"e its memor$ or slip it into the appropriate pi'eonhole of histor$P whether to erect a monument to the murdered millions, and if so, what @ind* 7he real pro&lem with Auschwit! is that it happened, and this cannot &e altered 5 not with the &est, or worst, will in the world* 7his 'ra"est of situations was characteri!ed most accuratel$ &$ the .un'arian ,atholic poet )\nos ilins!@$ when he called it a #scandal#* Dhat he meant &$ it, clearl$, is that Auschwit! occurred in a ,hristian cultural en"ironment, so for those with a metaph$sical turn of mind it can ne"er &e o"ercome* Gld prophecies spea@ of the death of +od* 9ince Auschwit! we are more alone, that much is certain* De must create our "alues oursel"es, da$ &$ da$, with that persistent thou'h in"isi&le ethical wor@ that will 'i"e them life, and perhaps turn them into the foundation of a new <uropean culture* 0 consider the pri!e with which the 9wedish Academ$ has seen fit to honor m$ wor@ as an indication that <urope a'ain needs the e%perience that witnesses to Auschwit!, to the .olocaust were forced to acFuire* 7he decision 5 permit me to sa$ this 5 &espea@s coura'e, firm resol"e e"en 5 for those who made it wished me to come here, thou'h the$ could ha"e easil$ 'uessed what the$ would hear from me* Dhat was re"ealed in the Final 9olution, in lLuni"ers concentrationnaire, cannot &e misunderstood, and the onl$ wa$ sur"i"al is possi&le, and the preser"ation of creati"e power, is if we reco'ni!e the !ero point that is Auschwit!* Dh$ couldnLt this clarit$ of "ision &e fruitfulE At the &ottom of all 'reat reali!ations, e"en if the$ are &orn of unsurpassed tra'edies, there lies the 'reatest <uropean "alue of all, the lon'in' for li&ert$, which suffuses our li"es with somethin' more, a richness, ma@in' us aware of the positi"e fact of our e%istence, and the responsi&ilit$ we all &ear for it* 0t ma@es me especiall$ happ$ to &e e%pressin' these thou'hts in m$ nati"e lan'ua'e: .un'arian* 0 was &orn in Budapest, in a )ewish famil$, whose maternal &ranch hailed from the 7rans$l"anian cit$ of =olo!s"\r 6,luI8 and the paternal side from the southwestern corner of the (a@e Balaton re'ion* M$ 'randparents still lit the 9a&&ath candles e"er$ Frida$ ni'ht, &ut the$ chan'ed their name to a .un'arian one, and it was natural for them to consider )udaism their reli'ion and .un'ar$ their homeland* M$ maternal 'randparents perished in the .olocaustP m$ paternal 'randparentsL li"es were destro$ed &$ M\t$\s R\@osiLs ,ommunist rule, when BudapestLs )ewish old a'e home was relocated to the northern &order re'ion of the countr$* 0 thin@ this &rief famil$ histor$ encapsulates and s$m&oli!es this countr$Ls modern5da$ tra"ails* Dhat it teaches me, thou'h, is that there is not onl$ &itterness in 'rief, &ut also e%traordinar$ moral potential* Bein' a )ew to me is once a'ain, first and foremost, a moral challen'e* 0f the .olocaust has &$ now created a culture, as it undenia&l$ has, its aim must &e that an irredeema&le realit$ 'i"e rise &$ wa$ of the spirit to restoration 5 a catharsis* 7his desire has inspired me in all m$ creati"e endea"ors* 7hou'h 0 am nearin' the end of m$ speech, 0 must confess 0 still ha"e not found the reassurin' &alance &etween m$ life, m$ wor@s and the No&el ri!e* For now 0 feel profound 'ratitude 5 'ratitude for the lo"e that sa"ed me and sustains me still* But let us consider that in this difficult5 to5follow life Iourne$, in this #career# of mine, if 0 could so put it, there is somethin' stirrin',
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somethin' a&surd, somethin' which cannot &e pondered without one &ein' touched &$ a &elief in an otherworldl$ order, in pro"idence, in metaph$sical Iustice 5 in other words, without fallin' into the trap of self5deception, and thus runnin' a'round, 'oin' under, se"erin' the deep and tortuous ties with the millions who perished and who ne"er @new merc$* 0t is not so eas$ to &e an e%ception* But if we were destined to &e e%ceptions, we must ma@e our peace with the a&surd order of chance, which rei'ns o"er our li"es with the whim of a death sFuad, e%posin' us to inhuman powers, monstrous t$rannies* And $et somethin' "er$ special happened while 0 was preparin' this lecture, which in a wa$ reassured me* Gne da$ 0 recei"ed a lar'e &rown en"elope in the mail* 0t was sent to me &$ 3octor Jol@hard =ni''e, the director of the Buchenwald Memorial ,enter* .e enclosed a small en"elope with his con'ratulator$ note, and descri&ed what was in the en"elope, so, in case 0 didnLt ha"e the stren'th to loo@, 0 wouldnLt ha"e to* 7he en"elope contained a cop$ of the ori'inal dail$ report on the campLs prisoners for Fe&ruar$ 1/, 194Y* 0n the #A&'Sn'e#, that is, the #3ecrement# column, 0 learned a&out the death of risoner n:4,9;1 5 0mre =ert-s!, factor$ wor@er, &orn in 19;C* 7he two false data: the $ear of m$ &irth and m$ occupation were entered in the official re'istr$ when 0 was &rou'ht to Buchenwald* 0 had made m$self two $ears older so 0 wouldnLt &e classified as a child, and had said wor@er rather than student to appear more useful to them* 0n short, 0 died once, so 0 could li"e* erhaps that is m$ real stor$* 0f it is, 0 dedicate this wor@, &orn of a childLs death, to the millions who died and to those who still remem&er them* But, since we are tal@in' a&out literature, after all, the @ind of literature that, in the "iew of $our Academ$, is also a testimon$, m$ wor@ ma$ $et ser"e a useful purpose in the future, and 5 this is m$ heartLs desire 5 ma$ e"en spea@ to the future* Dhene"er 0 thin@ of the traumatic impact of Auschwit!, 0 end up dwellin' on the "italit$ and creati"it$ of those li"in' toda$* 7hus, in thin@in' a&out Auschwit!, 0 reflect, parado%icall$, not on the past &ut the future* 7ranslated &$ 0"an 9anders* 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #No&el (ecture 5 (iterature ;00;#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00;A@ertes!5lecture5e*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Gabriel Garc4a M5r&uez 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 19/; was awarded to +a&riel +arcka M\rFue! #for his no"els and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are com&ined in a richl$ composed world of ima'ination, reflectin' a continentLs life and conflicts#* Born: : March 19;/, Aracataca, ,olom&ia Residence at the time of the award: ,olom&ia ri!e moti"ation: #for his no"els and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are com&ined in a richl$ composed world of ima'ination, reflectin' a continentLs life and conflicts# (an'ua'e: 9panish Biography +a&riel +arcka M\rFue! was &orn in 19;/ in the small town of Aracataca, situated in a tropical re'ion of northern ,olom&ia, &etween the mountains and the ,ari&&ean 9ea* .e 'rew up with his maternal 'randparent 5 his 'randfather was a pensioned colonel from the ci"il war at the &e'innin' of the centur$* .e went to a )esuit colle'e and &e'an to read law, &ut his studies were soon &ro@en off for his wor@ as a Iournalist* 0n 19Y4 he was sent to Romeo on an assi'nment for his newspaper, and since then he has mostl$ li"ed a&road 5 in aris, New Zor@, Barcelona and Me%ico 5 in a more
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or less compulsor$ e%ile* Besides his lar'e output of fiction he has written screenpla$s and has continued to wor@ as a Iournalist* Bibliography (a hoIarasca* Bo'ot\: <d* 9* (* B*, 19YY* <l coronel no tiene Fuien le escri&a* Medellkn: Au'uirre <d*, 19:1* (a mala hora* Madrid: 7alleres de +r\ficas #(uis -re!#, 19:; 6ed* desautori!ada por el autor8P ;* ed*: Me%ico: <d* <ra, 19::* (os funerales de la Mam\ +rande* ealapa 19:;* ,ien anos de soledad* Buenos Aires: <d* 9udamericana, 19:C* Mon[lo'o de 0sa&el "iendo llo"er en Macondo* 19:9* Relato de un n\ufra'o* Barcelona: 7usFuets <d*, 19C0* (a increk&le $ triste historia de la c\ndida <r-ndira $ de su a&uela desalmada* Barcelona: Barral <d*, 19C;* ,hile, el 'olpe $ los 'rin'os* 19C4* GIos de perro a!ul* Barcelona: la!a $ )an-s, 19C4* ,uando era feli! e indocumentado* Barcelona: la!a $ )anes, 19CY* <l otono del patriarca* Barcelona: la!a $ )anes, 19CY* 7odos los cuentos* Barcelona: <d* Bru'uera, 19CY* G&ra periodkstica* Jol* 1: 7e%tos costenos* Barcelona: <d* Bru'uera, 19/1* ,r[nica de una muerte anunciada* Barcelona: <d* Bru'uera, 19/1* <l rastro de tu san're en la nie"e: el "erano feli! de la senora For&es* Bo'ot\: D* 3ampier <ditores, 19/;* Ji"a 9andino* Mana'ua: Nue"a Nicara'ua, 19/;* <l secuestro 6screenpla$8* 9alamanca: ([Fue!, 19/;* <l asalto: el operati"o con el F9(N se lan!o al mundo, Nue"a Nicara'ua, 19/3* <rendira 6screenpla$ from his own no"ella8, N* *, (es Films du 7rian'le, 19/3* <l amor en los tiempos de c[lera* Bo'ot\: G"eIa Ne'ra, 19/Y* <l 'eneral en su la&erinto* Bo'ot\: G"eIa Ne'ra, 19/9* 3oce cuentos pere'rinos* Bo'ot\: G"eIa Ne'ra, 199;* 0n <n'lish (eaf 9torm, and Gther 9tories* 6(a hoIarasca* 19YY8 7ransl* &$ +* Ra&assa* (ondon: ,ape, 19C;P New Zor@: .arper j Row, 19C;, 19C9P an Boo@s, 19C9* No Gne Drites to the ,olonel* 6<l coronel no tiene Fuien le escri&a* 19:1*8 7ransl* &$* 9* Bernstein* (ondon: ,ape, 19C1P New Zor@: .arper j Row, 19C9* An <"il .our* 6(a mala hora* 19:;*8 7ransl* &$ +* Ra&assa* New Zor@: .arper j Row, 19C9* Bi' MamaLs Funeral* 6(os funerales de la Mam\ +rande*19:;*8 6 u&lished with: No Gne Drites to the ,olonel* 9ee a&o"e*8 Gne .undred Zears of 9olitude* 6,ien anos de soledad* 19:C*8 7ransl* &$ +* Ra&assa* New Zor@: .arper j Row, 19C0P an Boo@s, 19/0* 0nnocent <r-ndira, and Gther 9tories* 6(a increi&le $ triste historia de la c\ndida <r-ndira*** 19C;8* 7ransl* &$ +* Ra&assa* New Zor@: .arper j Row, 19C/, 19C9P an Boo@s, 19/1* 7he Autumn of the atriarch* 6<l otono del patriarca, 19CY*8 7ransl* &$ +* Ra&assa* New Zor@: .arper j Row, 19C:P an Boo@s, 19C/* ,hronicle of a 3eath Foretold* 6,r[nica de una muerte anunciada, 19/1*8 7ransl* &$ +* Ra&assa* (ondon: ,ape, 19/;* ,ollected 9tories* New Zor@: .arper, 19/4P re"ised edition, (ondon: ,ape, 1991* (o"e in the 7ime of ,holera 6<l amor en los tiempos de c[lera8* 7ransl* &$ <* +rossman* New Zor@: =nopf and (ondon: ,ape, 19//* 3iatri&e of (o"e A'ainst a 9eated Man 6pla$ produced in Buenos Aires, 19//8* ,ollected No"ellas* New Zor@: .arper ,ollins, 1990* 7he +eneral in his (a&$rinth 6<l 'eneral en su la&erinto8* 7ransl* &$ <* +rossman* New Zor@: =nopf, 1990 and (ondon: ,ape, 1991*
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From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19/151990, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* o 0n his auto&io'raphical &oo@ Ji"ir para contarla 6;00;8 +a&riel +arcka M\rFue! mentions +en4"e as the first town he was sent to* 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #+a&riel +arcka M\rFue! 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19/;AmarFue!*html Nobel Lecture No&el (ecture, / 3ecem&er, 19/; 67ranslation8 ,he 6olitu!e o Latin ')erica Antonio i'afetta, a Florentine na"i'ator who went with Ma'ellan on the first "o$a'e around the world, wrote, upon his passa'e throu'h our southern lands of America, a strictl$ accurate account that nonetheless resem&les a "enture into fantas$* 0n it he recorded that he had seen ho's with na"els on their haunches, clawless &irds whose hens laid e''s on the &ac@s of their mates, and others still, resem&lin' ton'ueless pelicans, with &ea@s li@e spoons* .e wrote of ha"in' seen a mis&e'otten creature with the head and ears of a mule, a camelLs &od$, the le's of a deer and the whinn$ of a horse* .e descri&ed how the first nati"e encountered in ata'onia was confronted with a mirror, whereupon that impassioned 'iant lost his senses to the terror of his own ima'e* 7his short and fascinatin' &oo@, which e"en then contained the seeds of our present5da$ no"els, is &$ no means the most sta''erin' account of our realit$ in that a'e* 7he ,hronicles of the 0ndies left us countless others* <ldorado, our so a"idl$ sou'ht and illusor$ land, appeared on numerous maps for man$ a lon' $ear, shiftin' its place and form to suit the fantas$ of carto'raphers* 0n his search for the fountain of eternal $outh, the m$thical Al"ar Nmpe! ,a&e!a de Jaca e%plored the north of Me%ico for ei'ht $ears, in a deluded e%pedition whose mem&ers de"oured each other and onl$ fi"e of whom returned, of the si% hundred who had underta@en it* Gne of the man$ unfathomed m$steries of that a'e is that of the ele"en thousand mules, each loaded with one hundred pounds of 'old, that left ,u!co one da$ to pa$ the ransom of Atahualpa and ne"er reached their destination* 9u&seFuentl$, in colonial times, hens were sold in ,arta'ena de 0ndias, that had &een raised on allu"ial land and whose 'i!!ards contained tin$ lumps of 'old* Gne founderLs lust for 'old &eset us until recentl$* As late as the last centur$, a +erman mission appointed to stud$ the construction of an interoceanic railroad across the 0sthmus of anama concluded that the proIect was feasi&le on one condition: that the rails not &e made of iron, which was scarce in the re'ion, &ut of 'old* Gur independence from 9panish domination did not put us &e$ond the reach of madness* +eneral Antonio ([pe! de 9antana, three times dictator of Me%ico, held a ma'nificent funeral for the ri'ht le' he had lost in the so5called astr$ Dar* +eneral +a&riel +arcka Moreno ruled <cuador for si%teen $ears as an a&solute monarchP at his wa@e, the corpse was seated on the presidential chair, dec@ed out in full5dress uniform and a protecti"e la$er of medals* +eneral Ma%imiliano .ern\nde! Martkne!, the theosophical despot of <l 9al"ador who had thirt$ thousand peasants slau'htered in a sa"a'e massacre, in"ented a pendulum to detect poison in his food, and had streetlamps draped in red paper to defeat an epidemic of scarlet fe"er* 7he statue to +eneral Francisco Mora!qn erected in the main sFuare of 7e'uci'alpa is actuall$ one of Marshal Ne$, purchased at a aris warehouse of second5hand sculptures*
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<le"en $ears a'o, the ,hilean a&lo Neruda, one of the outstandin' poets of our time, enli'htened this audience with his word* 9ince then, the <uropeans of 'ood will 5 and sometimes those of &ad, as well 5 ha"e &een struc@, with e"er 'reater force, &$ the unearthl$ tidin's of (atin America, that &oundless realm of haunted men and historic women, whose unendin' o&stinac$ &lurs into le'end* De ha"e not had a momentLs rest* A promethean president, entrenched in his &urnin' palace, died fi'htin' an entire arm$, aloneP and two suspicious airplane accidents, $et to &e e%plained, cut short the life of another 'reat5hearted president and that of a democratic soldier who had re"i"ed the di'nit$ of his people* 7here ha"e &een fi"e wars and se"enteen militar$ coupsP there emer'ed a dia&olic dictator who is carr$in' out, in +odLs name, the first (atin American ethnocide of our time* 0n the meantime, twent$ million (atin American children died &efore the a'e of one 5 more than ha"e &een &orn in <urope since 19C0* 7hose missin' &ecause of repression num&er nearl$ one hundred and twent$ thousand, which is as if no one could account for all the inha&itants of Rppsala* Numerous women arrested while pre'nant ha"e 'i"en &irth in Ar'entine prisons, $et no&od$ @nows the wherea&outs and identit$ of their children who were furti"el$ adopted or sent to an orphana'e &$ order of the militar$ authorities* Because the$ tried to chan'e this state of thin's, nearl$ two hundred thousand men and women ha"e died throu'hout the continent, and o"er one hundred thousand ha"e lost their li"es in three small and ill5fated countries of ,entral America: Nicara'ua, <l 9al"ador and +uatemala* 0f this had happened in the Rnited 9tates, the correspondin' fi'ure would &e that of one million si% hundred thousand "iolent deaths in four $ears* Gne million people ha"e fled ,hile, a countr$ with a tradition of hospitalit$ 5 that is, ten per cent of its population* Rru'ua$, a tin$ nation of two and a half million inha&itants which considered itself the continentLs most ci"ili!ed countr$, has lost to e%ile one out of e"er$ fi"e citi!ens* 9ince 19C9, the ci"il war in <l 9al"ador has produced almost one refu'ee e"er$ twent$ minutes* 7he countr$ that could &e formed of all the e%iles and forced emi'rants of (atin America would ha"e a population lar'er than that of Norwa$* 0 dare to thin@ that it is this outsi!ed realit$, and not Iust its literar$ e%pression, that has deser"ed the attention of the 9wedish Academ$ of (etters* A realit$ not of paper, &ut one that li"es within us and determines each instant of our countless dail$ deaths, and that nourishes a source of insatia&le creati"it$, full of sorrow and &eaut$, of which this ro"in' and nostal'ic ,olom&ian is &ut one cipher more, sin'led out &$ fortune* oets and &e''ars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that un&ridled realit$, we ha"e had to as@ &ut little of ima'ination, for our crucial pro&lem has &een a lac@ of con"entional means to render our li"es &elie"a&le* 7his, m$ friends, is the cru% of our solitude* And if these difficulties, whose essence we share, hinder us, it is understanda&le that the rational talents on this side of the world, e%alted in the contemplation of their own cultures, should ha"e found themsel"es without "alid means to interpret us* 0t is onl$ natural that the$ insist on measurin' us with the $ardstic@ that the$ use for themsel"es, for'ettin' that the ra"a'es of life are not the same for all, and that the Fuest of our own identit$ is Iust as arduous and &lood$ for us as it was for them* 7he interpretation of our realit$ throu'h patterns not our own, ser"es onl$ to ma@e us e"er more un@nown, e"er less free, e"er more solitar$* Jenera&le <urope would perhaps &e more percepti"e if it tried to see us in its own past* 0f onl$ it recalled that (ondon too@ three hundred $ears to &uild its first cit$ wall, and three hundred $ears more to acFuire a &ishopP that Rome la&ored in a 'loom of uncertaint$ for twent$ centuries, until an <truscan =in' anchored it in histor$P and that the peaceful 9wiss of toda$, who feast us with their mild cheeses and apathetic watches, &loodied <urope as soldiers of fortune, as late as the 9i%teenth ,entur$* <"en at the hei'ht of the Renaissance, twel"e thousand lansFuenets in the pa$ of the imperial armies sac@ed and de"astated Rome and put ei'ht thousand of its inha&itants to the sword* 0 do not mean to em&od$ the illusions of 7onio =rg'er, whose dreams of unitin' a chaste north to a
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passionate south were e%alted here, fift$5three $ears a'o, &$ 7homas Mann* But 0 do &elie"e that those clear5si'hted <uropeans who stru''le, here as well, for a more Iust and humane homeland, could help us far &etter if the$ reconsidered their wa$ of seein' us* 9olidarit$ with our dreams will not ma@e us feel less alone, as lon' as it is not translated into concrete acts of le'itimate support for all the peoples that assume the illusion of ha"in' a life of their own in the distri&ution of the world* (atin America neither wants, nor has an$ reason, to &e a pawn without a will of its ownP nor is it merel$ wishful thin@in' that its Fuest for independence and ori'inalit$ should &ecome a Destern aspiration* .owe"er, the na"i'ational ad"ances that ha"e narrowed such distances &etween our Americas and <urope seem, con"ersel$, to ha"e accentuated our cultural remoteness* Dh$ is the ori'inalit$ so readil$ 'ranted us in literature so mistrustfull$ denied us in our difficult attempts at social chan'eE Dh$ thin@ that the social Iustice sou'ht &$ pro'ressi"e <uropeans for their own countries cannot also &e a 'oal for (atin America, with different methods for dissimilar conditionsE No: the immeasura&le "iolence and pain of our histor$ are the result of a'e5old ineFuities and untold &itterness, and not a conspirac$ plotted three thousand lea'ues from our home* But man$ <uropean leaders and thin@ers ha"e thou'ht so, with the childishness of old5timers who ha"e for'otten the fruitful e%cess of their $outh as if it were impossi&le to find another destin$ than to li"e at the merc$ of the two 'reat masters of the world* 7his, m$ friends, is the "er$ scale of our solitude* 0n spite of this, to oppression, plunderin' and a&andonment, we respond with life* Neither floods nor pla'ues, famines nor catacl$sms, nor e"en the eternal wars of centur$ upon centur$, ha"e &een a&le to su&due the persistent ad"anta'e of life o"er death* An ad"anta'e that 'rows and Fuic@ens: e"er$ $ear, there are se"ent$5four million more &irths than deaths, a sufficient num&er of new li"es to multipl$, each $ear, the population of New Zor@ se"enfold* Most of these &irths occur in the countries of least resources 5 includin', of course, those of (atin America* ,on"ersel$, the most prosperous countries ha"e succeeded in accumulatin' powers of destruction such as to annihilate, a hundred times o"er, not onl$ all the human &ein's that ha"e e%isted to this da$, &ut also the totalit$ of all li"in' &ein's that ha"e e"er drawn &reath on this planet of misfortune* Gn a da$ li@e toda$, m$ master Dilliam Faul@ner said, #0 decline to accept the end of man#* 0 would fall unworth$ of standin' in this place that was his, if 0 were not full$ aware that the colossal tra'ed$ he refused to reco'ni!e thirt$5two $ears a'o is now, for the first time since the &e'innin' of humanit$, nothin' more than a simple scientific possi&ilit$* Faced with this awesome realit$ that must ha"e seemed a mere utopia throu'h all of human time, we, the in"entors of tales, who will &elie"e an$thin', feel entitled to &elie"e that it is not $et too late to en'a'e in the creation of the opposite utopia* A new and sweepin' utopia of life, where no one will &e a&le to decide for others how the$ die, where lo"e will pro"e true and happiness &e possi&le, and where the races condemned to one hundred $ears of solitude will ha"e, at last and fore"er, a second opportunit$ on earth* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19/151990, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993 ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19/; 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #+a&riel +arcka M\rFue! 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19/;AmarFue!5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ,oni Morrison

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7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 1993 was awarded to 7oni Morrison #who in no"els characteri!ed &$ "isionar$ force and poetic import, 'i"es life to an essential aspect of American realit$#* Born: 1/ Fe&ruar$ 1931, (orain, G., R9A Residence at the time of the award: R9A ri!e moti"ation: #who in no"els characteri!ed &$ "isionar$ force and poetic import, 'i"es life to an essential aspect of American realit$# (an'ua'e: <n'lish Biography Born ,hloe Anthon$ Dofford, in 1931 in (orain 6Ghio8, the second of four children in a &lac@ wor@in'5class famil$* 3ispla$ed an earl$ interest in literature* 9tudied humanities at .oward and ,ornell Rni"ersities, followed &$ an academic career at 7e%as 9outhern Rni"ersit$, .oward Rni"ersit$, Zale, and since 19/9, a chair at rinceton Rni"ersit$* 9he has also wor@ed as an editor for Random .ouse, a critic, and 'i"en numerous pu&lic lectures, speciali!in' in African5American literature* 9he made her de&ut as a no"elist in 19C0, soon 'ainin' the attention of &oth critics and a wider audience for her epic power, unerrin' ear for dialo'ue, and her poeticall$5char'ed and richl$5e%pressi"e depictions of Blac@ America* A mem&er since 19/1 of the American Academ$ of Arts and (etters, she has &een awarded a num&er of literar$ distinctions, amon' them the ulit!er ri!e in 19//* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19915199Y, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 199C 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1993 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #7oni Morrison 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1993Amorrison*html Nobel Lecture No&el (ecture 3ecem&er C, 1993 #Gnce upon a time there was an old woman* Blind &ut wise*# Gr was it an old manE A 'uru, perhaps* Gr a 'riot soothin' restless children* 0 ha"e heard this stor$, or one e%actl$ li@e it, in the lore of se"eral cultures* #Gnce upon a time there was an old woman* Blind* Dise*# 0n the "ersion 0 @now the woman is the dau'hter of sla"es, &lac@, American, and li"es alone in a small house outside of town* .er reputation for wisdom is without peer and without Fuestion* Amon' her people she is &oth the law and its trans'ression* 7he honor she is paid and the awe in which she is held reach &e$ond her nei'h&orhood to places far awa$P to the cit$ where the intelli'ence of rural prophets is the source of much amusement* Gne da$ the woman is "isited &$ some $oun' people who seem to &e &ent on dispro"in' her clair"o$ance and showin' her up for the fraud the$ &elie"e she is* 7heir plan is simple: the$ enter her house and as@ the one Fuestion the answer to which rides solel$ on her difference from them, a
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difference the$ re'ard as a profound disa&ilit$: her &lindness* 7he$ stand &efore her, and one of them sa$s, #Gld woman, 0 hold in m$ hand a &ird* 7ell me whether it is li"in' or dead*# 9he does not answer, and the Fuestion is repeated* #0s the &ird 0 am holdin' li"in' or deadE# 9till she doesnLt answer* 9he is &lind and cannot see her "isitors, let alone what is in their hands* 9he does not @now their color, 'ender or homeland* 9he onl$ @nows their moti"e* 7he old womanLs silence is so lon', the $oun' people ha"e trou&le holdin' their lau'hter* Finall$ she spea@s and her "oice is soft &ut stern* #0 donLt @now#, she sa$s* #0 donLt @now whether the &ird $ou are holdin' is dead or ali"e, &ut what 0 do @now is that it is in $our hands* 0t is in $our hands*# .er answer can &e ta@en to mean: if it is dead, $ou ha"e either found it that wa$ or $ou ha"e @illed it* 0f it is ali"e, $ou can still @ill it* Dhether it is to sta$ ali"e, it is $our decision* Dhate"er the case, it is $our responsi&ilit$* For paradin' their power and her helplessness, the $oun' "isitors are reprimanded, told the$ are responsi&le not onl$ for the act of moc@er$ &ut also for the small &undle of life sacrificed to achie"e its aims* 7he &lind woman shifts attention awa$ from assertions of power to the instrument throu'h which that power is e%ercised* 9peculation on what 6other than its own frail &od$8 that &ird5in5the5hand mi'ht si'nif$ has alwa$s &een attracti"e to me, &ut especiall$ so now thin@in', as 0 ha"e &een, a&out the wor@ 0 do that has &rou'ht me to this compan$* 9o 0 choose to read the &ird as lan'ua'e and the woman as a practiced writer* 9he is worried a&out how the lan'ua'e she dreams in, 'i"en to her at &irth, is handled, put into ser"ice, e"en withheld from her for certain nefarious purposes* Bein' a writer she thin@s of lan'ua'e partl$ as a s$stem, partl$ as a li"in' thin' o"er which one has control, &ut mostl$ as a'enc$ 5 as an act with conseFuences* 9o the Fuestion the children put to her: #0s it li"in' or deadE# is not unreal &ecause she thin@s of lan'ua'e as suscepti&le to death, erasureP certainl$ imperiled and sal"a'ea&le onl$ &$ an effort of the will* 9he &elie"es that if the &ird in the hands of her "isitors is dead the custodians are responsi&le for the corpse* For her a dead lan'ua'e is not onl$ one no lon'er spo@en or written, it is un$ieldin' lan'ua'e content to admire its own paral$sis* (i@e statist lan'ua'e, censored and censorin'* Ruthless in its policin' duties, it has no desire or purpose other than maintainin' the free ran'e of its own narcotic narcissism, its own e%clusi"it$ and dominance* .owe"er mori&und, it is not without effect for it acti"el$ thwarts the intellect, stalls conscience, suppresses human potential* Rnrecepti"e to interro'ation, it cannot form or tolerate new ideas, shape other thou'hts, tell another stor$, fill &afflin' silences* Gfficial lan'ua'e smither$ed to sanction i'norance and preser"e pri"ile'e is a suit of armor polished to shoc@in' 'litter, a hus@ from which the @ni'ht departed lon' a'o* Zet there it is: dum&, predator$, sentimental* <%citin' re"erence in schoolchildren, pro"idin' shelter for despots, summonin' false memories of sta&ilit$, harmon$ amon' the pu&lic* 9he is con"inced that when lan'ua'e dies, out of carelessness, disuse, indifference and a&sence of esteem, or @illed &$ fiat, not onl$ she herself, &ut all users and ma@ers are accounta&le for its demise* 0n her countr$ children ha"e &itten their ton'ues off and use &ullets instead to iterate the "oice of speechlessness, of disa&led and disa&lin' lan'ua'e, of lan'ua'e adults ha"e a&andoned alto'ether as a de"ice for 'rapplin' with meanin', pro"idin' 'uidance, or e%pressin' lo"e* But she @nows ton'ue5suicide is not onl$ the choice of children* 0t is common amon' the infantile heads of state and power merchants whose e"acuated lan'ua'e lea"es them with no access to what is left of their human instincts for the$ spea@ onl$ to those who o&e$, or in order to force o&edience* 7he s$stematic lootin' of lan'ua'e can &e reco'ni!ed &$ the tendenc$ of its users to for'o its
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nuanced, comple%, mid5wifer$ properties for menace and su&Iu'ation* Gppressi"e lan'ua'e does more than represent "iolenceP it is "iolenceP does more than represent the limits of @nowled'eP it limits @nowled'e* Dhether it is o&scurin' state lan'ua'e or the fau%5lan'ua'e of mindless mediaP whether it is the proud &ut calcified lan'ua'e of the academ$ or the commodit$ dri"en lan'ua'e of scienceP whether it is the mali'n lan'ua'e of law5without5ethics, or lan'ua'e desi'ned for the estran'ement of minorities, hidin' its racist plunder in its literar$ chee@ 5 it must &e reIected, altered and e%posed* 0t is the lan'ua'e that drin@s &lood, laps "ulnera&ilities, tuc@s its fascist &oots under crinolines of respecta&ilit$ and patriotism as it mo"es relentlessl$ toward the &ottom line and the &ottomed5out mind* 9e%ist lan'ua'e, racist lan'ua'e, theistic lan'ua'e 5 all are t$pical of the policin' lan'ua'es of master$, and cannot, do not permit new @nowled'e or encoura'e the mutual e%chan'e of ideas* 7he old woman is @eenl$ aware that no intellectual mercenar$, nor insatia&le dictator, no paid5for politician or dema'o'ueP no counterfeit Iournalist would &e persuaded &$ her thou'hts* 7here is and will &e rousin' lan'ua'e to @eep citi!ens armed and armin'P slau'htered and slau'hterin' in the malls, courthouses, post offices, pla$'rounds, &edrooms and &oule"ardsP stirrin', memoriali!in' lan'ua'e to mas@ the pit$ and waste of needless death* 7here will &e more diplomatic lan'ua'e to countenance rape, torture, assassination* 7here is and will &e more seducti"e, mutant lan'ua'e desi'ned to throttle women, to pac@ their throats li@e pat-5producin' 'eese with their own unsa$a&le, trans'ressi"e wordsP there will &e more of the lan'ua'e of sur"eillance dis'uised as researchP of politics and histor$ calculated to render the sufferin' of millions muteP lan'ua'e 'lamori!ed to thrill the dissatisfied and &ereft into assaultin' their nei'h&orsP arro'ant pseudo5empirical lan'ua'e crafted to loc@ creati"e people into ca'es of inferiorit$ and hopelessness* Rnderneath the eloFuence, the 'lamor, the scholarl$ associations, howe"er stirrin' or seducti"e, the heart of such lan'ua'e is lan'uishin', or perhaps not &eatin' at all 5 if the &ird is alread$ dead* 9he has thou'ht a&out what could ha"e &een the intellectual histor$ of an$ discipline if it had not insisted upon, or &een forced into, the waste of time and life that rationali!ations for and representations of dominance reFuired 5 lethal discourses of e%clusion &loc@in' access to co'nition for &oth the e%cluder and the e%cluded* 7he con"entional wisdom of the 7ower of Ba&el stor$ is that the collapse was a misfortune* 7hat it was the distraction, or the wei'ht of man$ lan'ua'es that precipitated the towerLs failed architecture* 7hat one monolithic lan'ua'e would ha"e e%pedited the &uildin' and hea"en would ha"e &een reached* Dhose hea"en, she wondersE And what @indE erhaps the achie"ement of aradise was premature, a little hast$ if no one could ta@e the time to understand other lan'ua'es, other "iews, other narrati"es period* .ad the$, the hea"en the$ ima'ined mi'ht ha"e &een found at their feet* ,omplicated, demandin', $es, &ut a "iew of hea"en as lifeP not hea"en as post5life* 9he would not want to lea"e her $oun' "isitors with the impression that lan'ua'e should &e forced to sta$ ali"e merel$ to &e* 7he "italit$ of lan'ua'e lies in its a&ilit$ to limn the actual, ima'ined and possi&le li"es of its spea@ers, readers, writers* Althou'h its poise is sometimes in displacin' e%perience it is not a su&stitute for it* 0t arcs toward the place where meanin' ma$ lie* Dhen a resident of the Rnited 9tates thou'ht a&out the 'ra"e$ard his countr$ had &ecome, and said, #7he world will little note nor lon' remem&er what we sa$ here* But it will ne"er for'et what the$ did here,# his simple words are e%hilaratin' in their life5sustainin' properties &ecause the$ refused to encapsulate the realit$ of :00, 000 dead men in a catacl$smic race war* Refusin' to monumentali!e, disdainin' the #final word#, the precise #summin' up#, ac@nowled'in' their #poor power to add or detract#, his words si'nal deference to the uncaptura&ilit$ of the life it mourns* 0t is the deference that mo"es her, that reco'nition that lan'ua'e can ne"er li"e up to life once and for all* Nor should it* (an'ua'e can ne"er #pin down# sla"er$, 'enocide, war* Nor should it $earn for the arro'ance to &e a&le to do so* 0ts force, its felicit$ is in its reach toward the ineffa&le*
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Be it 'rand or slender, &urrowin', &lastin', or refusin' to sanctif$P whether it lau'hs out loud or is a cr$ without an alpha&et, the choice word, the chosen silence, unmolested lan'ua'e sur'es toward @nowled'e, not its destruction* But who does not @now of literature &anned &ecause it is interro'ati"eP discredited &ecause it is criticalP erased &ecause alternateE And how man$ are outra'ed &$ the thou'ht of a self5ra"a'ed ton'ueE Dord5wor@ is su&lime, she thin@s, &ecause it is 'enerati"eP it ma@es meanin' that secures our difference, our human difference 5 the wa$ in which we are li@e no other life* De die* 7hat ma$ &e the meanin' of life* But we do lan'ua'e* 7hat ma$ &e the measure of our li"es* #Gnce upon a time, ***# "isitors as@ an old woman a Fuestion* Dho are the$, these childrenE Dhat did the$ ma@e of that encounterE Dhat did the$ hear in those final words: #7he &ird is in $our hands#E A sentence that 'estures towards possi&ilit$ or one that drops a latchE erhaps what the children heard was #0tLs not m$ pro&lem* 0 am old, female, &lac@, &lind* Dhat wisdom 0 ha"e now is in @nowin' 0 cannot help $ou* 7he future of lan'ua'e is $ours*# 7he$ stand there* 9uppose nothin' was in their handsE 9uppose the "isit was onl$ a ruse, a tric@ to 'et to &e spo@en to, ta@en seriousl$ as the$ ha"e not &een &eforeE A chance to interrupt, to "iolate the adult world, its miasma of discourse a&out them, for them, &ut ne"er to themE Rr'ent Fuestions are at sta@e, includin' the one the$ ha"e as@ed: #0s the &ird we hold li"in' or deadE# erhaps the Fuestion meant: #,ould someone tell us what is lifeE Dhat is deathE# No tric@ at allP no silliness* A strai'htforward Fuestion worth$ of the attention of a wise one* An old one* And if the old and wise who ha"e li"ed life and faced death cannot descri&e either, who canE But she does notP she @eeps her secretP her 'ood opinion of herselfP her 'nomic pronouncementsP her art without commitment* 9he @eeps her distance, enforces it and retreats into the sin'ularit$ of isolation, in sophisticated, pri"ile'ed space* Nothin', no word follows her declaration of transfer* 7hat silence is deep, deeper than the meanin' a"aila&le in the words she has spo@en* 0t shi"ers, this silence, and the children, anno$ed, fill it with lan'ua'e in"ented on the spot* #0s there no speech,# the$ as@ her, #no words $ou can 'i"e us that helps us &rea@ throu'h $our dossier of failuresE 7hrou'h the education $ou ha"e Iust 'i"en us that is no education at all &ecause we are pa$in' close attention to what $ou ha"e done as well as to what $ou ha"e saidE 7o the &arrier $ou ha"e erected &etween 'enerosit$ and wisdomE #De ha"e no &ird in our hands, li"in' or dead* De ha"e onl$ $ou and our important Fuestion* 0s the nothin' in our hands somethin' $ou could not &ear to contemplate, to e"en 'uessE 3onLt $ou remem&er &ein' $oun' when lan'ua'e was ma'ic without meanin'E Dhen what $ou could sa$, could not meanE Dhen the in"isi&le was what ima'ination stro"e to seeE Dhen Fuestions and demands for answers &urned so &ri'htl$ $ou trem&led with fur$ at not @nowin'E #3o we ha"e to &e'in consciousness with a &attle heroines and heroes li@e $ou ha"e alread$ fou'ht and lost lea"in' us with nothin' in our hands e%cept what $ou ha"e ima'ined is thereE Zour answer is artful, &ut its artfulness em&arrasses us and ou'ht to em&arrass $ou* Zour answer is indecent in its self5con'ratulation* A made5for5tele"ision script that ma@es no sense if there is nothin' in our hands* #Dh$ didnLt $ou reach out, touch us with $our soft fin'ers, dela$ the sound &ite, the lesson, until $ou @new who we wereE 3id $ou so despise our tric@, our modus operandi $ou could not see that
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we were &affled a&out how to 'et $our attentionE De are $oun'* Rnripe* De ha"e heard all our short li"es that we ha"e to &e responsi&le* Dhat could that possi&l$ mean in the catastrophe this world has &ecomeP where, as a poet said, #nothin' needs to &e e%posed since it is alread$ &arefaced*# Gur inheritance is an affront* Zou want us to ha"e $our old, &lan@ e$es and see onl$ cruelt$ and mediocrit$* 3o $ou thin@ we are stupid enou'h to perIure oursel"es a'ain and a'ain with the fiction of nationhoodE .ow dare $ou tal@ to us of dut$ when we stand waist deep in the to%in of $our pastE #Zou tri"iali!e us and tri"iali!e the &ird that is not in our hands* 0s there no conte%t for our li"esE No son', no literature, no poem full of "itamins, no histor$ connected to e%perience that $ou can pass alon' to help us start stron'E Zou are an adult* 7he old one, the wise one* 9top thin@in' a&out sa"in' $our face* 7hin@ of our li"es and tell us $our particulari!ed world* Ma@e up a stor$* Narrati"e is radical, creatin' us at the "er$ moment it is &ein' created* De will not &lame $ou if $our reach e%ceeds $our 'raspP if lo"e so i'nites $our words the$ 'o down in flames and nothin' is left &ut their scald* Gr if, with the reticence of a sur'eonLs hands, $our words suture onl$ the places where &lood mi'ht flow* De @now $ou can ne"er do it properl$ 5 once and for all* assion is ne"er enou'hP neither is s@ill* But tr$* For our sa@e and $ours for'et $our name in the streetP tell us what the world has &een to $ou in the dar@ places and in the li'ht* 3onLt tell us what to &elie"e, what to fear* 9how us &elief s wide s@irt and the stitch that unra"els fearLs caul* Zou, old woman, &lessed with &lindness, can spea@ the lan'ua'e that tells us what onl$ lan'ua'e can: how to see without pictures* (an'ua'e alone protects us from the scariness of thin's with no names* (an'ua'e alone is meditation* #7ell us what it is to &e a woman so that we ma$ @now what it is to &e a man* Dhat mo"es at the mar'in* Dhat it is to ha"e no home in this place* 7o &e set adrift from the one $ou @new* Dhat it is to li"e at the ed'e of towns that cannot &ear $our compan$* #7ell us a&out ships turned awa$ from shorelines at <aster, placenta in a field* 7ell us a&out a wa'onload of sla"es, how the$ san' so softl$ their &reath was indistin'uisha&le from the fallin' snow* .ow the$ @new from the hunch of the nearest shoulder that the ne%t stop would &e their last* .ow, with hands pra$ered in their se%, the$ thou'ht of heat, then sun* (iftin' their faces as thou'h is was there for the ta@in'* 7urnin' as thou'h there for the ta@in'* 7he$ stop at an inn* 7he dri"er and his mate 'o in with the lamp lea"in' them hummin' in the dar@* 7he horseLs "oid steams into the snow &eneath its hoo"es and its hiss and melt are the en"$ of the free!in' sla"es* #7he inn door opens: a 'irl and a &o$ step awa$ from its li'ht* 7he$ clim& into the wa'on &ed* 7he &o$ will ha"e a 'un in three $ears, &ut now he carries a lamp and a Iu' of warm cider* 7he$ pass it from mouth to mouth* 7he 'irl offers &read, pieces of meat and somethin' more: a 'lance into the e$es of the one she ser"es* Gne helpin' for each man, two for each woman* And a loo@* 7he$ loo@ &ac@* 7he ne%t stop will &e their last* But not this one* 7his one is warmed*# 0tLs Fuiet a'ain when the children finish spea@in', until the woman &rea@s into the silence* #Finall$#, she sa$s, #0 trust $ou now* 0 trust $ou with the &ird that is not in $our hands &ecause $ou ha"e trul$ cau'ht it* (oo@* .ow lo"el$ it is, this thin' we ha"e done 5 to'ether*# From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19915199Y, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 199C o 3isclaimer <"er$ effort has &een made &$ the pu&lisher to credit or'ani!ations and indi"iduals with re'ard to the suppl$ of audio files* lease notif$ the pu&lishers re'ardin' corrections* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1993
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7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #7oni Morrison 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1993Amorrison5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1erta M.ller Born: 1C Au'ust 19Y3, Nit!@$dorf, Banat, Romania Residence at the time of the award: +erman$ ri!e moti"ation: #who, with the concentration of poetr$ and the fran@ness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed# (an'ua'e: +erman Biography .erta Mcller was &orn in 19Y3 in Nit!@$dorf, a +erman5spea@in' "illa'e in the Banat, a re'ion that had passed from the Austro5.un'arian <mpire to Romania in the wa@e of the First Dorld Dar* 3urin' the 9econd Dorld Dar, Romania had allied with the National59ocialist +erman Reich, and li@e man$ of the Romanian5+ermans, .erta McllerLs father "olunteered for .itlerLs Daffen599* 9hortl$ &efore the end of the war Romania chan'ed positions, and in )anuar$ 194Y, while the fi'htin' was still on, 9talin ordered all Romanian5+ermans &etween the a'es of 1C and 4Y to &e deported to the 9o"iet Rnion to perform fi"e $ears of forced la&or* Amon' them was .erta McllerLs mother* From 19C3 to 19C:, .erta Mcller studied Romanian and +erman literature in 7imiroara, where she &efriended authors from the #A@tions'ruppe Banat,# a 'roup of writers opposed to the ,eaurescu dictatorship and the official literature of the rulin' socialist part$* For .erta Mcller, her fatherLs ser"ice as an 99 soldier in the # an!er 3i"ision Frunds&er'# pro"ided a fri'htenin' e%ample of how indi"iduals can &e corrupted &$ ideolo'$ and opportunism H and inoculated her at a $oun' a'e a'ainst similar structures within the communist ideolo'$* Rpon completin' her studies, .erta Mcller wor@ed as a translator in a machine factor$ in 7imiroara* 0n 19C9 she was approached &$ the Romanian secret police 69ecuritate8, &ut she refused to sp$ on her collea'ues and forei'n 'uests, and as a result she lost her Io& and could onl$ find occasional emplo$ment* .er first &oo@ Niederun'en 6<n'lish title: Nadirs8 dates from this period, althou'h it wasnLt until 19/; that a censored "ersion appeared in Romania* 0n 19/4 she pu&lished a collection of short prose in Romania entitled 3rcc@ender 7an'oP that same $ear an uncensored &ut a&rid'ed edition of Niederun'en came out in +erman$, ma@in' her name as a writer o"erni'ht* 7old from the perspecti"e of a $oun' 'irl, with all her fantasies and fears, the &oo@ depicts the confinement, corruption, intolerance, and oppression of a 9wa&ian "illa'e in the Banat* 0n the +erman media, .erta Mcller openl$ critici!ed the communist dictatorship: as a result she was prohi&ited from pu&lishin' and repeatedl$ summoned &$ the 9ecuritate for interro'ations, where she was confronted with a&surd accusations, re"iled as a prostitute, char'ed with &lac@ mar@eteerin', and threatened with death* 0n 19/C she emi'rated to +erman$ to'ether with writer Richard Da'ner, her hus&and at the time* 9ince then she has li"ed in Berlin* <"en there, howe"er, she was persecuted and threatened &$ the 9ecuritate, in the perfidious manner descri&ed in her ;009 &oo@ ,ristina und ihre Attrappe which is &ased on materials in her secret police file the author was a&le to o&tain* 7he dossier re"ealed that onl$ her reputation in +erman$ protected her from a trial that had alread$ &een prepared, on the trumped5up char'e of &ein' a forei'n a'ent* 0n the first &oo@ she wrote in +erman$, which appeared in 19/9 as Reisende auf einem Bein
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6<n'lish title: 7ra"elin' on Gne (e'8, she portra$ed the difficulties of findin' a foothold in stran'e surroundin's* Gther no"els followed a&out dail$ life in a dictatorship, difficult friendships, and the lon' arm of the secret police reachin' into the pri"ate sphere 5 such as her 1994 &oo@ .er!tier 6<n'lish title: 7he (and of +reen lums8 or the 199C .eute wSr ich mir lie&er nicht &e'e'net 6<n'lish title: 7he Appointment8* Further pu&lications include essa$s on her own poetics 63er =gni' "ernei't sich und tgtet, ;0038 and se"eral "olumes of colla'es com&inin' ima'es and te%t, most recentl$ 3ie &lassen .erren mit den Mo@@atassen 6;00Y8* 0n ;009 she pu&lished the no"el Atemschau@el, a&out the deportation of the Romanian5+erman minorit$ to the 9o"iet Rnion* Gri'inall$ she wanted to write this no"el to'ether with the poet Gs@ar astior, who himself had &een deported for fi"e $ears of forced la&or in what is now R@raine* 0t is his detailed recollections that pro"ide the &asis of the no"el* Dhile the$ were still in the preparator$ phase, Gs@ar astior died, and .erta Mcller was forced to write the &oo@ alone* Atemschau@el is not onl$ a mo"in' depiction of the un@nown deportation of the Romanian5 +ermansP in the "oice of the prota'onist (eo Au&er', it is also .erta McllerLs literar$ monument to Gs@ar astior* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;009, <ditor =arl +randin, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;010 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;009 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #.erta Mcller 5 Bio'raphical#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;009Amuller*html 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;009 .erta Mcller .erta Mcller deli"ered her No&el (ecture, C 3ecem&er ;009, at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm* 9he was introduced &$ eter <n'lund, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* 7he lecture was deli"ered in +erman* Nobel Lecture 3ecem&er C, ;009 7very -or! 2no-s so)ething o a vicious circle 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F was the Fuestion m$ mother as@ed me e"er$ mornin', standin' &$ the 'ate to our house, &efore 0 went out onto the street* 0 didnLt ha"e a hand@erchief* And &ecause 0 didnLt, 0 would 'o &ac@ inside and 'et one* 0 ne"er had a hand@erchief &ecause 0 would alwa$s wait for her Fuestion* 7he hand@erchief was proof that m$ mother was loo@in' after me in the mornin'* For the rest of the da$ 0 was on m$ own* 7he Fuestion 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F was an indirect displa$ of affection* An$thin' more direct would ha"e &een em&arrassin' and not somethin' the farmers practiced* (o"e dis'uised itself as a Fuestion* 7hat was the onl$ wa$ it could &e spo@en: matter5of5factl$, in the tone of a command, or the deft maneu"ers used for wor@* 7he &rusFueness of the "oice e"en emphasi!ed the tenderness* <"er$ mornin' 0 went to the 'ate once without a hand@erchief and a second time with a hand@erchief* Gnl$ then would 0 'o out onto the street, as if ha"in' the hand@erchief meant ha"in' m$ mother there, too* 7went$ $ears later 0 had &een on m$ own in the cit$ a lon' time and was wor@in' as a translator in
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a manufacturin' plant* 0 would 'et up at fi"e a*m*P wor@ &e'an at si%5thirt$* <"er$ mornin' the loudspea@er &lared the national anthem into the factor$ $ardP at lunch it was the wor@ersL choruses* But the wor@ers simpl$ sat o"er their meals with empt$ tinplate e$es and hands smeared with oil* 7heir food was wrapped in newspaper* Before the$ ate their &it of fat&ac@, the$ first scraped the newsprint off the rind* 7wo $ears went &$ in the same routine, each da$ li@e the ne%t* 0n the third $ear the routine came to an end* 7hree times in one wee@ a "isitor showed up at m$ office earl$ in the mornin': an enormous, thic@5&oned man with spar@lin' &lue e$esNa colossus from the 9ecuritate* 7he first time he stood there, cursed me, and left* 7he second time he too@ off his wind&rea@er, hun' it on the @e$ to the ca&inet, and sat down* 7hat mornin' 0 had &rou'ht some tulips from home and arran'ed them in a "ase* 7he man loo@ed at me and praised me for &ein' such a @een Iud'e of character* .is "oice was slipper$* 0 felt uneas$* 0 contested his praise and assured him that 0 understood tulips, &ut not people* 7hen he said maliciousl$ that he @new me &etter than 0 @new tulips* After that he draped his wind&rea@er o"er his arm and left* 7he third time he sat down &ut 0 sta$ed standin', &ecause he had set his &riefcase on m$ chair* 0 didnLt dare mo"e it to the floor* .e called me stupid, said 0 was a shir@er and a slut, as corrupted as a stra$ &itch* .e sho"ed the tulips close to the ed'e of the des@, then put an empt$ sheet of paper and a pen in the middle of the des@top* .e $elled at me: Drite* Dithout sittin' down, 0 wrote what he dictatedNm$ name, date of &irth and address* Ne%t, that 0 would tell no one, no matter how close a friend or relati"e, that 0s and then came the terri&le word: cola&ore!N0 am colla&oratin'* At that point 0 stopped writin'* 0 put down the pen and went to the window and loo@ed out onto the dust$ street, unpa"ed and full of potholes, and at all the hump&ac@ed houses* Gn top of e"er$thin' else this street was called 9trada +lorieiN+lor$ 9treet* Gn +lor$ 9treet a cat was sittin' in a &are mul&err$ tree* 0t was the factor$ cat with the torn ear* And a&o"e the cat the earl$ mornin' sun was shinin' li@e a $ellow drum* 0 said: N5am caracterulN0 donLt ha"e the character for this* 0 said it to the street outside* 7he word ,.ARA,7<R made the 9ecuritate man h$sterical* .e tore up the sheet of paper and threw the pieces on the floor* 7hen he pro&a&l$ reali!ed he would ha"e to show his &oss that he had tried to recruit me, &ecause he &ent o"er, pic@ed up the scraps and tossed them into his &riefcase* After that he 'a"e a deep si'h and, defeated, hurled the "ase with the tulips a'ainst the wall* As it shattered it made a 'rindin' sound, as thou'h the air had teeth* Dith his &riefcase under his arm he said Fuietl$: ZouLll &e sorr$, weLll drown $ou in the ri"er* 0 said as if to m$self: 0f 0 si'n that, 0 wonLt &e a&le to li"e with m$self an$more, and 0Lll ha"e to do it on m$ own* 9o itLs &etter if $ou do it* B$ then the office door was alread$ open and he was 'one* And outside on the 9trada +loriei the factor$ cat had Iumped from the tree onto the roof of the &uildin'* Gne &ranch was &ouncin' li@e a trampoline* 7he ne%t da$ the tu' of war &e'an* 7he$ wanted me out of the factor$* <"er$ mornin' at ::30 0 had to report to the director* 7he head of the official la&or union and the part$ secretar$ were also in his office* )ust li@e m$ mother once as@ed: 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F, the director now as@ed e"er$ mornin': .a"e $ou found another Io&E <"er$ mornin' 0 'a"e the same answer: 0Lm not loo@in' for one, 0 li@e it here in the factor$, 0Ld li@e to sta$ here until 0 retire* Gne mornin' 0 came to wor@ and found m$ thic@ dictionaries l$in' on the floor of the hall outside m$ office* 0 opened the doorP an en'ineer was sittin' at m$ des@* .e said: eople are supposed to @noc@ &efore the$ enter a room* 7his is m$ place, $ou ha"e no &usiness here* 0 couldnLt 'o homeP an$ une%cused a&sence would ha"e 'i"en them a prete%t to fire me* 0 no lon'er had an office, so now 0 reall$ had to ma@e sure 0 came to wor@P under no circumstances could 0 fail to &e there* M$ friend, whom 0 told e"er$thin' as we wal@ed home down the pitiful 9trada +loriei, cleared a
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corner of her des@ for me, at first* But one mornin' she stood outside her office and said: 0 canLt let $ou in* <"er$one is sa$in' $ouLre an informer* 7he harassment was passed downP the rumor was set into circulation amon' m$ collea'ues* 7hat was the worst* Zou can defend $ourself a'ainst an attac@, &ut thereLs nothin' $ou can do a'ainst li&el* <"er$ da$ 0 prepared m$self for an$thin', includin' death* But 0 couldnLt cope with this perfid$* No preparation made it &eara&le* (i&el stuffs $ou with filthP $ou suffocate &ecause $ou canLt defend $ourself* 0n the e$es of m$ collea'ues 0 was e%actl$ what 0 had refused to &ecome* 0f 0 had spied on them the$ would ha"e trusted me without the sli'htest hesitation* 0n essence the$ were punishin' me &ecause 0 had spared them* 9ince now 0 reall$ had to ma@e sure 0 came to wor@, &ut no lon'er had an office, and since m$ friend could no lon'er let me into hers, 0 stood in the stairwell, una&le to decide what to do* 0 clim&ed up and down the stairs a few times and suddenl$ 0 was a'ain m$ motherLs child, &ecause 0 .A3 A .AN3=<R,.0<F* 0 placed it on one of the stairs &etween the second and third floors, carefull$ smoothed it out and sat down* 0 rested m$ thic@ dictionaries on m$ @nee and translated the descriptions of h$draulic machines* 0 was a staircase wit and m$ office was a hand@erchief* M$ friend Ioined me on the stairs at lunchtime* De ate to'ether as we had in her office, and &efore that in mine* From the loudspea@er in the $ard the wor@ersL choruses san' a&out the happiness of the people, as alwa$s* M$ friend ate her lunch and cried o"er me* 0 didnLt cr$* 0 had to sta$ tou'h* For a lon' time* A few ne"er5endin' wee@s, until 0 was dismissed* 3urin' the time that 0 was a staircase wit, 0 loo@ed up the word 97A0R in the dictionar$: the first step is the 97AR70N+ 97< or ,RR7A0( 97< that can also &e a BR((NG9<* .AN3 is the direction a stair ta@es at the first riser* 7he ed'e of a tread that proIects past the face of the riser is called the NG90N+* 0 alread$ @new a num&er of &eautiful words ha"in' to do with lu&ricated h$draulic machine parts: 3GJ<7A0(, +GG9<N<,=, A,GRN NR79 and <Z<BG(79* Now 0 was eFuall$ ama!ed at the poetic names of the stair parts, the &eaut$ of the technical lan'ua'e* NG90N+ and .AN3Nso the stair has a &od$* Dhether wor@in' with wood or stone, cement or iron: wh$ do humans insist on imposin' their face on e"en the most unwield$ thin's in the world, wh$ do the$ name dead matter after their own flesh, personif$in' it as parts of the &od$E 0s this hidden tenderness necessar$ to ma@e the harsh wor@ &eara&le for the techniciansE 3oes e"er$ Io& in e"er$ field follow the same principle as m$ motherLs Fuestion a&out the hand@erchiefE Dhen 0 was little we had a hand@erchief drawer at home, which was alwa$s partitioned into two rows, with three stac@s apiece: Gn the left the menLs hand@erchiefs for m$ father and 'randfather* Gn the ri'ht the womenLs hand@erchiefs for m$ mother and 'randmother* 0n the middle the childrenLs hand@erchiefs for me* 7he drawer was a famil$ portrait in hand@erchief format* 7he menLs hand@erchiefs were the &i''est, with dar@ stripes alon' the ed'es in &rown, 'ra$ or Bordeau%* 7he womenLs hand@erchiefs were smaller, and their ed'es were li'ht &lue, red, or 'reen* 7he childrenLs hand@erchiefs were the smallest: &orderless white sFuares painted with flowers or animals* All three hand@erchief t$pes were di"ided into those for e"er$da$ use, in the front row, and those reser"ed for 9unda$, in the &ac@* Gn 9unda$s $our hand@erchief had to match the color of $our clothes, e"en if it wasnLt "isi&le* No other o&Iect in the house, includin' oursel"es, was e"er as important to us as the hand@erchief* 0ts uses were uni"ersal: snifflesP nose&leedsP hurt hand, el&ow or @neeP cr$in', or &itin' into it to suppress the cr$in'* A cold wet hand@erchief on the forehead for headaches* 7ied at the four corners it protected $our head a'ainst sun&urn or rain* 0f $ou had to remem&er somethin' $ou made a @not to prompt $our memor$* For carr$in' hea"$ &a's $ou wrapped it around $our hand*
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Dhen the train pulled out of the station $ou wa"ed it to sa$ 'ood5&$e* And &ecause the word for tear in our Banat dialect sounds li@e the Romanian word for train, the sFuea@in' of the railcars on the trac@s alwa$s sounded to me li@e cr$in'* 0n the "illa'e if someone died at home the$ immediatel$ tied a hand@erchief around his chin so that his mouth sta$ed closed when the ri'or mortis set in* 0n the cit$ if a person collapsed on the side of the road, some passer&$ would alwa$s ta@e a hand@erchief and co"er his face, so that the hand@erchief &ecame the dead manLs first place of peace* Gn hot summer da$s the parents would send their children to the cemeter$ late in the e"enin' to water the flowers* De sta$ed to'ether in 'roups of two or three, Fuic@l$ waterin' one 'ra"e and then the ne%t* Afterwards we would huddle to'ether on the steps of the chapel and watch wisps of white mist rise from some of the 'ra"es* 7he$ would fl$ up a little wa$s and disappear in the dar@ness* For us the$ were the souls of the dead: animal fi'ures, 'lasses, little &ottles and cups, 'lo"es and stoc@in's* And here and there a white hand@erchief &ordered &$ the &lac@ ni'ht* (ater, when 0 was meetin' with Gs@ar astior so 0 could write a&out his deportation to the 9o"iet la&or camp, he told me that an elderl$ Russian mother had 'i"en him a hand@erchief made of white &atiste* Ma$&e $ou will &oth &e luc@$, said the Russian woman, and $ou will come home soon and so will m$ son* .er son was the same a'e as Gs@ar astior and as far awa$ from home as he was, &ut in the opposite direction, she said, in a penal &attalion* Gs@ar astior had @noc@ed on her door, a half5star"ed &e''ar wantin' to trade a lump of coal for a little &it of food* 9he let him in and 'a"e him some hot soup* And when she saw his nose drippin' into the &owl, she 'a"e him the white &atiste hand@erchief that no one had e"er used &efore* Dith its a5Iour &order, and stems and rosettes precisel$ stitched with sil@ thread, the hand@erchief was a thin' of &eaut$ that em&raced as well as wounded the &e''ar* 0t was a com&ination: consolation made of &atiste, and a sil@5stemmed measure of his decrepitude* For the woman, Gs@ar astior was also a com&ination: an unworldl$ &e''ar in her house and a lost child in the world* Both of these personae were deli'hted and o"erwhelmed &$ the 'esture of a woman who was two persons for him as well: an un@nown Russian woman and the worried mother with the Fuestion: 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F* <"er since 0 heard this stor$ 0 ha"e had a Fuestion of m$ own: is 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F "alid e"er$whereE 3oes it stretch halfwa$ across the world in the snow$ sheen &etween free!in' and thawin'E 3oes it pass &etween mountains and steppes to cross e"er$ &orderP can it reach all the wa$ into a 'i'antic empire strewn with penal and la&or campsE 0s the Fuestion 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F impossi&le to 'et rid of, e"en with a hammer and sic@le, e"en with all the camps of 9talinist re5educationE Althou'h 0 ha"e spo@en Romanian for decades, it was onl$ while tal@in' with Gs@ar astior that 0 reali!ed that the Romanian word for hand@erchief is &atistt* Another e%ample of how sensual the Romanian lan'ua'e is, relentlessl$ dri"in' its words strai'ht to the heart of thin's* 7he material ma@es no detour, &ut presents itself read$5made as a hand@erchief, as a BA7097u* As if all hand@erchiefs, whene"er and where"er, were made of &atiste* Gs@ar astior @ept that hand@erchief in his trun@ as a reliFuar$ of a dou&le mother with a dou&le son* And after fi"e $ears of life in the camps he &rou'ht it home* Because his white &atiste hand@erchief was hope and fear* Gnce $ou let 'o of hope and fear, $ou die* After our con"ersation a&out the white hand@erchief 0 spent half the ni'ht pastin' up a word colla'e for Gs@ar astior on a white card: 3ots are dancin' here sa$s Bea $ouLre comin' into a lon'5stemmed 'lass of mil@ linens in white 'ra$5'reen !inc tu& nearl$ all materials
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correspond upon deli"er$ loo@ here 0 am the trainride and the cherr$ in the soapdish ne"er tal@ to stran'e men or spea@ o"er the switch&oard Dhen 0 went to see him later in the wee@ to 'i"e him the colla'e, he said: $ou ha"e to paste on FGR G9=AR as well* 0 said: Dhate"er 0 'i"e to $ou is $ours* .e said: Zou ha"e to paste it on, &ecause the card ma$ not @now that* 0 too@ it &ac@ home and pasted on: For Gs@ar* And then 0 'a"e it to him the followin' wee@, as if 0 had left the 'ate first without a hand@erchief and now was &ac@ the second time with a hand@erchief* Another stor$ also ends with a hand@erchief: M$ 'randparents had a son named Mat!* 0n the 1930s he was sent to stud$ &usiness in 7imiroara, so that he could ta@e o"er the famil$ 'rain trade and 'rocer$ store* 7he school had teachers from the +erman Reich, real Na!is* Mat! ma$ ha"e &een trained as a merchant on the side, &ut mainl$ he was tau'ht to &e a Na!iN&rainwashed accordin' to plan* After he finished, Mat! was a passionate Na!i, a chan'ed person* .e &ar@ed out anti59emitic slo'ans, and was as unreacha&le as an im&ecile* M$ 'randfather re&u@ed him se"eral times: he owed his entire fortune to the credit ad"anced &$ )ewish &usiness friends* And when that didnLt help, he &o%ed Mat! on the ears se"eral times* But the $oun' manLs facult$ of reason had &een erased* .e pla$ed the "illa'e ideolo'ue, &ull$in' his peers who were dod'in' the front* Mat! had a des@ Io& with the Romanian arm$* Ne"ertheless he felt an ur'e to mo"e from theor$ to practice, so he "olunteered for the 99 and as@ed to &e sent to the front* A few months later he came home to marr$* Diser for ha"in' seen the crimes at the front, he used a then5current ma'ical formula to escape the war for a few da$s* 7he ma'ical formula was called: weddin' lea"e* M$ 'randmother @ept two photos of her son Mat! far &ac@ in a drawer: a weddin' photo and a death photo* 7he weddin' picture shows a &ride in white, taller than he &$ a hand, thin and earnest Na plaster Madonna* Gn her head was a wreath made of wa% that loo@ed li@e snow5floc@ed lea"es* Ne%t to her was Mat! in his Na!i uniform, a soldier instead of a hus&and, a &ride'uard instead of a &ride'room* No sooner had he returned to the front, the death photo came* 0t shows a poor soldier torn to shreds &$ a mine* 7he death photo is hand5si!ed: in the middle of a &lac@ field a little 'ra$ heap of human remains can &e seen restin' on a white cloth* A'ainst the &lac@, field the white cloth loo@s as small as a childrenLs hand@erchief, a white sFuare with a stran'e desi'n painted in the middle* For m$ 'randmother this photo was a com&ination, too: on the white hand@erchief was a dead Na!i, in her memor$ was a li"in' son* M$ 'randmother @ept this dou&le picture inside her pra$er &oo@ for all her $ears* 9he pra$ed e"er$ da$, and her pra$ers almost certainl$ had dou&le meanin's as well* Ac@nowled'in' the &rea@ from &elo"ed son to fanatic Na!i, the$ pro&a&l$ &eseeched +od to perform the &alancin' act of lo"in' the son and for'i"in' the Na!i* M$ 'randfather had &een a soldier in the First Dorld Dar* .e @new what he was tal@in' a&out when he said, often and em&ittered, in reference to his son Mat!: Dhen the fla's start to flutter, common sense slides ri'ht into the trumpet* 7his warnin' also applied to the followin' dictatorship, which 0 e%perienced* <"er$ da$ $ou could see the common sense of the profiteers, &oth &i' and little, slidin' ri'ht into the trumpet* 7he trumpet 0 decided not to &low* As 0 child, howe"er, 0 did ha"e to learn to pla$ the accordionNa'ainst m$ will* Because at home we had the red accordion that had &elon'ed to the dead soldier Mat!* 7he straps were much too lon' for me* 7o @eep them from slippin' off m$ shoulders, the accordion teacher tied them to'ether on m$ &ac@ with a hand@erchief*
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,an we sa$ that it is precisel$ the smallest o&IectsN&e the$ trumpets, accordions, or hand@erchiefs Nwhich connect the most disparate thin's in lifeE 7hat the o&Iects are in or&it and that their de"iations re"eal a pattern of repetitionNa "icious circle, or what we call in +erman a de"ilLs circle* De can &elie"e this, &ut not sa$ it* 9till, what canLt &e said can &e written* Because writin' is a silent act, a la&or from the head to the hand* 7he mouth is s@ipped o"er* 0 tal@ed a 'reat deal durin' the dictatorship, mostl$ &ecause 0 decided not to &low the trumpet* Rsuall$ m$ tal@in' led to e%cruciatin' conseFuences* But the writin' &e'an in silence, there on the stairs, where 0 had to come to terms with more than could &e said* Dhat was happenin' could no lon'er &e e%pressed in speech* At most the e%ternal accompaniments, &ut not the totalit$ of the e"ents themsel"es* 7hat 0 could onl$ spell out in m$ head, "oicelessl$, within the "icious circle of the words durin' the act of writin'* 0 reacted to the deathl$ fear with a thirst for life* A hun'er for words* Nothin' &ut the whirl of words could 'rasp m$ condition* 0t spelled out what the mouth could not pronounce* 0 chased after the e"ents, cau'ht up in the words and their de"ilish circlin', until somethin' emer'ed 0 had ne"er @nown &efore* arallel to the realit$, the pantomime of words stepped into action, without respect for an$ real dimensions, shrin@in' what was most important and stretchin' the minor matters* As it rushes madl$ ahead, this "icious circle of words imposes a @ind of cursed lo'ic on what has &een li"ed* 7heir pantomime is ruthless and resti"e, alwa$s cra"in' more &ut instantl$ Iaded* 7he su&Iect of dictatorship is necessaril$ present, &ecause nothin' can e"er a'ain &e a matter of course once we ha"e &een ro&&ed of nearl$ all a&ilit$ to ta@e an$thin' for 'ranted* 7he su&Iect is there implicitl$, &ut the words are what ta@e possession of me* 7he$ coa% the su&Iect an$where the$ want* Nothin' ma@es sense an$more and e"er$thin' is true* Dhen 0 was a staircase wit, 0 was as lonel$ as 0 had &een as a child tendin' the cows in the ri"er "alle$* 0 ate lea"es and flowers so 0 would &elon' to them, &ecause the$ @new how to li"e life and 0 didnLt* 0 spo@e to them &$ name: mil@ thistle was supposed to mean the pric@l$ plant with mil@ in its stal@* But the plant didnLt listen to the name mil@ thistle* 9o 0 tried in"entin' names with neither mil@ nor thistle: 7.GRNR0B, N<<3(<N<,=* 7hese made5up names unco"ered a 'ap &etween the plant and me, and the 'ap opened up into an a&$ss: the dis'race of tal@in' to m$self and not to the plant* But the dis'race was 'ood for me* 0 loo@ed after the cows and the sound of the words loo@ed after me* 0 felt: <"er$ word in $our face, =nows somethin' of the "icious circle But doesnLt sa$ it 7he sound of the words @nows that it has no choice &ut to &e'uile, &ecause o&Iects decei"e with their materials, and feelin's mislead with their 'estures* 7he sound of the words, alon' with the truth this sound in"ents, resides at the interface, where the deceit of the materials and that of the 'estures come to'ether* 0n writin', it is not a matter of trustin', &ut rather of the honest$ of the deceit* Bac@ then in the factor$, when 0 was a staircase wit and the hand@erchief was m$ office, 0 also loo@ed up the &eautiful word 7R< <NW0N9 or A9,<N30N+ 0N7<R<97 RA7<, when the interest rate for a loan ascends as if clim&in' a stair* 60n +erman this is called v9tair 0nterest*w8 7hese ascendin' rates are costs for one person and income for another* 0n writin' the$ &ecome &oth, the deeper 0 del"e into the te%t* 7he more that which is written ta@es from me, the more it shows what was missin' from the e%perience that was li"ed* Gnl$ the words ma@e this disco"er$, &ecause the$ didnLt @now it earlier* And where the$ catch the li"ed e%perience &$ surprise is where the$ reflect it &est* 0n the end the$ &ecome so compellin' that the li"ed e%perience must clin' to them in order not to fall apart* 0t seems to me that the o&Iects donLt @now their material, the 'estures donLt @now their feelin's, and the words donLt @now the mouth that spea@s them* But to &e certain of our own e%istence, we need
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the o&Iects, the 'estures, and the words* After all, the more words we are allowed to ta@e, the freer we &ecome* 0f our mouth is &anned, then we attempt to assert oursel"es throu'h 'estures, e"en o&Iects* 7he$ are more difficult to interpret, and ta@e time &efore the$ arouse suspicion* 7he$ can help us turn humiliation into a t$pe of di'nit$ that ta@es time to arouse suspicion* <arl$ one mornin', shortl$ &efore 0 emi'rated from Romania, a "illa'e policeman came for m$ mother* 9he was alread$ at the 'ate, when it occurred to her: 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<F* 9he didnLt* <"en thou'h the policeman was impatient, she went &ac@ inside to 'et a hand@erchief* At the station the policeman flew into a ra'e* M$ motherLs Romanian was too limited to understand his screamin'* 9o he left the office and &olted the door from the outside* M$ mother sat there loc@ed up the whole da$* 7he first hours she sat on his des@ and cried* 7hen she paced up and down and &e'an usin' the hand@erchief that was wet with her tears to dust the furniture* After that she too@ the water &uc@et out of the corner and the towel off the hoo@ on the wall and mopped the floor* 0 was horrified when she told me* .ow can $ou clean the office for him li@e that 0 as@ed* 9he said, without em&arrassment: 0 was loo@in' for some wor@ to pass the time* And the office was so dirt$* +ood thin' 0 too@ one of the lar'e menLs hand@erchiefs with me* Gnl$ then did 0 understand that throu'h this additional, &ut "oluntar$ humiliation, she had created some di'nit$ for herself in her detention* 0 tried to find the words for it in a colla'e: 0 thou'ht a&out the sturd$ rose in m$ heart a&out the useless soul li@e a sie"e &ut the @eeper as@ed: who will 'ain the upper hand 0 said: sa"in' the s@in he shouted: the s@in is nothin' &ut a scrap of insulted &atiste with no common sense 0 wish 0 could utter a sentence for all those whom dictatorships depri"e of di'nit$ e"er$ da$, up to and includin' the presentNa sentence, perhaps, containin' the word hand@erchief* Gr else the Fuestion: 3G ZGR .AJ< A .AN3=<R,.0<FE ,an it &e that the Fuestion a&out the hand@erchief was ne"er a&out the hand@erchief at all, &ut rather a&out the acute solitude of a human &ein'E

7ranslated &$ hilip Boehm 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #.erta Mcller 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;009Amuller5lecture]en*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

6ir 8i!ia!har 6ura+prasa! Naipaul

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Born: 1C Au'ust 193;, 7rinidad Residence at the time of the award: Rnited =in'dom ri!e moti"ation: #for ha"in' united percepti"e narrati"e and incorrupti&le scrutin$ in wor@s that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories# (an'ua'e: <n'lish Biography Naipaul is 7rul$ a No&el Man in a Free 9tate &$ 3a"id r$ce5)ones 7he No&el ri!e for literature has 'one to someone who deser"es it* (i@e the 'reat masters of the past, J*9* Naipaul tells stories which show us oursel"es and the realit$ we li"e in* .is use of lan'ua'e is as precise as it is &eautiful* 9imple, stron' words, with which to e%press the humanit$ of all of us* Born in 7rinidad in 193;, the descendant of indentured la&ourers shipped from 0ndia, this dispossessed child of the RaI has come on a lon' and mar"ellous Iourne$* .is up&rin'in' familiarised him with e"er$ sort of depri"ation, material and cultural* A scholarship to G%ford &rou'ht him to this countr$* Nothin' sustained him afterwards e%cept the determination, often close to despair, to &ecome a writer* A'ainst all li@elihood, a spirit of pure comed$ flows throu'h his earl$ &oo@s* 0t is a sa"in' 'race* Footloose, he &e'an to tra"el for lon' periods in 0ndia and Africa* 0t was at a time of decolonisation, when so man$ people the whole world o"er had to reassess their identit$* Naipaul saw for himself the resultin' turmoil of emotions, that collision of self5ser"in' m$th and 'uilt which ma@e up toda$Ls &ewildered world and pre"ents people from comin' to terms with who the$ reall$ are, and to @now how to treat one another* Gn these tra"els he was e%plorin' nothin' less than the meanin' of culture and histor$* Jictimhood mi'ht ha"e &een his central theme, 'ranted his &ac@'round* Not at all* 7hat same determination to &e a writer also li&erated him from self5pit$* <ach one of us, his &oo@s declare, can choose to &e a free indi"idual* 0t is a matter of will and choice, and a&o"e all intellect* ,ritics ha"e sometimes ar'ued that people 5 in the 7hird Dorld especiall$ 5 are trapped in their culture and histor$ without possi&ilit$ of choice, and can onl$ &e free if others ma@e them so* 7o them, J*9* NaipaulLs "ision that the$ ha"e to ta@e responsi&ilit$ for themsel"es can seem li@e some sort of First Dorld pri"ile'e, and a conser"ati"e philosoph$ at that* Ouite the contrar$: the a&solute reIection of "ictimhood is necessar$ if we are to meet as we must on an eFual footin', and it is no e%a''eration to sa$ that he has shifted pu&lic opinion towards this understandin' as no other writer has done* ,oura'e and persistence were reFuired to hold a &elief Fuite so unfashiona&le in recent $ears, &ut it is this &elief that has made Naipaul the uni"ersal writer and humanist that he is* 7he comic spirit is still present, thou'h su&mer'ed in his later &oo@s &eneath a dar@enin' sense of tra'ed$* Naipaul has written a&out sla"er$, re"olution, 'uerrillas, corrupt politicians, the poor and the oppressed, interpretin' the ra'es so deepl$ rooted in our societies* (on' &efore others, he &e'an to report on the irrational fren!$ loosed these past two decades &$ reli'ion in the 0slamic world from 0ran to 0ndonesia and a@istan* 7his phenomenon too was a retreat from histor$ into self5ser"in' m$th* 9elf5pit$ possesses 0slamic fundamentalists so a&solutel$ that the$ are a&le to close out e"er$thin' else* Zet Naipaul also o&ser"ed with profound insi'ht that e"en the most
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fanaticised amon' them @now that the Dest will alwa$s &e there settin' the o&Iecti"e standards, and that the$ can do nothin' a&out that* 7he$ are to &e pitied for ra'e so helpless* 0n himself, Naipaul is a pri"ate man, who li"es in the countr$ in order to ha"e the solitude for thin@in' and writin'* <"er$thin' that has e"er happened to him is pi'eonholed with e%actitude in his memor$* Formida&l$ well5read, he can Fuote &oo@s he read $ears a'o, and all the con"ersations he has had* Melanchol$ 'rips him at the spectacle of #the stead$ 'rindin' down of the old world# as he put it, and he mi'ht complain to an inter"iewer that he is li"in' in a #ple&eian culture that cele&rates itself*# Gther writers &orn a&road ha"e settled here and enriched our literature, &ut there has ne"er &een one li@e Naipaul* .is personal stor$ is mo"in'P his achie"ement e%traordinar$* 7here is a 'reat moral to his lifeLs wor@, that the human comed$ will come out all ri'ht &ecause, when all is said and done, intellect is more powerful than "icissitude and wic@edness* 7he writer is the author of #7he ,losed ,ircle: An 0nterpretation of the Ara&s#* DhoLs Dho ;000 <ntr$ NA0 AR(, 9ir Jidiadhar 9uraIprasad, 69ir Jidia8, =t 1990P authorP &* 1C Au'ust 193;P m* 1st, 19YY, atricia Ann .ale 6d* 199:8P ;nd, 199:, Nadira =hannum Al"i* <duc: OueenLs Ro$al ,oll*, 7rinidadP Rni"ersit$ ,oll*, G%ford 6.on* Fellow 19/38* .on* 3r (etters ,olum&ia Rni"*, NZ, 19/1P .on* (itt3* ,am&rid'e, 19/3P (ondon, 19//P G%ford, 199;* British (iterature ri!e, 1993* u&lications: 7he Middle assa'e, 19:;P An Area of 3ar@ness, 19:4P 7he (oss of <l 3orado, 19:9P 7he G"ercrowded Barracoon, and other articles, 19C;P 0ndia: a wounded ci"ilisation, 19CCP 7he Return of <"a eron, 19/0P Amon' the Belie"ers, 19/1P Findin' the ,entre, 19/4P A 7urn in the 9outh, 19/9P 0ndia: a million mutinies now, 1990P Be$ond Belief: 0slamic <%cursions, 199/P (etters, 1999P no"els: 7he M$stic Masseur, 19YCP 6)ohn (lewel$n Rh$s Memorial ri!e, 19Y/8P 7he 9uffra'e of <l"ira, 19Y/P Mi'uel 9treet, 19Y9P 69omerset Mau'ham Award, 19:18P A .ouse for Mr Biswas, 19:1P Mr 9tone and the =ni'hts ,ompanion, 19:3, 6.awthornden ri!e, 19:48P 7he Mimic Men, 19:C 6D*.* 9mith Award 19:/8P A Fla' on the 0sland, 19:CP 0n a Free 9tate, 19C1 6Boo@er ri!e, 19C18P +uerrillas, 19CYP A Bend in the Ri"er, 19C9P 7he <ni'ma of Arri"al, 19/CP A Da$ in the Dorld, 1994* Address: cAo +illon Ait@en Associates (td, ;9 Fernshaw Road, (ondon 9D10 G7+, R=* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;001, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;00; 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;001 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #J* 9* Naipaul 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;001Anaipaul*html J* 9* Naipaul 9ir Jidiadhar 9uraIprasad Naipaul 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;001 was awarded to J* 9* Naipaul #for ha"in' united percepti"e narrati"e and incorrupti&le scrutin$ in wor@s that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories#* Nobel Lecture 7wo Dorlds
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9ir J* 9* Naipaul deli"ered his No&el (ecture in Bgrssalen at the 9wedish Academ$ in 9toc@holm, C 3ecem&er ;001* .e was introduced &$ .orace <n'dahl, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* ,-o (orl!s 7his is unusual for me* 0 ha"e 'i"en readin's and not lectures* 0 ha"e told people who as@ for lectures that 0 ha"e no lecture to 'i"e* And that is true* 0t mi'ht seem stran'e that a man who has dealt in words and emotions and ideas for nearl$ fift$ $ears shouldnLt ha"e a few to spare, so to spea@* But e"er$thin' of "alue a&out me is in m$ &oo@s* Dhate"er e%tra there is in me at an$ 'i"en moment isnLt full$ formed* 0 am hardl$ aware of itP it awaits the ne%t &oo@* 0t will H with luc@ H come to me durin' the actual writin', and it will ta@e me &$ surprise* 7hat element of surprise is what 0 loo@ for when 0 am writin'* 0t is m$ wa$ of Iud'in' what 0 am doin' H which is ne"er an eas$ thin' to do* roust has written with 'reat penetration of the difference &etween the writer as writer and the writer as a social &ein'* Zou will find his thou'hts in some of his essa$s in A'ainst 9ainte5Beu"e, a &oo@ reconstituted from his earl$ papers* 7he nineteenth5centur$ French critic 9ainte5Beu"e &elie"ed that to understand a writer it was necessar$ to @now as much as possi&le a&out the e%terior man, the details of his life* 0t is a &e'uilin' method, usin' the man to illuminate the wor@* 0t mi'ht seem unassaila&le* But roust is a&le "er$ con"incin'l$ to pic@ it apart* #7his method of 9ainte5Beu"e,# roust writes, #i'nores what a "er$ sli'ht de'ree of self5acFuaintance teaches us: that a &oo@ is the product of a different self from the self we manifest in our ha&its, in our social life, in our "ices* 0f we would tr$ to understand that particular self, it is &$ searchin' our own &osoms, and tr$in' to reconstruct it there, that we ma$ arri"e at it*# 7hose words of roust should &e with us whene"er we are readin' the &io'raph$ of a writer 5 or the &io'raph$ of an$one who depends on what can &e called inspiration* All the details of the life and the Fuir@s and the friendships can &e laid out for us, &ut the m$ster$ of the writin' will remain* No amount of documentation, howe"er fascinatin', can ta@e us there* 7he &io'raph$ of a writer H or e"en the auto&io'raph$ H will alwa$s ha"e this incompleteness* roust is a master of happ$ amplification, and 0 would li@e to 'o &ac@ to A'ainst 9ainte5Beu"e Iust for a little* #0n fact,# roust writes, #it is the secretions of oneLs innermost self, written in solitude and for oneself alone that one 'i"es to the pu&lic* Dhat one &estows on pri"ate life 5 in con"ersation***or in those drawin'5room essa$s that are scarcel$ more than con"ersation in print H is the product of a Fuite superficial self, not of the innermost self which one can onl$ reco"er &$ puttin' aside the world and the self that freFuents the world*# Dhen he wrote that, roust had not $et found the su&Iect that was to lead him to the happiness of his 'reat literar$ la&our* And $ou can tell from what 0 ha"e Fuoted that he was a man trustin' to his intuition and waitin' for luc@* 0 ha"e Fuoted these words &efore in other places* 7he reason is that the$ define how 0 ha"e 'one a&out m$ &usiness* 0 ha"e trusted to intuition* 0 did it at the &e'innin'* 0 do it e"en now* 0 ha"e no idea how thin's mi'ht turn out, where in m$ writin' 0 mi'ht 'o ne%t* 0 ha"e trusted to m$ intuition to find the su&Iects, and 0 ha"e written intuiti"el$* 0 ha"e an idea when 0 start, 0 ha"e a shapeP &ut 0 will full$ understand what 0 ha"e written onl$ after some $ears* 0 said earlier that e"er$thin' of "alue a&out me is in m$ &oo@s* 0 will 'o further now* 0 will sa$ 0 am the sum of m$ &oo@s* <ach &oo@, intuiti"el$ sensed and, in the case of fiction, intuiti"el$ wor@ed out, stands on what has 'one &efore, and 'rows out of it* 0 feel that at an$ sta'e of m$ literar$ career it could ha"e &een said that the last &oo@ contained all the others*

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0tLs &een li@e this &ecause of m$ &ac@'round* M$ &ac@'round is at once e%ceedin'l$ simple and e%ceedin'l$ confused* 0 was &orn in 7rinidad* 0t is a small island in the mouth of the 'reat Grinoco ri"er of Jene!uela* 9o 7rinidad is not strictl$ of 9outh America, and not strictl$ of the ,ari&&ean* 0t was de"eloped as a New Dorld plantation colon$, and when 0 was &orn in 193; it had a population of a&out 400,000* Gf this, a&out 1Y0,000 were 0ndians, .indus and Muslims, nearl$ all of peasant ori'in, and nearl$ all from the +an'etic plain* 7his was m$ "er$ small communit$* 7he &ul@ of this mi'ration from 0ndia occurred after 1//0* 7he deal was li@e this* eople indentured themsel"es for fi"e $ears to ser"e on the estates* At the end of this time the$ were 'i"en a small piece of land, perhaps fi"e acres, or a passa'e &ac@ to 0ndia* 0n 191C, &ecause of a'itation &$ +andhi and others, the indenture s$stem was a&olished* And perhaps &ecause of this, or for some other reason, the pled'e of land or repatriation was dishonoured for man$ of the later arri"als* 7hese people were a&solutel$ destitute* 7he$ slept in the streets of ort of 9pain, the capital* Dhen 0 was a child 0 saw them* 0 suppose 0 didnLt @now the$ were destitute H 0 suppose that idea came much later H and the$ made no impression on me* 7his was part of the cruelt$ of the plantation colon$* 0 was &orn in a small countr$ town called ,ha'uanas, two or three miles inland from the +ulf of aria* ,ha'uanas was a stran'e name, in spellin' and pronunciation, and man$ of the 0ndian people H the$ were in the maIorit$ in the area H preferred to call it &$ the 0ndian caste name of ,hauhan* 0 was thirt$5four when 0 found out a&out the name of m$ &irthplace* 0 was li"in' in (ondon, had &een li"in' in <n'land for si%teen $ears* 0 was writin' m$ ninth &oo@* 7his was a histor$ of 7rinidad, a human histor$, tr$in' to re5create people and their stories* 0 used to 'o to the British Museum to read the 9panish documents a&out the re'ion* 7hese documents 5 reco"ered from the 9panish archi"es 5 were copied out for the British 'o"ernment in the 1/90s at the time of a nast$ &oundar$ dispute with Jene!uela* 7he documents &e'in in 1Y30 and end with the disappearance of the 9panish <mpire* 0 was readin' a&out the foolish search for <l 3orado, and the murderous interlopin' of the <n'lish hero, 9ir Dalter Ralei'h* 0n 1Y9Y he raided 7rinidad, @illed all the 9paniards he could, and went up the Grinoco loo@in' for <l 3orado* .e found nothin', &ut when he went &ac@ to <n'land he said he had* .e had a piece of 'old and some sand to show* .e said he had hac@ed the 'old out of a cliff on the &an@ of the Grinoco* 7he Ro$al Mint said that the sand he as@ed them to assa$ was worthless, and other people said that he had &ou'ht the 'old &eforehand from North Africa* .e then pu&lished a &oo@ to pro"e his point, and for four centuries people ha"e &elie"ed that Ralei'h had found somethin'* 7he ma'ic of Ralei'hLs &oo@, which is reall$ Fuite difficult to read, la$ in its "er$ lon' title: 7he 3isco"er$ of the (ar'e, Rich, and Beautiful <mpire of +uiana, with a relation of the 'reat and 'olden cit$ of Manoa 6which the 9paniards call <l 3orado8 and the pro"inces of <meria, Aromaia, Amapaia, and other countries, with their ri"ers adIoinin'* .ow real it sounds_ And he had hardl$ &een on the main Grinoco* And then, as sometimes happens with confidence men, Ralei'h was cau'ht &$ his own fantasies* 7went$5one $ears later, old and ill, he was let out of his (ondon prison to 'o to +uiana and find the 'old mines he said he had found* 0n this fraudulent "enture his son died* 7he father, for the sa@e of his reputation, for the sa@e of his lies, had sent his son to his death* And then Ralei'h, full of 'rief, with nothin' left to li"e for, went &ac@ to (ondon to &e e%ecuted* 7he stor$ should ha"e ended there* But 9panish memories were lon' 5 no dou&t &ecause their imperial correspondence was so slow: it mi'ht ta@e up to two $ears for a letter from 7rinidad to &e read in 9pain* <i'ht $ears afterwards the 9paniards of 7rinidad and +uiana were still settlin' their scores with the +ulf 0ndians* Gne da$ in the British Museum 0 read a letter from the =in' of 9pain to the 'o"ernor of 7rinidad* 0t was dated 1; Gcto&er 1:;Y*
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#0 as@ed $ou,# the =in' wrote, #to 'i"e me some information a&out a certain nation of 0ndians called ,ha'uanes, who $ou sa$ num&er a&o"e one thousand, and are of such &ad disposition that it was the$ who led the <n'lish when the$ captured the town* 7heir crime hasnLt &een punished &ecause forces were not a"aila&le for this purpose and &ecause the 0ndians ac@nowled'e no master sa"e their own will* Zou ha"e decided to 'i"e them a punishment* Follow the rules 0 ha"e 'i"en $ouP and let me @now how $ou 'et on*# Dhat the 'o"ernor did 0 donLt @now* 0 could find no further reference to the ,ha'uanes in the documents in the Museum* erhaps there were other documents a&out the ,ha'uanes in the mountain of paper in the 9panish archi"es in 9e"ille which the British 'o"ernment scholars missed or didnLt thin@ important enou'h to cop$ out* Dhat is true is that the little tri&e of o"er a thousand H who would ha"e &een li"in' on &oth sides of the +ulf of aria H disappeared so completel$ that no one in the town of ,ha'uanas or ,hauhan @new an$thin' a&out them* And the thou'ht came to me in the Museum that 0 was the first person since 1:;Y to whom that letter of the @in' of 9pain had a real meanin'* And that letter had &een du' out of the archi"es onl$ in 1/9: or 1/9C* A disappearance, and then the silence of centuries* De li"ed on the ,ha'uanesL land* <"er$ da$ in term time 5 0 was Iust &e'innin' to 'o to school H 0 wal@ed from m$ 'randmotherLs house H past the two or three main5road stores, the ,hinese parlour, the )u&ilee 7heatre, and the hi'h5smellin' little ortu'uese factor$ that made cheap &lue soap and cheap $ellow soap in lon' &ars that were put out to dr$ and harden in the mornin's H e"er$ da$ 0 wal@ed past these eternal5seemin' thin's H to the ,ha'uanas +o"ernment 9chool* Be$ond the school was su'ar5cane, estate land, 'oin' up to the +ulf of aria* 7he people who had &een dispossessed would ha"e had their own @ind of a'riculture, their own calendar, their own codes, their own sacred sites* 7he$ would ha"e understood the Grinoco5fed currents in the +ulf of aria* Now all their s@ills and e"er$thin' else a&out them had &een o&literated* 7he world is alwa$s in mo"ement* eople ha"e e"er$where at some time &een dispossessed* 0 suppose 0 was shoc@ed &$ this disco"er$ in 19:C a&out m$ &irthplace &ecause 0 had ne"er had an$ idea a&out it* But that was the wa$ most of us li"ed in the a'ricultural colon$, &lindl$* 7here was no plot &$ the authorities to @eep us in our dar@ness* 0 thin@ it was more simpl$ that the @nowled'e wasnLt there* 7he @ind of @nowled'e a&out the ,ha'uanes would not ha"e &een considered important, and it would not ha"e &een eas$ to reco"er* 7he$ were a small tri&e, and the$ were a&ori'inal* 9uch people 5 on the mainland, in what was called B*+*, British +uiana H were @nown to us, and were a @ind of Io@e* eople who were loud and ill5&eha"ed were @nown, to all 'roups in 7rinidad, 0 thin@, as warrahoons* 0 used to thin@ it was a made5up word, made up to su''est wildness* 0t was onl$ when 0 &e'an to tra"el in Jene!uela, in m$ forties, that 0 understood that a word li@e that was the name of a rather lar'e a&or'inal tri&e there* 7here was a "a'ue stor$ when 0 was a child 5 and to me now it is an un&eara&l$ affectin' stor$ H that at certain times a&ori'inal people came across in canoes from the mainland, wal@ed throu'h the forest in the south of the island, and at a certain spot pic@ed some @ind of fruit or made some @ind of offerin', and then went &ac@ across the +ulf of aria to the sodden estuar$ of the Grinoco* 7he rite must ha"e &een of enormous importance to ha"e sur"i"ed the uphea"als of four hundred $ears, and the e%tinction of the a&ori'ines in 7rinidad* Gr perhaps H thou'h 7rinidad and Jene!uela ha"e a common flora H the$ had come onl$ to pic@ a particular @ind of fruit* 0 donLt @now* 0 canLt remem&er an$one inFuirin'* And now the memor$ is all lostP and that sacred site, if it e%isted, has &ecome common 'round* Dhat was past was past* 0 suppose that was the 'eneral attitude* And we 0ndians, immi'rants from 0ndia, had that attitude to the island* De li"ed for the most part ritualised li"es, and were not $et capa&le of self5assessment, which is where learnin' &e'ins* .alf of us on this land of the ,ha'uanes were pretendin' 5 perhaps not pretendin', perhaps onl$ feelin', ne"er formulatin' it as
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an idea 5 that we had &rou'ht a @ind of 0ndia with us, which we could, as it were, unroll li@e a carpet on the flat land* M$ 'randmotherLs house in ,ha'uanas was in two parts* 7he front part, of &ric@s and plaster, was painted white* 0t was li@e a @ind of 0ndian house, with a 'rand &alustraded terrace on the upper floor, and a pra$er5room on the floor a&o"e that* 0t was am&itious in its decorati"e detail, with lotus capitals on pillars, and sculptures of .indu deities, all done &$ people wor@in' onl$ from a memor$ of thin's in 0ndia* 0n 7rinidad it was an architectural oddit$* At the &ac@ of this house, and Ioined to it &$ an upper &rid'e room, was a tim&er &uildin' in the French ,ari&&ean st$le* 7he entrance 'ate was at the side, &etween the two houses* 0t was a tall 'ate of corru'ated iron on a wooden frame* 0t made for a fierce @ind of pri"ac$* 9o as a child 0 had this sense of two worlds, the world outside that tall corru'ated5iron 'ate, and the world at home 5 or, at an$ rate, the world of m$ 'randmotherLs house* 0t was a remnant of our caste sense, the thin' that e%cluded and shut out* 0n 7rinidad, where as new arri"als we were a disad"anta'ed communit$, that e%cludin' idea was a @ind of protectionP it ena&led us H for the time &ein', and onl$ for the time &ein' H to li"e in our own wa$ and accordin' to our own rules, to li"e in our own fadin' 0ndia* 0t made for an e%traordinar$ self5centredness* De loo@ed inwardsP we li"ed out our da$sP the world outside e%isted in a @ind of dar@nessP we inFuired a&out nothin'* 7here was a Muslim shop ne%t door* 7he little lo''ia of m$ 'randmotherLs shop ended a'ainst his &lan@ wall* 7he manLs name was Mian* 7hat was all that we @new of him and his famil$* 0 suppose we must ha"e seen him, &ut 0 ha"e no mental picture of him now* De @new nothin' of Muslims* 7his idea of stran'eness, of the thin' to &e @ept outside, e%tended e"en to other .indus* For e%ample, we ate rice in the middle of the da$, and wheat in the e"enin's* 7here were some e%traordinar$ people who re"ersed this natural order and ate rice in the e"enin's* 0 thou'ht of these people as stran'ers H $ou must ima'ine me at this time as under se"en, &ecause when 0 was se"en all this life of m$ 'randmotherLs house in ,ha'uanas came to an end for me* De mo"ed to the capital, and then to the hills to the northwest* But the ha&its of mind en'endered &$ this shut5in and shuttin'5out life lin'ered for Fuite a while* 0f it were not for the short stories m$ father wrote 0 would ha"e @nown almost nothin' a&out the 'eneral life of our 0ndian communit$* 7hose stories 'a"e me more than @nowled'e* 7he$ 'a"e me a @ind of solidit$* 7he$ 'a"e me somethin' to stand on in the world* 0 cannot ima'ine what m$ mental picture would ha"e &een without those stories* 7he world outside e%isted in a @ind of dar@nessP and we inFuired a&out nothin'* 0 was Iust old enou'h to ha"e some idea of the 0ndian epics, the Rama$ana in particular* 7he children who came fi"e $ears or so after me in our e%tended famil$ didnLt ha"e this luc@* No one tau'ht us .indi* 9ometimes someone wrote out the alpha&et for us to learn, and that was thatP we were e%pected to do the rest oursel"es* 9o, as <n'lish penetrated, we &e'an to lose our lan'ua'e* M$ 'randmotherLs house was full of reli'ionP there were man$ ceremonies and readin's, some of which went on for da$s* But no one e%plained or translated for us who could no lon'er follow the lan'ua'e* 9o our ancestral faith receded, &ecame m$sterious, not pertinent to our da$5to5da$ life* De made no inFuiries a&out 0ndia or a&out the families people had left &ehind* Dhen our wa$s of thin@in' had chan'ed, and we wished to @now, it was too late* 0 @now nothin' of the people on m$ fatherLs sideP 0 @now onl$ that some of them came from Nepal* 7wo $ears a'o a @ind Nepalese who li@ed m$ name sent me a cop$ of some pa'es from an 1/C; 'a!etteer5li@e British wor@ a&out 0ndia, .indu ,astes and 7ri&es as Represented in BenaresP the pa'es listed 5 amon' a multitude of names 5those 'roups of Nepalese in the hol$ cit$ of Banaras who carried the name Naipal* 7hat is all that 0 ha"e* Awa$ from this world of m$ 'randmotherLs house, where we ate rice in the middle of the da$ and
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wheat in the e"enin's, there was the 'reat un@nown 5 in this island of onl$ 400,000 people* 7here were the African or African5deri"ed people who were the maIorit$* 7he$ were policemenP the$ were teachers* Gne of them was m$ "er$ first teacher at the ,ha'uanas +o"ernment 9choolP 0 remem&ered her with adoration for $ears* 7here was the capital, where "er$ soon we would all ha"e to 'o for education and Io&s, and where we would settle permanentl$, amon' stran'ers* 7here were the white people, not all of them <n'lishP and the ortu'uese and the ,hinese, at one time also immi'rants li@e us* And, more m$sterious than these, were the people we called 9panish, Lpa'nols, mi%ed people of warm &rown comple%ions who came from the 9panish time, &efore the island was detached from Jene!uela and the 9panish <mpire H a @ind of histor$ a&solutel$ &e$ond m$ childLs comprehension* 7o 'i"e $ou this idea of m$ &ac@'round, 0 ha"e had to call on @nowled'e and ideas that came to me much later, principall$ from m$ writin'* As a child 0 @new almost nothin', nothin' &e$ond what 0 had pic@ed up in m$ 'randmotherLs house* All children, 0 suppose, come into the world li@e that, not @nowin' who the$ are* But for the French child, sa$, that @nowled'e is waitin'* 7hat @nowled'e will &e all around them* 0t will come indirectl$ from the con"ersation of their elders* 0t will &e in the newspapers and on the radio* And at school the wor@ of 'enerations of scholars, scaled down for school te%ts, will pro"ide some idea of France and the French* 0n 7rinidad, &ri'ht &o$ thou'h 0 was, 0 was surrounded &$ areas of dar@ness* 9chool elucidated nothin' for me* 0 was crammed with facts and formulas* <"er$thin' had to &e learned &$ heartP e"er$thin' was a&stract for me* A'ain, 0 do not &elie"e there was a plan or plot to ma@e our courses li@e that* Dhat we were 'ettin' was standard school learnin'* 0n another settin' it would ha"e made sense* And at least some of the failin' would ha"e lain in me* Dith m$ limited social &ac@'round it was hard for me ima'inati"el$ to enter into other societies or societies that were far awa$* 0 lo"ed the idea of &oo@s, &ut 0 found it hard to read them* 0 'ot on &est with thin's li@e Andersen and Aesop, timeless, placeless, not e%cludin'* And when at last in the si%th form, the hi'hest form in the colle'e, 0 'ot to li@e some of our literature te%ts 5 Moliere, ,$rano de Ber'erac 5 0 suppose it was &ecause the$ had the Fualit$ of the fair$tale* Dhen 0 &ecame a writer those areas of dar@ness around me as a child &ecame m$ su&Iects* 7he landP the a&ori'inesP the New DorldP the colon$P the histor$P 0ndiaP the Muslim world, to which 0 also felt m$self relatedP AfricaP and then <n'land, where 0 was doin' m$ writin'* 7hat was what 0 meant when 0 said that m$ &oo@s stand one on the other, and that 0 am the sum of m$ &oo@s* 7hat was what 0 meant when 0 said that m$ &ac@'round, the source and promptin' of m$ wor@, was at once e%ceedin'l$ simple and e%ceedin'l$ complicated* Zou will ha"e seen how simple it was in the countr$ town of ,ha'uanas* And 0 thin@ $ou will understand how complicated it was for me as a writer* <speciall$ in the &e'innin', when the literar$ models 0 had H the models 'i"en me &$ what 0 can onl$ call m$ false learnin' H dealt with entirel$ different societies* But perhaps $ou mi'ht feel that the material was so rich it would ha"e &een no trou&le at all to 'et started and to 'o on* Dhat 0 ha"e said a&out the &ac@'round, howe"er, comes from the @nowled'e 0 acFuired with m$ writin'* And $ou must &elie"e me when 0 tell $ou that the pattern in m$ wor@ has onl$ &ecome clear in the last two months or so* assa'es from old &oo@s were read to me, and 0 saw the connections* Rntil then the 'reatest trou&le for me was to descri&e m$ writin' to people, to sa$ what 0 had done* 0 said 0 was an intuiti"e writer* 7hat was so, and that remains so now, when 0 am nearl$ at the end* 0 ne"er had a plan* 0 followed no s$stem* 0 wor@ed intuiti"el$* M$ aim e"er$ time was do a &oo@, to create somethin' that would &e eas$ and interestin' to read* At e"er$ sta'e 0 could onl$ wor@ within m$ @nowled'e and sensi&ilit$ and talent and world5"iew* 7hose thin's de"eloped &oo@ &$ &oo@* And 0 had to do the &oo@s 0 did &ecause there were no &oo@s a&out those su&Iects to 'i"e me what 0 wanted* 0 had to clear up m$ world, elucidate it, for m$self* 0 had to 'o to the documents in the British Museum and elsewhere, to 'et the true feel of the
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histor$ of the colon$* 0 had to tra"el to 0ndia &ecause there was no one to tell me what the 0ndia m$ 'randparents had come from was li@e* 7here was the writin' of Nehru and +andhiP and stran'el$ it was +andhi, with his 9outh African e%perience, who 'a"e me more, &ut not enou'h* 7here was =iplin'P there were British50ndian writers li@e )ohn Masters 6'oin' "er$ stron' in the 19Y0s, with an announced plan, later a&andoned, 0 fear, for thirt$5fi"e connected no"els a&out British 0ndia8P there were romances &$ women writers* 7he few 0ndian writers who had come up at that time were middle5class people, town5dwellersP the$ didnLt @now the 0ndia we had come from* And when that 0ndian need was satisfied, others &ecame apparent: Africa, 9outh America, the Muslim world* 7he aim has alwa$s &een to fill out m$ world picture, and the purpose comes from m$ childhood: to ma@e me more at ease with m$self* =ind people ha"e sometimes written as@in' me to 'o and write a&out +erman$, sa$, or ,hina* But there is much 'ood writin' alread$ a&out those placesP 0 am willin' to depend there on the writin' that e%ists* And those su&Iects are for other people* 7hose were not the areas of dar@ness 0 felt a&out me as a child* 9o, Iust as there is a de"elopment in m$ wor@, a de"elopment in narrati"e s@ill and @nowled'e and sensi&ilit$, so there is a @ind of unit$, a focus, thou'h 0 mi'ht appear to &e 'oin' in man$ directions* Dhen 0 &e'an 0 had no idea of the wa$ ahead* 0 wished onl$ to do a &oo@* 0 was tr$in' to write in <n'land, where 0 sta$ed on after m$ $ears at the uni"ersit$, and it seemed to me that m$ e%perience was "er$ thin, was not trul$ of the stuff of &oo@s* 0 could find in no &oo@ an$thin' that came near m$ &ac@'round* 7he $oun' French or <n'lish person who wished to write would ha"e found an$ num&er of models to set him on his wa$* 0 had none* M$ fatherLs stories a&out our 0ndian communit$ &elon'ed to the past* M$ world was Fuite different* 0t was more ur&an, more mi%ed* 7he simple ph$sical details of the chaotic life of our e%tended famil$ H sleepin' rooms or sleepin' spaces, eatin' times, the sheer num&er of people H seemed impossi&le to handle* 7here was too much to &e e%plained, &oth a&out m$ home life and a&out the world outside* And at the same time there was also too much a&out us 5 li@e our own ancestr$ and histor$ 5 that 0 didnLt @now* At last one da$ there came to me the idea of startin' with the ort of 9pain street to which we had mo"ed from ,ha'uanas* 7here was no &i' corru'ated5iron 'ate shuttin' out the world there* 7he life of the street was open to me* 0t was an intense pleasure for me to o&ser"e it from the "erandah* 7his street life was what 0 &e'an to write a&out* 0 wished to write fast, to a"oid too much self5 Fuestionin', and so 0 simplified* 0 suppressed the child5narratorLs &ac@'round* 0 i'nored the racial and social comple%ities of the street* 0 e%plained nothin'* 0 sta$ed at 'round le"el, so to spea@* 0 presented people onl$ as the$ appeared on the street* 0 wrote a stor$ a da$* 7he first stories were "er$ short* 0 was worried a&out the material lastin' lon' enou'h* But then the writin' did its ma'ic* 7he material &e'an to present itself to me from man$ sources* 7he stories &ecame lon'erP the$ couldnLt &e written in a da$* And then the inspiration, which at one sta'e had seemed "er$ eas$, rollin' me alon', came to an end* But a &oo@ had &een written, and 0 had in m$ own mind &ecome a writer* 7he distance &etween the writer and his material 'rew with the two later &oo@sP the "ision was wider* And then intuition led me to a lar'e &oo@ a&out our famil$ life* 3urin' this &oo@ m$ writin' am&ition 'rew* But when it was o"er 0 felt 0 had done all that 0 could do with m$ island material* No matter how much 0 meditated on it, no further fiction would come* Accident, then, rescued me* 0 &ecame a tra"eller* 0 tra"elled in the ,ari&&ean re'ion and understood much more a&out the colonial set5up of which 0 had &een part* 0 went to 0ndia, m$ ancestral land, for a $earP it was a Iourne$ that &ro@e m$ life in two* 7he &oo@s that 0 wrote a&out these two Iourne$s too@ me to new realms of emotion, 'a"e me a world5"iew 0 had ne"er had, e%tended me technicall$* 0 was a&le in the fiction that then came to me to ta@e in <n'land as well as the ,ari&&ean 5 and how hard that was to do* 0 was a&le also to ta@e in all the racial 'roups of the island, which 0 had ne"er &efore &een a&le to do*

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7his new fiction was a&out colonial shame and fantas$, a &oo@, in fact, a&out how the powerless lie a&out themsel"es, and lie to themsel"es, since it is their onl$ resource* 7he &oo@ was called 7he Mimic Men* And it was not a&out mimics* 0t was a&out colonial men mimic@in' the condition of manhood, men who had 'rown to distrust e"er$thin' a&out themsel"es* 9ome pa'es of this &oo@ were read to me the other da$ 5 0 hadnLt loo@ed at it for more than thirt$ $ears 5 and it occurred to me that 0 had &een writin' a&out colonial schi!ophrenia* But 0 hadnLt thou'ht of it li@e that* 0 had ne"er used a&stract words to descri&e an$ writin' purpose of mine* 0f 0 had, 0 would ne"er ha"e &een a&le to do the &oo@* 7he &oo@ was done intuiti"el$, and onl$ out of close o&ser"ation* 0 ha"e done this little sur"e$ of the earl$ part of m$ career to tr$ to show the sta'es &$ which, in Iust ten $ears, m$ &irthplace had altered or de"eloped in m$ writin': from the comed$ of street life to a stud$ of a @ind of widespread schi!ophrenia* Dhat was simple had &ecome complicated* Both fiction and the tra"el5&oo@ form ha"e 'i"en me m$ wa$ of loo@in'P and $ou will understand wh$ for me all literar$ forms are eFuall$ "alua&le* 0t came to me, for instance, when 0 set out to write m$ third &oo@ a&out 0ndia H twent$5si% $ears after the first H that what was most important a&out a tra"el &oo@ were the people the writer tra"elled amon'* 7he people had to define themsel"es* A simple enou'h idea, &ut it reFuired a new @ind of &oo@P it called for a new wa$ of tra"ellin'* And it was the "er$ method 0 used later when 0 went, for the second time, into the Muslim world* 0 ha"e alwa$s mo"ed &$ intuition alone* 0 ha"e no s$stem, literar$ or political* 0 ha"e no 'uidin' political idea* 0 thin@ that pro&a&l$ lies with m$ ancestr$* 7he 0ndian writer R = Nara$an, who died this $ear, had no political idea* M$ father, who wrote his stories in a "er$ dar@ time, and for no reward, had no political idea* erhaps it is &ecause we ha"e &een far from authorit$ for man$ centuries* 0t 'i"es us a special point of "iew* 0 feel we are more inclined to see the humour and pit$ of thin's* Nearl$ thirt$ $ears a'o 0 went to Ar'entina* 0t was at the time of the 'uerrilla crisis* eople were waitin' for the old dictator er[n to come &ac@ from e%ile* 7he countr$ was full of hate* eronists were waitin' to settle old scores* Gne such man said to me, #7here is 'ood torture and &ad torture*# +ood torture was what $ou did to the enemies of the people* Bad torture was what the enemies of the people did to $ou* eople on the other side were sa$in' the same thin'* 7here was no true de&ate a&out an$thin'* 7here was onl$ passion and the &orrowed political Iar'on of <urope* 0 wrote, #Dhere Iar'on turns li"in' issues into a&stractions, and where Iar'on ends &$ competin' with Iar'on, people donLt ha"e causes* 7he$ onl$ ha"e enemies*# And the passions of Ar'entina are still wor@in' themsel"es out, still defeatin' reason and consumin' li"es* No resolution is in si'ht* 0 am near the end of m$ wor@ now* 0 am 'lad to ha"e done what 0 ha"e done, 'lad creati"el$ to ha"e pushed m$self as far as 0 could 'o* Because of the intuiti"e wa$ in which 0 ha"e written, and also &ecause of the &afflin' nature of m$ material, e"er$ &oo@ has come as a &lessin'* <"er$ &oo@ has ama!ed meP up to the moment of writin' 0 ne"er @new it was there* But the 'reatest miracle for me was 'ettin' started* 0 feel H and the an%iet$ is still "i"id to me 5 that 0 mi'ht easil$ ha"e failed &efore 0 &e'an* 0 will end as 0 &e'an, with one of the mar"ellous little essa$s of roust in A'ainst 9ainte5Beu"e* #7he &eautiful thin's we shall write if we ha"e talent,# roust sa$s, #are inside us, indistinct, li@e the memor$ of a melod$ which deli'hts us thou'h we are una&le to recapture its outline* 7hose who are o&sessed &$ this &lurred memor$ of truths the$ ha"e ne"er @nown are the men who are 'ifted *** 7alent is li@e a sort of memor$ which will ena&le them finall$ to &rin' this indistinct music closer to them, to hear it clearl$, to note it down ***#

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7alent, roust sa$s* 0 would sa$ luc@, and much la&our* 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #No&el (ecture 5 (iterature ;001#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;001Anaipaul5lecture5e*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 9ablo Neru!a 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 19C1 was awarded to a&lo Neruda #for a poetr$ that with the action of an elemental force &rin's ali"e a continentLs destin$ and dreams#* Born: 1; )ul$ 1904, arral, ,hile 3ied: ;3 9eptem&er 19C3, 9antia'o, ,hile Residence at the time of the award: ,hile ri!e moti"ation: #for a poetr$ that with the action of an elemental force &rin's ali"e a continentLs destin$ and dreams# (an'ua'e: 9panish Biography a&lo Neruda 61904519C38, whose real name is Neftalk Ricardo Re$es Basoalto, was &orn on 1; )ul$, 1904, in the town of arral in ,hile* .is father was a railwa$ emplo$ee and his mother, who died shortl$ after his &irth, a teacher* 9ome $ears later his father, who had then mo"ed to the town of 7emuco, remarried dopa 7rinidad ,andia Mal"erde* 7he poet spent his childhood and $outh in 7emuco, where he also 'ot to @now +a&riela Mistral, head of the 'irlsL secondar$ school, who too@ a li@in' to him* At the earl$ a'e of thirteen he &e'an to contri&ute some articles to the dail$ #(a Mapana#, amon' them, <ntusiasmo $ erse"erancia 5 his first pu&lication 5 and his first poem* 0n 19;0, he &ecame a contri&utor to the literar$ Iournal #9el"a Austral# under the pen name of a&lo Neruda, which he adopted in memor$ of the ,!echoslo"a@ poet )an Neruda 61/3451/918* 9ome of the poems Neruda wrote at that time are to &e found in his first pu&lished &oo@: ,repusculario 619;38* 7he followin' $ear saw the pu&lication of Jeinte poemas de amor $ una cancion desesperada, one of his &est5@nown and most translated wor@s* Alon'side his literar$ acti"ities, Neruda studied French and peda'o'$ at the Rni"ersit$ of ,hile in 9antia'o* Between 19;C and 193Y, the 'o"ernment put him in char'e of a num&er of honorar$ consulships, which too@ him to Burma, ,e$lon, )a"a, 9in'apore, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Madrid* .is poetic production durin' that difficult period included, amon' other wor@s, the collection of esoteric surrealistic poems, Residencia en la tierra 619338, which mar@ed his literar$ &rea@throu'h* 7he 9panish ,i"il Dar and the murder of +arcka (orca, whom Neruda @new, affected him stron'l$ and made him Ioin the Repu&lican mo"ement, first in 9pain, and later in France, where he started wor@in' on his collection of poems <spapa en el ,ora![n 6193C8* 7he same $ear he returned to his nati"e countr$, to which he had &een recalled, and his poetr$ durin' the followin' period was characterised &$ an orientation towards political and social matters* <spapa en el ,ora![n had a 'reat impact &$ "irtue of its &ein' printed in the middle of the front durin' the ci"il war* 0n 1939, Neruda was appointed consul for the 9panish emi'ration, residin' in aris, and, shortl$ afterwards, ,onsul +eneral in Me%ico, where he rewrote his ,anto +eneral de ,hile, transformin' it into an epic poem a&out the whole 9outh American continent, its nature, its people and its historical destin$* 7his wor@, entitled ,anto +eneral, was pu&lished in Me%ico 19Y0, and also
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under'round in ,hile* 0t consists of appro%imatel$ ;Y0 poems &rou'ht to'ether into fifteen literar$ c$cles and constitutes the central part of NerudaLs production* 9hortl$ after its pu&lication, ,anto +eneral was translated into some ten lan'ua'es* Nearl$ all these poems were created in a difficult situation, when Neruda was li"in' a&road* 0n 1943, Neruda returned to ,hile, and in 194Y he was elected senator of the Repu&lic, also Ioinin' the ,ommunist art$ of ,hile* 3ue to his protests a'ainst resident +on!\le! JidelaLs repressi"e polic$ a'ainst stri@in' miners in 194C, he had to li"e under'round in his own countr$ for two $ears until he mana'ed to lea"e in 1949* After li"in' in different <uropean countries he returned home in 19Y;* A 'reat deal of what he pu&lished durin' that period &ears the stamp of his political acti"itiesP one e%ample is (as R"as $ el Jiento 619Y48, which can &e re'arded as the diar$ of NerudaLs e%ile* 0n Gdas elementales 619Y45 19Y98 his messa'e is e%panded into a more e%tensi"e description of the world, where the o&Iects of the h$mns 5 thin's, e"ents and relations 5 are dul$ presented in alpha&etic form* NerudaLs production is e%ceptionall$ e%tensi"e* For e%ample, his G&ras ,ompletas, constantl$ repu&lished, comprised 4Y9 pa'es in 19Y1P in 19:; the num&er of pa'es was 1,9;Y, and in 19:/ it amounted to 3,;3C, in two "olumes* Amon' his wor@s of the last few $ears can &e mentioned ,ien sonetos de amor 619Y98, which includes poems dedicated to his wife Matilde Rrrutia, Memorial de 0sla Ne'ra, a poetic wor@ of an auto&io'raphic character in fi"e "olumes, pu&lished on the occasion of his si%tieth &irthda$, Arte de paI\ros 619::8, (a Barcarola 619:C8, the pla$ Ful'or $ muerte de )oaFukn Murieta 619:C8, (as manos del dka 619:/8, Fin del mundo 619:98, (as piedras del cielo 619C08, and (a espada encendida* Further wor@s +eo'rafka infructuosaABarren +eo'raph$ 6poetr$8, 19C; <l mar $ las campanasA7he 9ea and the Bells, tr* 6poetr$8, 19C3 0ncitaci[n al ni%onicidio $ ala&an!a de la re"oluci[n chilenaAA ,all for the 3estruction of Ni%on and raise for the ,hilean Re"olution, tr* 6poetr$8, 19C4 <l cora![n amarilloA7he Zellow .eart 6poetr$8, 19C4 3efectos esco'idosA9elected Daste aper 6poetr$8, 19C4 <le'kaA<le'$ 6poetr$8, 19C4 ,onfieso Fue he "i"ido* MemoriasAMemoirs, tr* 6prose8, 19C4 ara nacer he nacidoA assions and 0mpressions, tr* 6prose8, 19C/ From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19:/519/0, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* a&lo Neruda died on 9eptem&er ;3, 19C3* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19C1 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: # a&lo Neruda 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19C1Aneruda*html Nobel Lecture No&el (ecture, 3ecem&er 13, 19C1 67ranslation8 ,o-ar!s the 6plen!i! City M$ speech is 'oin' to &e a lon' Iourne$, a trip that 0 ha"e ta@en throu'h re'ions that are distant
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and antipodean, &ut not for that reason an$ less similar to the landscape and the solitude in 9candina"ia* 0 refer to the wa$ in which m$ countr$ stretches down to the e%treme 9outh* 9o remote are we ,hileans that our &oundaries almost touch the 9outh ole, recallin' the 'eo'raph$ of 9weden, whose head reaches the snow$ northern re'ion of this planet* 3own there on those "ast e%panses in m$ nati"e countr$, where 0 was ta@en &$ e"ents which ha"e alread$ fallen into o&li"ion, one has to cross, and 0 was compelled to cross, the Andes to find the frontier of m$ countr$ with Ar'entina* +reat forests ma@e these inaccessi&le areas li@e a tunnel throu'h which our Iourne$ was secret and for&idden, with onl$ the faintest si'ns to show us the wa$* 7here were no trac@s and no paths, and 0 and m$ four companions, ridin' on horse&ac@, pressed forward on our tortuous wa$, a"oidin' the o&stacles set &$ hu'e trees, impassa&le ri"ers, immense cliffs and desolate e%panses of snow, &lindl$ see@in' the Fuarter in which m$ own li&ert$ la$* 7hose who were with me @new how to ma@e their wa$ forward &etween the dense lea"es of the forest, &ut to feel safer the$ mar@ed their route &$ slashin' with their machetes here and there in the &ar@ of the 'reat trees, lea"in' trac@s which the$ would follow &ac@ when the$ had left me alone with m$ destin$* <ach of us made his wa$ forward filled with this limitless solitude, with the 'reen and white silence of trees and hu'e trailin' plants and la$ers of soil laid down o"er centuries, amon' half5 fallen tree trun@s which suddenl$ appeared as fresh o&stacles to &ar our pro'ress* De were in a da!!lin' and secret world of nature which at the same time was a 'rowin' menace of cold, snow and persecution* <"er$thin' &ecame one: the solitude, the dan'er, the silence, and the ur'enc$ of m$ mission* 9ometimes we followed a "er$ faint trail, perhaps left &$ smu''lers or ordinar$ criminals in fli'ht, and we did not @now whether man$ of them had perished, surprised &$ the ic$ hands of winter, &$ the fearful snowstorms which suddenl$ ra'e in the Andes and en'ulf the tra"eller, &ur$in' him under a whiteness se"en store$s hi'h* Gn either side of the trail 0 could o&ser"e in the wild desolation somethin' which &etra$ed human acti"it$* 7here were piled up &ranches which had lasted out man$ winters, offerin's made &$ hundreds who had Iourne$ed there, crude &urial mounds in memor$ of the fallen, so that the passer should thin@ of those who had not &een a&le to stru''le on &ut had remained there under the snow for e"er* M$ comrades, too, hac@ed off with their machetes &ranches which &rushed our heads and &ent down o"er us from the colossal trees, from oa@s whose last lea"es were scatterin' &efore the winter storms* And 0 too left a tri&ute at e"er$ mound, a "isitin' card of wood, a &ranch from the forest to dec@ one or other of the 'ra"es of these un@nown tra"ellers* De had to cross a ri"er* Rp on the Andean summits there run small streams which cast themsel"es down with di!!$ and insane force, formin' waterfalls that stir up earth and stones with the "iolence the$ &rin' with them from the hei'hts* But this time we found calm water, a wide mirrorli@e e%panse which could &e forded* 7he horses splashed in, lost their foothold and &e'an to swim towards the other &an@* 9oon m$ horse was almost completel$ co"ered &$ the water, 0 &e'an to plun'e up and down without support, m$ feet fi'htin' desperatel$ while the horse stru''led to @eep its head a&o"e water* 7hen we 'ot across* And hardl$ we reached the further &an@ when the seasoned countr$fol@ with me as@ed me with scarce5concealed smiles: #Dere $ou fri'htenedE# #Jer$* 0 thou'ht m$ last hour had come#, 0 said* #De were &ehind $ou with our lassoes in our hands#, the$ answered* #)ust there#, added one of them, #m$ father fell and was swept awa$ &$ the current* 7hat didnLt happen to $ou*# De continued till we came to a natural tunnel which perhaps had &een &ored throu'h the imposin' roc@s &$ some mi'ht$ "anished ri"er or created &$ some tremor of the earth when these hei'hts
9;

had &een formed, a channel that we entered where it had &een car"ed out in the roc@ in 'ranite* After onl$ a few steps our horses &e'an to slip when the$ sou'ht for a foothold in the une"en surfaces of the stone and their le's were &ent, spar@s fl$in' from &eneath their iron shoes 5 se"eral times 0 e%pected to find m$self thrown off and l$in' there on the roc@* M$ horse was &leedin' from its mu!!le and from its le's, &ut we perse"ered and continued on the lon' and difficult &ut ma'nificent path* 7here was somethin' awaitin' us in the midst of this wild prime"al forest* 9uddenl$, as if in a stran'e "ision, we came to a &eautiful little meadow huddled amon' the roc@s: clear water, 'reen 'rass, wild flowers, the purlin' of &roo@s and the &lue hea"en a&o"e, a 'enerous stream of li'ht unimpeded &$ lea"es* 7here we stopped as if within a ma'ic circle, as if 'uests within some hallowed place, and the ceremon$ 0 now too@ part in had still more the air of somethin' sacred* 7he cowherds dismounted from their horses* 0n the midst of the space, set up as if in a rite, was the s@ull of an o%* 0n silence the men approached it one after the other and put coins and food in the e$esoc@ets of the s@ull* 0 Ioined them in this sacrifice intended for stra$ tra"ellers, all @inds of refu'ees who would find &read and succour in the dead o%Ls e$e soc@ets* But the unfor'etta&le ceremon$ did not end there* M$ countr$ friends too@ off their hats and &e'an a stran'e dance, hoppin' on one foot around the a&andoned s@ull, mo"in' in the rin' of footprints left &ehind &$ the man$ others who had passed there &efore them* 3iml$ 0 understood, there &$ the side of m$ inscruta&le companions, that there was a @ind of lin@ &etween un@nown people, a care, an appeal and an answer e"en in the most distant and isolated solitude of this world* Further on, Iust &efore we reached the frontier which was to di"ide me from m$ nati"e land for man$ $ears, we came at ni'ht to the last pass &etween the mountains* 9uddenl$ we saw the 'low of a fire as a sure si'n of a human presence, and when we came nearer we found some half5ruined &uildin's, poor ho"els which seemed to ha"e &een a&andoned* De went into one of them and saw the 'low of fire from tree trun@s &urnin' in the middle of the floor, carcasses of hu'e trees, which &urnt there da$ and ni'ht and from which came smo@e that made its wa$ up throu'h the crac@s in the roof and rose up li@e a deep5&lue "eil in the midst of the dar@ness* De saw mountains of stac@ed cheeses, which are made &$ the people in these hi'h re'ions* Near the fire la$ a num&er of men 'rouped li@e sac@s* 0n the silence we could distin'uish the notes of a 'uitar and words in a son' which was &orn of the em&ers and the dar@ness, and which carried with it the first human "oice we had encountered durin' our Iourne$* 0t was a son' of lo"e and distance, a cr$ of lo"e and lon'in' for the distant sprin', from the towns we were comin' awa$ from, for life in its limitless e%tent* 7hese men did not @now who we were, the$ @new nothin' a&out our fli'ht, the$ had ne"er heard either m$ name or m$ poetr$P or perhaps the$ did, perhaps the$ @new usE Dhat actuall$ happened was that at this fire we san' and we ate, and then in the dar@ness we went into some primiti"e rooms* 7hrou'h them flowed a warm stream, "olcanic water in which we &athed, warmth which welled out from the mountain chain and recei"ed us in its &osom* .appil$ we splashed a&out, du' oursel"es out, as it were, li&erated oursel"es from the wei'ht of the lon' Iourne$ on horse&ac@* De felt refreshed, re&orn, &aptised, when in the dawn we started on the Iourne$ of a few miles which was to eclipse me from m$ nati"e land* De rode awa$ on our horses sin'in', filled with a new air, with a force that cast us out on to the worldLs &road hi'hwa$ which awaited me* 7his 0 remem&er well, that when we sou'ht to 'i"e the mountain dwellers a few coins in 'ratitude for their son's, for the food, for the warm water, for 'i"in' us lod'in' and &eds, 0 would rather sa$ for the une%pected hea"enl$ refu'e that had met us on our Iourne$, our offerin' was reIected out of hand* 7he$ had &een at our ser"ice, nothin' more* 0n this taciturn #nothin'# there were hidden thin's that were understood, perhaps a reco'nition, perhaps the same @ind of dreams* (adies and +entlemen,

93

0 did not learn from &oo@s an$ recipe for writin' a poem, and 0, in m$ turn, will a"oid 'i"in' an$ ad"ice on mode or st$le which mi'ht 'i"e the new poets e"en a drop of supposed insi'ht* Dhen 0 am recountin' in this speech somethin' a&out past e"ents, when reli"in' on this occasion a ne"er5 for'otten occurrence, in this place which is so different from what that was, it is &ecause in the course of m$ life 0 ha"e alwa$s found somewhere the necessar$ support, the formula which had &een waitin' for me not in order to &e petrified in m$ words &ut in order to e%plain me to m$self* 3urin' this lon' Iourne$ 0 found the necessar$ components for the ma@in' of the poem* 7here 0 recei"ed contri&utions from the earth and from the soul* And 0 &elie"e that poetr$ is an action, ephemeral or solemn, in which there enter as eFual partners solitude and solidarit$, emotion and action, the nearness to oneself, the nearness to man@ind and to the secret manifestations of nature* And no less stron'l$ 0 thin@ that all this is sustained 5 man and his shadow, man and his conduct, man and his poetr$ 5 &$ an e"er5wider sense of communit$, &$ an effort which will for e"er &rin' to'ether the realit$ and the dreams in us &ecause it is precisel$ in this wa$ that poetr$ unites and min'les them* And therefore 0 sa$ that 0 do not @now, after so man$ $ears, whether the lessons 0 learned when 0 crossed a dauntin' ri"er, when 0 danced around the s@ull of an o%, when 0 &athed m$ &od$ in the cleansin' water from the topmost hei'hts 5 0 do not @now whether these lessons welled forth from me in order to &e imparted to man$ others or whether it was all a messa'e which was sent to me &$ others as a demand or an accusation* 0 do not @now whether 0 e%perienced this or created it, 0 do not @now whether it was truth or poetr$, somethin' passin' or permanent, the poems 0 e%perienced in this hour, the e%periences which 0 later put into "erse* From all this, m$ friends, there arises an insi'ht which the poet must learn throu'h other people* 7here is no insurmounta&le solitude* All paths lead to the same 'oal: to con"e$ to others what we are* And we must pass throu'h solitude and difficult$, isolation and silence in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clums$ dance and sin' our sorrowful son' 5 &ut in this dance or in this son' there are fulfilled the most ancient rites of our conscience in the awareness of &ein' human and of &elie"in' in a common destin$* 7he truth is that e"en if some or man$ consider me to &e a sectarian, &arred from ta@in' a place at the common ta&le of friendship and responsi&ilit$, 0 do not wish to defend m$self, for 0 &elie"e that neither accusation nor defence is amon' the tas@s of the poet* Dhen all is said, there is no indi"idual poet who administers poetr$, and if a poet sets himself up to accuse his fellows or if some other poet wastes his life in defendin' himself a'ainst reasona&le or unreasona&le char'es, it is m$ con"iction that onl$ "anit$ can so mislead us* 0 consider the enemies of poetr$ to &e found not amon' those who practise poetr$ or 'uard it &ut in mere lac@ of a'reement in the poet* For this reason no poet has an$ considera&le enem$ other than his own incapacit$ to ma@e himself understood &$ the most for'otten and e%ploited of his contemporaries, and this applies to all epochs and in all countries* 7he poet is not a #little 'od#* No, he is not a #little 'od#* .e is not pic@ed out &$ a m$stical destin$ in preference to those who follow other crafts and professions* 0 ha"e often maintained that the &est poet is he who prepares our dail$ &read: the nearest &a@er who does not ima'ine himself to &e a 'od* .e does his maIestic and unpretentious wor@ of @neadin' the dou'h, consi'nin' it to the o"en, &a@in' it in 'olden colours and handin' us our dail$ &read as a dut$ of fellowship* And, if the poet succeeds in achie"in' this simple consciousness, this too will &e transformed into an element in an immense acti"it$, in a simple or complicated structure which constitutes the &uildin' of a communit$, the chan'in' of the conditions which surround man@ind, the handin' o"er of man@indLs products: &read, truth, wine, dreams* 0f the poet Ioins this ne"er5completed stru''le to e%tend to the hands of each and all his part of his underta@in', his effort and his tenderness to the dail$ wor@ of all people, then the poet must ta@e part, the poet will ta@e part, in the sweat, in the &read, in the wine, in the whole dream of humanit$* Gnl$ in this indispensa&le wa$ of &ein' ordinar$ people shall we 'i"e &ac@ to poetr$ the mi'ht$ &readth which has &een pared awa$ from it little &$ little in e"er$ epoch, Iust as we oursel"es ha"e &een whittled down in e"er$ epoch*
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7he mista@es which led me to a relati"e truth and the truths which repeatedl$ led me &ac@ to the mista@es did not allow me 5 and 0 ne"er made an$ claims to it 5 to find m$ wa$ to lead, to learn what is called the creati"e process, to reach the hei'hts of literature that are so difficult of access* But one thin' 0 reali!ed 5 that it is we oursel"es who call forth the spirits throu'h our own m$th5 ma@in'* From the matter we use, or wish to use, there arise later on o&stacles to our own de"elopment and the future de"elopment* De are led infalli&l$ to realit$ and realism, that is to sa$ to &ecome indirectl$ conscious of e"er$thin' that surrounds us and of the wa$s of chan'e, and then we see, when it seems to &e late, that we ha"e erected such an e%a''erated &arrier that we are @illin' what is ali"e instead of helpin' life to de"elop and &lossom* De force upon oursel"es a realism which later pro"es to &e more &urdensome than the &ric@s of the &uildin', without ha"in' erected the &uildin' which we had re'arded as an indispensa&le part of our tas@* And, in the contrar$ case, if we succeed in creatin' the fetish of the incomprehensi&le 6or the fetish of that which is comprehensi&le onl$ to a few8, the fetish of the e%clusi"e and the secret, if we e%clude realit$ and its realistic de'enerations, then we find oursel"es suddenl$ surrounded &$ an impossi&le countr$, a Fua'mire of lea"es, of mud, of cloud, where our feet sin@ in and we are stifled &$ the impossi&ilit$ of communicatin'* As far as we in particular are concerned, we writers within the tremendousl$ far5flun' American re'ion, we listen unceasin'l$ to the call to fill this mi'ht$ "oid with &ein's of flesh and &lood* De are conscious of our dut$ as fulfillers 5 at the same time we are faced with the una"oida&le tas@ of critical communication within a world which is empt$ and is not less full of inIustices, punishments and sufferin's &ecause it is empt$ 5 and we feel also the responsi&ilit$ for reawa@enin' the old dreams which sleep in statues of stone in the ruined ancient monuments, in the wide5stretchin' silence in planetar$ plains, in dense prime"al forests, in ri"ers which roar li@e thunder* De must fill with words the most distant places in a dum& continent and we are into%icated &$ this tas@ of ma@in' fa&les and 'i"in' names* 7his is perhaps what is decisi"e in m$ own hum&le case, and if so m$ e%a''erations or m$ a&undance or m$ rhetoric would not &e an$thin' other than the simplest of e"ents within the dail$ wor@ of an American* <ach and e"er$ one of m$ "erses has chosen to ta@e its place as a tan'i&le o&Iect, each and e"er$ one of m$ poems has claimed to &e a useful wor@in' instrument, each and e"er$ one of m$ son's has endea"oured to ser"e as a si'n in space for a meetin' &etween paths which cross one another, or as a piece of stone or wood on which someone, some others, those who follow after, will &e a&le to car"e the new si'ns* B$ e%tendin' to these e%treme conseFuences the poetLs dut$, in truth or in error, 0 determined that m$ posture within the communit$ and &efore life should &e that of in a hum&le wa$ ta@in' sides* 0 decided this when 0 saw so man$ honoura&le misfortunes, lone "ictories, splendid defeats* 0n the midst of the arena of AmericaLs stru''les 0 saw that m$ human tas@ was none other than to Ioin the e%tensi"e forces of the or'ani!ed masses of the people, to Ioin with life and soul with sufferin' and hope, &ecause it is onl$ from this 'reat popular stream that the necessar$ chan'es can arise for the authors and for the nations* And e"en if m$ attitude 'a"e and still 'i"es rise to &itter or friendl$ o&Iections, the truth is that 0 can find no other wa$ for an author in our far5flun' and cruel countries, if we want the dar@ness to &lossom, if we are concerned that the millions of people who ha"e learnt neither to read us nor to read at all, who still cannot write or write to us, are to feel at home in the area of di'nit$ without which it is impossi&le for them to &e complete human &ein's* De ha"e inherited this dama'ed life of peoples dra''in' &ehind them the &urden of the condemnation of centuries, the most paradisaical of peoples, the purest, those who with stones and metals made mar"ellous towers, Iewels of da!!lin' &rilliance 5 peoples who were suddenl$ despoiled and silenced in the fearful epochs of colonialism which still lin'er on* Gur ori'inal 'uidin' stars are stru''le and hope* But there is no such thin' as a lone stru''le, no such thin' as a lone hope* 0n e"er$ human &ein' are com&ined the most distant epochs, passi"it$,
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mista@es, sufferin's, the pressin' ur'encies of our own time, the pace of histor$* But what would ha"e &ecome of me if, for e%ample, 0 had contri&uted in some wa$ to the maintenance of the feudal past of the 'reat American continentE .ow should 0 then ha"e &een a&le to raise m$ &row, illuminated &$ the honour which 9weden has conferred on me, if 0 had not &een a&le to feel some pride in ha"in' ta@en part, e"en to a small e%tent, in the chan'e which has now come o"er m$ countr$E 0t is necessar$ to loo@ at the map of America, to place oneself &efore its splendid multiplicit$, &efore the cosmic 'enerosit$ of the wide places which surround us, in order to understand wh$ man$ writers refuse to share the dishonour and plunderin' of the past, of all that which dar@ 'ods ha"e ta@en awa$ from the American peoples* 0 chose the difficult wa$ of di"ided responsi&ilit$ and, rather than to repeat the worship of the indi"idual as the sun and centre of the s$stem, 0 ha"e preferred to offer m$ ser"ices in all modest$ to an honoura&le arm$ which ma$ from time to time commit mista@es &ut which mo"es forward unceasin'l$ and stru''les e"er$ da$ a'ainst the anachronism of the refractor$ and the impatience of the opinionated* For 0 &elie"e that m$ duties as a poet in"ol"e friendship not onl$ with the rose and with s$mmetr$, with e%alted lo"e and endless lon'in', &ut also with unrelentin' human occupations which 0 ha"e incorporated into m$ poetr$* 0t is toda$ e%actl$ one hundred $ears since an unhapp$ and &rilliant poet, the most awesome of all despairin' souls, wrote down this prophec$: #A lLaurore, arm-s dLune ardente patience, nous entrerons au% splendides Jilles*# #0n the dawn, armed with a &urnin' patience, we shall enter the splendid ,ities*# 0 &elie"e in this prophec$ of Rim&aud, the Jisionar$* 0 come from a dar@ re'ion, from a land separated from all others &$ the steep contours of its 'eo'raph$* 0 was the most forlorn of poets and m$ poetr$ was pro"incial, oppressed and rain$* But alwa$s 0 had put m$ trust in man* 0 ne"er lost hope* 0t is perhaps &ecause of this that 0 ha"e reached as far as 0 now ha"e with m$ poetr$ and also with m$ &anner* (astl$, 0 wish to sa$ to the people of 'ood will, to the wor@ers, to the poets, that the whole future has &een e%pressed in this line &$ Rim&aud: onl$ with a &urnin' patience can we conFuer the splendid ,it$ which will 'i"e li'ht, Iustice and di'nit$ to all man@ind* 0n this wa$ the son' will not ha"e &een sun' in "ain* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19:/519/0, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993 ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19C1 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: # a&lo Neruda 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19C1Aneruda5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^ %rhan 9a)u2 Born: C )une 19Y;, 0stan&ul, 7ur@e$ Residence at the time of the award: 7ur@e$ ri!e moti"ation: #who in the Fuest for the melancholic soul of his nati"e cit$ has disco"ered new s$m&ols for the clash and interlacin' of cultures# (an'ua'e: 7ur@ish 'utobiography .alf of m$ &oo@ 0stan&ul is a&out the cit$P the other half chronicles the first ;; $ears of m$ life* 0
9:

remem&er m$ hu'e disillusionment when it was finished* Gf all the thin's 0 had wanted to e%press a&out m$ life, of all the memories that 0 considered the most crucial, onl$ a few had found their wa$ into the &oo@* 0 could ha"e written another twent$ "olumes descri&in' the first twent$two $ears of m$ life, each one drawin' from a different set of e%periences* 0t was then that 0 disco"ered that auto&io'raphies ser"ed not to preser"e our pasts, &ut to help us for'et them* 0 was &orn in 0stan&ul in 19Y;* M$ 'randfather was a successful ci"il en'ineer and &usinessman who made his fortune &uildin' railroads and factories* M$ father followed in his footsteps, &ut instead of ma@in' mone$, he @ept losin' it* 0 was educated in pri"ate schools in 0stan&ul, and after stud$in' architecture for three $ears, 0 dropped out, enrolled in a Iournalism course, and set out to &ecome a writer* Between the a'es of C and ;;, 0 dreamed of &ein' a painter* 3urin' m$ childhood and earl$ $outh, 0 painted with a happ$ and passionate sense of purpose* But &$ the time 0 stopped paintin' at the a'e of ;;, 0 @new that 0 had no choice &ut to de"ote m$ life to art* At the same time, 0 had no idea wh$ 0 'a"e up paintin' at the a'e of ;; and &e'an to write m$ first no"el, ,e"det Be$ and 9ons* 0t was to e%plore that m$ster$ that, $ears later, 0 wrote 0stan&ul* Dhen 0 loo@ &ac@ on m$ life up to the a'e of Y4, 0 see a person who has wor@ed lon' hours at a des@, in &oth happiness and in miser$* 0 ha"e written m$ &oo@s with care, patience, and 'ood intentions, &elie"in' in each and e"er$ one* 9uccess, fame, professional happinesss these did not come to me easil$* 7oda$ m$ no"els ha"e &een translated into YY lan'ua'es, &ut the hardest thin' was findin' a 7ur@ish pu&lisher for m$ first no"el* 0t too@ me four $ears to find a pu&lisher to ta@e on ,e"det Be$ and 9ons* 7his despite the fact that it had won a national pri!e for unpu&lished no"els *** 0n 19/; H at a&out the same time that 0 pu&lished m$ first no"el, 0 married A$lin 7cre'cn, and &ecause we had &oth 'rown up in the same affluent, westernised 0stan&ul nei'h&ourhood, wal@in' the same streets and H &efore we e"er @new each other H attendin' the same schools, 0 used to tease her &$ sa$in' 0 had Lmarried a 'irl from m$ "illa'eL* Gur dau'hter was &orn in 1991, and we named her after Rc$a, the heroine of 7he Blac@ Boo@* 0 ha"e made m$ li"in' e%clusi"el$ from writin'* Between 19/Y and 19//, 0 was a "isitin' scholar at ,olum&ia Rni"ersit$ in New Zor@, while m$ wife was wor@in' on her doctorate at the same uni"ersit$* 0 was 'reatl$ impressed &$ the richness of AmericaLs li&raries, &oo@stores, and museums* M$ wife and 0 were di"orced in ;00;* 9he and our dau'hter remain m$ &est friends* 0n ;00:, a month &efore 0 won the No&el ri!e, 0 &e'an to teach at ,olum&ia Rni"ersit$ for one semester a $ear* For me, a 'ood da$ is a da$ li@e an$ other, when 0 ha"e written one pa'e well* <%cept for the hours 0 spend writin', life seems to me to &e flawed, deficient, and senseless* 7hose who @now me well understand how dependent 0 am on writin', ta&les, pens, and white paper, &ut the$ still ur'e me to Lta@e a &it of time off, do some tra"ellin', enIo$ life_L 7hose who @now me e"en &etter understand that m$ 'reatest happiness is writin', so the$ tell me that nothin' that @eeps me far from writin', paper, and in@ will e"er do me an$ 'ood* 0 am one of those rare happ$ creatures who ha"e &een a&le to do what the$ most desired, and who ha"e &een a&le to de"ote themsel"es to that tas@ to the e%clusion of all else* 0 spent m$ childhood in a lar'e famil$ surrounded &$ uncles and aunts* M$ two first no"els, ,e"det Be$ and 9ons, and 9ilent .ouse, are famil$ sa'as* 0 enIo$ descri&in' crowded famil$ 'atherin's H the meals the$ eat to'ether, the feuds, and the Fuarrels* But with the passa'e of time, as our fortunes dwindled and our famil$ dispersed, it 'raduall$ ceased to &e a source of protection or a centre to which 0 felt o&li'ed to return* <"er$ ni'ht, when 0 curl up in &ed and pull m$ Fuilt o"er me, 0 am swept awa$ &$ a sweet fear that wal@s &etween solitude and dreams, the &eauties of life, and its cruelties, and it is then that 0 shi"er in the same wa$ 0 did when 0 listened to scar$ stories, or read fair$ tales, as a child*
9C

0n 9ilent .ouse, it was throu'h m$ 'randmotherLs monolo'ues that 0 tried to penetrate this world &etween sleep and wa@efulness* 7here are traces of that same world in 7he Dhite ,astle, which also e%plores the shadows &etween dreams and realit$, ima'ination and histor$* But it was in 7he Blac@ Boo@, which 0 &e'an in 19/Y, that 0 felt 0 found m$ own "oice* 0 was 33 $ears old at the time, li"in' in New Zor@, and as@in' m$self hard Fuestions a&out who 0 was, and a&out m$ histor$* 0 spent all m$ time in m$ room in the ,olum&ia (i&rar$, readin' and writin'* 3urin' m$ time in New Zor@, m$ lon'in' for 0stan&ul mi%ed in with m$ fascination for the wonders of Gttoman, ersian, Ara&, and 0slamic culture* 7he Blac@ Boo@ was a &oo@ that too@ me a "er$ lon' time to plan, a &oo@ that 0 wrote without @nowin' e%actl$ what 0 was doin', feelin' m$ wa$ forward li@e a &lind man* 0 am still surprised that 0 was a&le to finish it* 7he New (ife is a l$rical e%ploration of the thin' 0 first disco"ered in 7he Blac@ Boo@, this time not in 0stan&ul, &ut in Anatolia* M$ Name is Red is the no"el that perple%es m$ mother: she alwa$s tells me that she cannot understand how 0 wrote it ***7here is nothin' in an$ of m$ other no"els that surprises herP she @nows that 0 drew upon the stuff of m$ own life* But in M$ Name is Red there is an aspect that she cannot connect with this son she @nows so well, this son a&out whom she is certain that she @nows e"er$thin's 7his must, in m$ "iew, &e the 'reatest compliment to an$ writer can hear: to hear from his mother that his &oo@s are wiser than he is* Dhat has surprised me the most was the popularit$ of 9now* 0n the &e'innin' 0 thou'ht this was down to 'rowin' interest in political 0slam, the clash of <ast5Dest stereot$pes and their reflections in e"er$da$ life* But now 0 ha"e come to thin@ that what sets the &oo@ apart is what transpires in the .otel Asia when the political acti"ists are furiousl$ preparin' their statements* But in so thin@in', 0 ma$ ha"e a'ain misread m$ readersL minds* 0n the earl$ nineties, when 0 was @nown onl$ in 7ur@e$, and 7ur@ish Iournalists would sometimes as@ me in a hostile wa$ wh$ people li@ed m$ &oo@s, and wh$ 0 was so widel$ read, 0Ld come up with all sorts of reasons that 0 li@ed a 'reat deal, &ut now 0 donLt &elie"e a sin'le one of them* (ater on, when 0 slowl$ came to &e read all o"er the world, forei'n Iournalists and literar$ critics &e'an to as@ the same Fuestion* 0 write the &oo@s 0 m$self would li@e to read* And sometimes 0 ta@e this to mean that e"er$one in the world shares m$ feelin's* 7his attempt to e%plain the popularit$ of m$ &oo@s is pro&a&l$ as mis'uided as all the others* <"en so, tal@in' a&out oneLs &oo@s is as pointless as tal@in' a&out oneLs life* 0n the end, a writer will see his life as more important than his &oo@s* But it is those &oo@s that 'i"e life its meanin' and "alue* From the a'e of ;;, when 0 &e'an to write no"els, 0 ha"e ne"er &een a&le to separate m$ life from m$ no"els* 0 thin@ that the &oo@s 0 shall write in the future will &e thou'ht more entertainin', and more important, than m$ life* 0 ta@e this to mean that a person must loo@ ahead to the moment of his death, that he must resi'n himself to that moment* 3espite this, it still seems that there is a lot of time left* Because as 0 write these words at the a'e of Y4 in April ;00C, 0 @now that m$ life has lon' since passed its midpoint, &ut, ha"in' written for thirt$5two $ears now, 0 &elie"e that 0 am at the midpoint of m$ career* 0 must ha"e another thirt$5two $ears in which to write more &oo@s, and to surprise m$ mother and other readers at least one more time* 7ranslation from 7ur@ish &$ Maureen Freel$ From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;00:, <ditor =arl +randin, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;00C 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;00: 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<:
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M(A st$le: #Grhan amu@ 5 Auto&io'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00:Apamu@*html 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;00: Nobel Lecture Ba&amxn &a"ulu 6M$ FatherLs 9uitcase8 Grhan amu@ deli"ered his No&el (ecture, C 3ecem&er ;00:, at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm* .e was introduced &$ .orace <n'dahl, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* 7he lecture was deli"ered in 7ur@ish* 3ecem&er C, ;00: My $ather:s 6uitcase 7wo $ears &efore his death, m$ father 'a"e me a small suitcase filled with his writin's, manuscripts and note&oo@s* Assumin' his usual Io@in', moc@in' air, he told me he wanted me to read them after he was 'one, &$ which he meant after he died* L)ust ta@e a loo@,L he said, loo@in' sli'htl$ em&arrassed* L9ee if thereLs an$thin' inside that $ou can use* Ma$&e after 0Lm 'one $ou can ma@e a selection and pu&lish it*L De were in m$ stud$, surrounded &$ &oo@s* M$ father was searchin' for a place to set down the suitcase, wanderin' &ac@ and forth li@e a man who wished to rid himself of a painful &urden* 0n the end, he deposited it Fuietl$ in an uno&trusi"e corner* 0t was a shamin' moment that neither of us e"er for'ot, &ut once it had passed and we had 'one &ac@ into our usual roles, ta@in' life li'htl$, our Io@in', moc@in' personas too@ o"er and we rela%ed* De tal@ed as we alwa$s did, a&out the tri"ial thin's of e"er$da$ life, and 7ur@e$Ls ne"erendin' political trou&les, and m$ fatherLs mostl$ failed &usiness "entures, without feelin' too much sorrow* 0 remem&er that after m$ father left, 0 spent se"eral da$s wal@in' &ac@ and forth past the suitcase without once touchin' it* 0 was alread$ familiar with this small, &lac@, leather suitcase, and its loc@, and its rounded corners* M$ father would ta@e it with him on short trips and sometimes use it to carr$ documents to wor@* 0 remem&ered that when 0 was a child, and m$ father came home from a trip, 0 would open this little suitcase and rumma'e throu'h his thin's, sa"ourin' the scent of colo'ne and forei'n countries* 7his suitcase was a familiar friend, a powerful reminder of m$ childhood, m$ past, &ut now 0 couldnLt e"en touch it* Dh$E No dou&t it was &ecause of the m$sterious wei'ht of its contents* 0 am now 'oin' to spea@ of this wei'htLs meanin'* 0t is what a person creates when he shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a ta&le, and retires to a corner to e%press his thou'hts H that is, the meanin' of literature* Dhen 0 did touch m$ fatherLs suitcase, 0 still could not &rin' m$self to open it, &ut 0 did @now what was inside some of those note&oo@s* 0 had seen m$ father writin' thin's in a few of them* 7his was not the first time 0 had heard of the hea"$ load inside the suitcase* M$ father had a lar'e li&rar$P in his $outh, in the late 1940s, he had wanted to &e an 0stan&ul poet, and had translated Jal-r$ into 7ur@ish, &ut he had not wanted to li"e the sort of life that came with writin' poetr$ in a poor countr$ with few readers* M$ fatherLs father H m$ 'randfather H had &een a wealth$ &usiness manP m$ father had led a comforta&le life as a child and a $oun' man, and he had no wish to endure hardship for the sa@e of literature, for writin'* .e lo"ed life with all its &eauties H this 0 understood* 7he first thin' that @ept me distant from the contents of m$ fatherLs suitcase was, of course, the fear that 0 mi'ht not li@e what 0 read* Because m$ father @new this, he had ta@en the precaution of
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actin' as if he did not ta@e its contents seriousl$* After wor@in' as a writer for ;Y $ears, it pained me to see this* But 0 did not e"en want to &e an'r$ at m$ father for failin' to ta@e literature seriousl$ enou'h *** M$ real fear, the crucial thin' that 0 did not wish to @now or disco"er, was the possi&ilit$ that m$ father mi'ht &e a 'ood writer* 0 couldnLt open m$ fatherLs suitcase &ecause 0 feared this* <"en worse, 0 couldnLt e"en admit this m$self openl$* 0f true and 'reat literature emer'ed from m$ fatherLs suitcase, 0 would ha"e to ac@nowled'e that inside m$ father there e%isted an entirel$ different man* 7his was a fri'htenin' possi&ilit$* Because e"en at m$ ad"anced a'e 0 wanted m$ father to &e onl$ m$ father H not a writer* A writer is someone who spends $ears patientl$ tr$in' to disco"er the second &ein' inside him, and the world that ma@es him who he is: when 0 spea@ of writin', what comes first to m$ mind is not a no"el, a poem, or literar$ tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a ta&le, and alone, turns inwardP amid its shadows, he &uilds a new world with words* 7his man H or this woman H ma$ use a t$pewriter, profit from the ease of a computer, or write with a pen on paper, as 0 ha"e done for 30 $ears* As he writes, he can drin@ tea or coffee, or smo@e ci'arettes* From time to time he ma$ rise from his ta&le to loo@ out throu'h the window at the children pla$in' in the street, and, if he is luc@$, at trees and a "iew, or he can 'a!e out at a &lac@ wall* .e can write poems, pla$s, or no"els, as 0 do* All these differences come after the crucial tas@ of sittin' down at the ta&le and patientl$ turnin' inwards* 7o write is to turn this inward 'a!e into words, to stud$ the world into which that person passes when he retires into himself, and to do so with patience, o&stinac$, and Io$* As 0 sit at m$ ta&le, for da$s, months, $ears, slowl$ addin' new words to the empt$ pa'e, 0 feel as if 0 am creatin' a new world, as if 0 am &rin'in' into &ein' that other person inside me, in the same wa$ someone mi'ht &uild a &rid'e or a dome, stone &$ stone* 7he stones we writers use are words* As we hold them in our hands, sensin' the wa$s in which each of them is connected to the others, loo@in' at them sometimes from afar, sometimes almost caressin' them with our fin'ers and the tips of our pens, wei'hin' them, mo"in' them around, $ear in and $ear out, patientl$ and hopefull$, we create new worlds* 7he writerLs secret is not inspiration H for it is ne"er clear where it comes from H it is his stu&&ornness, his patience* 7hat lo"el$ 7ur@ish sa$in' H to di' a well with a needle H seems to me to ha"e &een said with writers in mind* 0n the old stories, 0 lo"e the patience of Ferhat, who di's throu'h mountains for his lo"e H and 0 understand it, too* 0n m$ no"el, M$ Name is Red, when 0 wrote a&out the old ersian miniaturists who had drawn the same horse with the same passion for so man$ $ears, memorisin' each stro@e, that the$ could recreate that &eautiful horse e"en with their e$es closed, 0 @new 0 was tal@in' a&out the writin' profession, and m$ own life* 0f a writer is to tell his own stor$ H tell it slowl$, and as if it were a stor$ a&out other people H if he is to feel the power of the stor$ rise up inside him, if he is to sit down at a ta&le and patientl$ 'i"e himself o"er to this art H this craft H he must first ha"e &een 'i"en some hope* 7he an'el of inspiration 6who pa$s re'ular "isits to some and rarel$ calls on others8 fa"ours the hopeful and the confident, and it is when a writer feels most lonel$, when he feels most dou&tful a&out his efforts, his dreams, and the "alue of his writin' H when he thin@s his stor$ is onl$ his stor$ H it is at such moments that the an'el chooses to re"eal to him stories, ima'es and dreams that will draw out the world he wishes to &uild* 0f 0 thin@ &ac@ on the &oo@s to which 0 ha"e de"oted m$ entire life, 0 am most surprised &$ those moments when 0 ha"e felt as if the sentences, dreams, and pa'es that ha"e made me so ecstaticall$ happ$ ha"e not come from m$ own ima'ination H that another power has found them and 'enerousl$ presented them to me* 0 was afraid of openin' m$ fatherLs suitcase and readin' his note&oo@s &ecause 0 @new that he would not tolerate the difficulties 0 had endured, that it was not solitude he lo"ed &ut mi%in' with friends, crowds, salons, Io@es, compan$* But later m$ thou'hts too@ a different turn* 7hese thou'hts, these dreams of renunciation and patience, were preIudices 0 had deri"ed from m$ own life and m$ own e%perience as a writer* 7here were plent$ of &rilliant writers who wrote surrounded &$ crowds and famil$ life, in the 'low of compan$ and happ$ chatter* 0n addition, m$ father had, when we were $oun', tired of the monoton$ of famil$ life, and left us to 'o to aris,
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where H li@e so man$ writers H heLd sat in his hotel room fillin' note&oo@s* 0 @new, too, that some of those "er$ note&oo@s were in this suitcase, &ecause durin' the $ears &efore he &rou'ht it to me, m$ father had finall$ &e'un to tal@ to me a&out that period in his life* .e spo@e a&out those $ears e"en when 0 was a child, &ut he would not mention his "ulnera&ilities, his dreams of &ecomin' a writer, or the Fuestions of identit$ that had pla'ued him in his hotel room* .e would tell me instead a&out all the times heLd seen 9artre on the pa"ements of aris, a&out the &oo@s heLd read and the films heLd seen, all with the elated sincerit$ of someone impartin' "er$ important news* Dhen 0 &ecame a writer, 0 ne"er for'ot that it was partl$ than@s to the fact that 0 had a father who would tal@ of world writers so much more than he spo@e of pashas or 'reat reli'ious leaders* 9o perhaps 0 had to read m$ fatherLs note&oo@s with this in mind, and remem&erin' how inde&ted 0 was to his lar'e li&rar$* 0 had to &ear in mind that when he was li"in' with us, m$ father, li@e me, enIo$ed &ein' alone with his &oo@s and his thou'hts H and not pa$ too much attention to the literar$ Fualit$ of his writin'* But as 0 'a!ed so an%iousl$ at the suitcase m$ father had &eFueathed me, 0 also felt that this was the "er$ thin' 0 would not &e a&le to do* M$ father would sometimes stretch out on the di"an in front of his &oo@s, a&andon the &oo@ in his hand, or the ma'a!ine and drift off into a dream, lose himself for the lon'est time in his thou'hts* Dhen 0 saw on his face an e%pression so "er$ different from the one he wore amid the Io@in', teasin', and &ic@erin' of famil$ life H when 0 saw the first si'ns of an inward 'a!e H 0 would, especiall$ durin' m$ childhood and m$ earl$ $outh, understand, with trepidation, that he was discontent* Now, so man$ $ears later, 0 @now that this discontent is the &asic trait that turns a person into a writer* 7o &ecome a writer, patience and toil are not enou'h: we must first feel compelled to escape crowds, compan$, the stuff of ordinar$, e"er$da$ life, and shut oursel"es up in a room* De wish for patience and hope so that we can create a deep world in our writin'* But the desire to shut oneself up in a room is what pushes us into action* 7he precursor of this sort of independent writer H who reads his &oo@s to his heartLs content, and who, &$ listenin' onl$ to the "oice of his own conscience, disputes with otherLs words, who, &$ enterin' into con"ersation with his &oo@s de"elops his own thou'hts, and his own world H was most certainl$ Montai'ne, in the earliest da$s of modern literature* Montai'ne was a writer to whom m$ father returned often, a writer he recommended to me* 0 would li@e to see m$self as &elon'in' to the tradition of writers who H where"er the$ are in the world, in the <ast or in the Dest H cut themsel"es off from societ$, and shut themsel"es up with their &oo@s in their room* 7he startin' point of true literature is the man who shuts himself up in his room with his &oo@s* But once we shut oursel"es awa$, we soon disco"er that we are not as alone as we thou'ht* De are in the compan$ of the words of those who came &efore us, of other peopleLs stories, other peopleLs &oo@s, other peopleLs words, the thin' we call tradition* 0 &elie"e literature to &e the most "alua&le hoard that humanit$ has 'athered in its Fuest to understand itself* 9ocieties, tri&es, and peoples 'row more intelli'ent, richer, and more ad"anced as the$ pa$ attention to the trou&led words of their authors, and, as we all @now, the &urnin' of &oo@s and the deni'ration of writers are &oth si'nals that dar@ and impro"ident times are upon us* But literature is ne"er Iust a national concern* 7he writer who shuts himself up in a room and first 'oes on a Iourne$ inside himself will, o"er the $ears, disco"er literatureLs eternal rule: he must ha"e the artistr$ to tell his own stories as if the$ were other peopleLs stories, and to tell other peopleLs stories as if the$ were his own, for this is what literature is* But we must first tra"el throu'h other peopleLs stories and &oo@s* M$ father had a 'ood li&rar$ H 1 Y00 "olumes in all H more than enou'h for a writer* B$ the a'e of ;;, 0 had perhaps not read them all, &ut 0 was familiar with each &oo@ H 0 @new which were important, which were li'ht &ut eas$ to read, which were classics, which an essential part of an$ education, which were for'etta&le &ut amusin' accounts of local histor$, and which French authors m$ father rated "er$ hi'hl$* 9ometimes 0 would loo@ at this li&rar$ from a distance and ima'ine that one da$, in a different house, 0 would &uild m$ own li&rar$, an e"en &etter li&rar$ H &uild m$self a world* Dhen 0 loo@ed at m$ fatherLs li&rar$ from afar, it seemed to me to &e a small picture of the real world* But this was a world seen from our own corner, from 0stan&ul* 7he
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li&rar$ was e"idence of this* M$ father had &uilt his li&rar$ from his trips a&road, mostl$ with &oo@s from aris and America, &ut also with &oo@s &ou'ht from the shops that sold &oo@s in forei'n lan'ua'es in the 40s and Y0s and 0stan&ulLs old and new &oo@sellers, whom 0 also @new* M$ world is a mi%ture of the local H the national H and the Dest* 0n the C0s, 0, too, &e'an, somewhat am&itiousl$, to &uild m$ own li&rar$* 0 had not Fuite decided to &ecome a writer H as 0 related in 0stan&ul, 0 had come to feel that 0 would not, after all, &ecome a painter, &ut 0 was not sure what path m$ life would ta@e* 7here was inside me a relentless curiosit$, a hope5dri"en desire to read and learn, &ut at the same time 0 felt that m$ life was in some wa$ lac@in', that 0 would not &e a&le to li"e li@e others* art of this feelin' was connected to what 0 felt when 0 'a!ed at m$ fatherLs li&rar$ H to &e li"in' far from the centre of thin's, as all of us who li"ed in 0stan&ul in those da$s were made to feel, that feelin' of li"in' in the pro"inces* 7here was another reason for feelin' an%ious and somehow lac@in', for 0 @new onl$ too well that 0 li"ed in a countr$ that showed little interest in its artists H &e the$ painters or writers H and that 'a"e them no hope* 0n the C0s, when 0 would ta@e the mone$ m$ father 'a"e me and 'reedil$ &u$ faded, dust$, do'5eared &oo@s from 0stan&ulLs old &oo@sellers, 0 would &e as affected &$ the pitia&le state of these second5 hand &oo@stores H and &$ the despairin' dishe"elment of the poor, &edra''led &oo@sellers who laid out their wares on roadsides, in mosFue court$ards, and in the niches of crum&lin' walls H as 0 was &$ their &oo@s* As for m$ place in the world H in life, as in literature, m$ &asic feelin' was that 0 was Lnot in the centreL* 0n the centre of the world, there was a life richer and more e%citin' than our own, and with all of 0stan&ul, all of 7ur@e$, 0 was outside it* 7oda$ 0 thin@ that 0 share this feelin' with most people in the world* 0n the same wa$, there was a world literature, and its centre, too, was "er$ far awa$ from me* Actuall$ what 0 had in mind was Destern, not world, literature, and we 7ur@s were outside it* M$ fatherLs li&rar$ was e"idence of this* At one end, there were 0stan&ulLs &oo@s H our literature, our local world, in all its &elo"ed detail H and at the other end were the &oo@s from this other, Destern, world, to which our own &ore no resem&lance, to which our lac@ of resem&lance 'a"e us &oth pain and hope* 7o write, to read, was li@e lea"in' one world to find consolation in the other worldLs otherness, the stran'e and the wondrous* 0 felt that m$ father had read no"els to escape his life and flee to the Dest H Iust as 0 would do later* Gr it seemed to me that &oo@s in those da$s were thin's we pic@ed up to escape our own culture, which we found so lac@in'* 0t wasnLt Iust &$ readin' that we left our 0stan&ul li"es to tra"el Dest H it was &$ writin', too* 7o fill those note&oo@s of his, m$ father had 'one to aris, shut himself up in his room, and then &rou'ht his writin's &ac@ to 7ur@e$* As 0 'a!ed at m$ fatherLs suitcase, it seemed to me that this was what was causin' me disFuiet* After wor@in' in a room for ;Y $ears to sur"i"e as a writer in 7ur@e$, it 'alled me to see m$ father hide his deep thou'hts inside this suitcase, to act as if writin' was wor@ that had to &e done in secret, far from the e$es of societ$, the state, the people* erhaps this was the main reason wh$ 0 felt an'r$ at m$ father for not ta@in' literature as seriousl$ as 0 did* Actuall$ 0 was an'r$ at m$ father &ecause he had not led a life li@e mine, &ecause he had ne"er Fuarrelled with his life, and had spent his life happil$ lau'hin' with his friends and his lo"ed ones* But part of me @new that 0 could also sa$ that 0 was not so much Lan'r$L as LIealousL, that the second word was more accurate, and this, too, made me uneas$* 7hat would &e when 0 would as@ m$self in m$ usual scornful, an'r$ "oice: LDhat is happinessEL Das happiness thin@in' that 0 li"ed a deep life in that lonel$ roomE Gr was happiness leadin' a comforta&le life in societ$, &elie"in' in the same thin's as e"er$one else, or actin' as if $ou didE Das it happiness, or unhappiness, to 'o throu'h life writin' in secret, while seemin' to &e in harmon$ with all around oneE But these were o"erl$ ill5tempered Fuestions* Dhere"er had 0 'ot this idea that the measure of a 'ood life was happinessE eople, papers, e"er$one acted as if the most important measure of a life was happiness* 3id this alone not su''est that it mi'ht &e worth tr$in' to find out if the e%act opposite was trueE After all, m$ father had run awa$ from his famil$ so man$ times H how well did 0 @now him, and how well could 0 sa$ 0 understood his disFuietE 9o this was what was dri"in' me when 0 first opened m$ fatherLs suitcase* 3id m$ father ha"e a
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secret, an unhappiness in his life a&out which 0 @new nothin', somethin' he could onl$ endure &$ pourin' it into his writin'E As soon as 0 opened the suitcase, 0 recalled its scent of tra"el, reco'nised se"eral note&oo@s, and noted that m$ father had shown them to me $ears earlier, &ut without dwellin' on them "er$ lon'* Most of the note&oo@s 0 now too@ into m$ hands he had filled when he had left us and 'one to aris as a $oun' man* Dhereas 0, li@e so man$ writers 0 admired H writers whose &io'raphies 0 had read H wished to @now what m$ father had written, and what he had thou'ht, when he was the a'e 0 was now* 0t did not ta@e me lon' to realise that 0 would find nothin' li@e that here* Dhat caused me most disFuiet was when, here and there in m$ fatherLs note&oo@s, 0 came upon a writerl$ "oice* 7his was not m$ fatherLs "oice, 0 told m$selfP it wasnLt authentic, or at least it did not &elon' to the man 0Ld @nown as m$ father* Rnderneath m$ fear that m$ father mi'ht not ha"e &een m$ father when he wrote, was a deeper fear: the fear that deep inside 0 was not authentic, that 0 would find nothin' 'ood in m$ fatherLs writin', this increased m$ fear of findin' m$ father to ha"e &een o"erl$ influenced &$ other writers and plun'ed me into a despair that had afflicted me so &adl$ when 0 was $oun', castin' m$ life, m$ "er$ &ein', m$ desire to write, and m$ wor@ into Fuestion* 3urin' m$ first ten $ears as a writer, 0 felt these an%ieties more deepl$, and e"en as 0 fou'ht them off, 0 would sometimes fear that one da$, 0 would ha"e to admit to defeat H Iust as 0 had done with paintin' H and succum&in' to disFuiet, 'i"e up no"el writin', too* 0 ha"e alread$ mentioned the two essential feelin's that rose up in me as 0 closed m$ fatherLs suitcase and put it awa$: the sense of &ein' marooned in the pro"inces, and the fear that 0 lac@ed authenticit$* 7his was certainl$ not the first time the$ had made themsel"es felt* For $ears 0 had, in m$ readin' and m$ writin', &een stud$in', disco"erin', deepenin' these emotions, in all their "ariet$ and unintended conseFuences, their ner"e endin's, their tri''ers, and their man$ colours* ,ertainl$ m$ spirits had &een Iarred &$ the confusions, the sensiti"ities and the fleetin' pains that life and &oo@s had sprun' on me, most often as a $oun' man* But it was onl$ &$ writin' &oo@s that 0 came to a fuller understandin' of the pro&lems of authenticit$ 6as in M$ Name is Red and 7he Blac@ Boo@8 and the pro&lems of life on the peripher$ 6as in 9now and 0stan&ul8* For me, to &e a writer is to ac@nowled'e the secret wounds that we carr$ inside us, the wounds so secret that we oursel"es are &arel$ aware of them, and to patientl$ e%plore them, @now them, illuminate them, to own these pains and wounds, and to ma@e them a conscious part of our spirits and our writin'* A writer tal@s of thin's that e"er$one @nows &ut does not @now the$ @now* 7o e%plore this @nowled'e, and to watch it 'row, is a pleasura&le thin'P the reader is "isitin' a world at once familiar and miraculous* Dhen a writer shuts himself up in a room for $ears on end to hone his craft H to create a world H if he uses his secret wounds as his startin' point, he is, whether he @nows it or not, puttin' a 'reat faith in humanit$* M$ confidence comes from the &elief that all human &ein's resem&le each other, that others carr$ wounds li@e mine H that the$ will therefore understand* All true literature rises from this childish, hopeful certaint$ that all people resem&le each other* Dhen a writer shuts himself up in a room for $ears on end, with this 'esture he su''ests a sin'le humanit$, a world without a centre* But as can &e seen from m$ fatherLs suitcase and the pale colours of our li"es in 0stan&ul, the world did ha"e a centre, and it was far awa$ from us* 0n m$ &oo@s 0 ha"e descri&ed in some detail how this &asic fact e"o@ed a ,hec@o"ian sense of pro"incialit$, and how, &$ another route, it led to m$ Fuestionin' m$ authenticit$* 0 @now from e%perience that the 'reat maIorit$ of people on this earth li"e with these same feelin's, and that man$ suffer from an e"en deeper sense of insufficienc$, lac@ of securit$ and sense of de'radation, than 0 do* Zes, the 'reatest dilemmas facin' humanit$ are still landlessness, homelessness, and hun'er *** But toda$ our tele"isions and newspapers tell us a&out these fundamental pro&lems more Fuic@l$ and more simpl$ than literature can e"er do* Dhat literature needs most to tell and in"esti'ate toda$ are humanit$Ls &asic fears: the fear of &ein' left outside, and the fear of countin' for nothin', and the feelin's of worthlessness that come with such fearsP the collecti"e humiliations, "ulnera&ilities, sli'hts, 'rie"ances, sensiti"ities, and ima'ined insults, and the nationalist &oasts and inflations that are their ne%t of @ind *** Dhene"er 0 am
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confronted &$ such sentiments, and &$ the irrational, o"erstated lan'ua'e in which the$ are usuall$ e%pressed, 0 @now the$ touch on a dar@ness inside me* De ha"e often witnessed peoples, societies and nations outside the Destern world H and 0 can identif$ with them easil$ H succum&in' to fears that sometimes lead them to commit stupidities, all &ecause of their fears of humiliation and their sensiti"ities* 0 also @now that in the Dest H a world with which 0 can identif$ with the same ease H nations and peoples ta@in' an e%cessi"e pride in their wealth, and in their ha"in' &rou'ht us the Renaissance, the <nli'htenment, and Modernism, ha"e, from time to time, succum&ed to a self5 satisfaction that is almost as stupid* 7his means that m$ father was not the onl$ one, that we all 'i"e too much importance to the idea of a world with a centre* Dhereas the thin' that compels us to shut oursel"es up to write in our rooms for $ears on end is a faith in the oppositeP the &elief that one da$ our writin's will &e read and understood, &ecause people all the world o"er resem&le each other* But this, as 0 @now from m$ own and m$ fatherLs writin', is a trou&led optimism, scarred &$ the an'er of &ein' consi'ned to the mar'ins, of &ein' left outside* 7he lo"e and hate that 3osto$e"s@$ felt towards the Dest all his life H 0 ha"e felt this too, on man$ occasions* But if 0 ha"e 'rasped an essential truth, if 0 ha"e cause for optimism, it is &ecause 0 ha"e tra"elled with this 'reat writer throu'h his lo"e5hate relationship with the Dest, to &ehold the other world he has &uilt on the other side* All writers who ha"e de"oted their li"es to this tas@ @now this realit$: whate"er our ori'inal purpose, the world that we create after $ears and $ears of hopeful writin', will, in the end, mo"e to other "er$ different places* 0t will ta@e us far awa$ from the ta&le at which we ha"e wor@ed with sadness or an'er, ta@e us to the other side of that sadness and an'er, into another world* ,ould m$ father ha"e not reached such a world himselfE (i@e the land that slowl$ &e'ins to ta@e shape, slowl$ risin' from the mist in all its colours li@e an island after a lon' sea Iourne$, this other world enchants us* De are as &e'uiled as the western tra"ellers who "o$a'ed from the south to &ehold 0stan&ul risin' from the mist* At the end of a Iourne$ &e'un in hope and curiosit$, there lies &efore them a cit$ of mosFues and minarets, a medle$ of houses, streets, hills, &rid'es, and slopes, an entire world* 9eein' it, we wish to enter into this world and lose oursel"es inside it, Iust as we mi'ht a &oo@* After sittin' down at a ta&le &ecause we felt pro"incial, e%cluded, on the mar'ins, an'r$, or deepl$ melancholic, we ha"e found an entire world &e$ond these sentiments* Dhat 0 feel now is the opposite of what 0 felt as a child and a $oun' man: for me the centre of the world is 0stan&ul* 7his is not Iust &ecause 0 ha"e li"ed there all m$ life, &ut &ecause, for the last 33 $ears, 0 ha"e &een narratin' its streets, its &rid'es, its people, its do's, its houses, its mosFues, its fountains, its stran'e heroes, its shops, its famous characters, its dar@ spots, its da$s and its ni'hts, ma@in' them part of me, em&racin' them all* A point arri"ed when this world 0 had made with m$ own hands, this world that e%isted onl$ in m$ head, was more real to me than the cit$ in which 0 actuall$ li"ed* 7hat was when all these people and streets, o&Iects and &uildin's would seem to &e'in to tal@ amon'st themsel"es, and &e'in to interact in wa$s 0 had not anticipated, as if the$ li"ed not Iust in m$ ima'ination or m$ &oo@s, &ut for themsel"es* 7his world that 0 had created li@e a man di''in' a well with a needle would then seem truer than all else* M$ father mi'ht also ha"e disco"ered this @ind of happiness durin' the $ears he spent writin', 0 thou'ht as 0 'a!ed at m$ fatherLs suitcase: 0 should not preIud'e him* 0 was so 'rateful to him, after all: heLd ne"er &een a commandin', for&iddin', o"erpowerin', punishin', ordinar$ father, &ut a father who alwa$s left me free, alwa$s showed me the utmost respect* 0 had often thou'ht that if 0 had, from time to time, &een a&le to draw from m$ ima'ination, &e it in freedom or childishness, it was &ecause, unli@e so man$ of m$ friends from childhood and $outh, 0 had no fear of m$ father, and 0 had sometimes &elie"ed "er$ deepl$ that 0 had &een a&le to &ecome a writer &ecause m$ father had, in his $outh, wished to &e one, too* 0 had to read him with tolerance H see@ to understand what he had written in those hotel rooms* 0t was with these hopeful thou'hts that 0 wal@ed o"er to the suitcase, which was still sittin' where
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m$ father had left itP usin' all m$ willpower, 0 read throu'h a few manuscripts and note&oo@s* Dhat had m$ father written a&outE 0 recall a few "iews from the windows of arisian hotels, a few poems, parado%es, anal$ses *** As 0 write 0 feel li@e someone who has Iust &een in a traffic accident and is stru''lin' to remem&er how it happened, while at the same time dreadin' the prospect of remem&erin' too much* Dhen 0 was a child, and m$ father and mother were on the &rin@ of a Fuarrel H when the$ fell into one of those deadl$ silences H m$ father would at once turn on the radio, to chan'e the mood, and the music would help us for'et it all faster* (et me chan'e the mood with a few sweet words that will, 0 hope, ser"e as well as that music* As $ou @now, the Fuestion we writers are as@ed most often, the fa"ourite Fuestion, isP wh$ do $ou writeE 0 write &ecause 0 ha"e an innate need to write_ 0 write &ecause 0 canLt do normal wor@ li@e other people* 0 write &ecause 0 want to read &oo@s li@e the ones 0 write* 0 write &ecause 0 am an'r$ at all of $ou, an'r$ at e"er$one* 0 write &ecause 0 lo"e sittin' in a room all da$ writin'* 0 write &ecause 0 can onl$ parta@e in real life &$ chan'in' it* 0 write &ecause 0 want others, all of us, the whole world, to @now what sort of life we li"ed, and continue to li"e, in 0stan&ul, in 7ur@e$* 0 write &ecause 0 lo"e the smell of paper, pen, and in@* 0 write &ecause 0 &elie"e in literature, in the art of the no"el, more than 0 &elie"e in an$thin' else* 0 write &ecause it is a ha&it, a passion* 0 write &ecause 0 am afraid of &ein' for'otten* 0 write &ecause 0 li@e the 'lor$ and interest that writin' &rin's* 0 write to &e alone* erhaps 0 write &ecause 0 hope to understand wh$ 0 am so "er$, "er$ an'r$ at all of $ou, so "er$, "er$ an'r$ at e"er$one* 0 write &ecause 0 li@e to &e read* 0 write &ecause once 0 ha"e &e'un a no"el, an essa$, a pa'e, 0 want to finish it* 0 write &ecause e"er$one e%pects me to write* 0 write &ecause 0 ha"e a childish &elief in the immortalit$ of li&raries, and in the wa$ m$ &oo@s sit on the shelf* 0 write &ecause it is e%citin' to turn all of lifeLs &eauties and riches into words* 0 write not to tell a stor$, &ut to compose a stor$* 0 write &ecause 0 wish to escape from the fore&odin' that there is a place 0 must 'o &ut H Iust as in a dream H 0 canLt Fuite 'et there* 0 write &ecause 0 ha"e ne"er mana'ed to &e happ$* 0 write to &e happ$* A wee@ after he came to m$ office and left me his suitcase, m$ father came to pa$ me another "isitP as alwa$s, he &rou'ht me a &ar of chocolate 6he had for'otten 0 was 4/ $ears old8* As alwa$s, we chatted and lau'hed a&out life, politics and famil$ 'ossip* A moment arri"ed when m$ fatherLs e$es went to the corner where he had left his suitcase and saw that 0 had mo"ed it* De loo@ed each other in the e$e* 7here followed a pressin' silence* 0 did not tell him that 0 had opened the suitcase and tried to read its contentsP instead 0 loo@ed awa$* But he understood* )ust as 0 understood that he had understood* )ust as he understood that 0 had understood that he had understood* But all this understandin' onl$ went so far as it can 'o in a few seconds* Because m$ father was a happ$, eas$'oin' man who had faith in himself: he smiled at me the wa$ he alwa$s did* And as he left the house, he repeated all the lo"el$ and encoura'in' thin's that he alwa$s said to me, li@e a father* As alwa$s, 0 watched him lea"e, en"$in' his happiness, his carefree and unflappa&le temperament* But 0 remem&er that on that da$ there was also a flash of Io$ inside me that made me ashamed* 0t was prompted &$ the thou'ht that ma$&e 0 wasnLt as comforta&le in life as he was, ma$&e 0 had not led as happ$ or footloose a life as he had, &ut that 0 had de"oted it to writin' H $ouL"e understood *** 0 was ashamed to &e thin@in' such thin's at m$ fatherLs e%pense* Gf all people, m$ father, who had ne"er &een the source of m$ pain H who had left me free* All this should remind us that writin' and literature are intimatel$ lin@ed to a lac@ at the centre of our li"es, and to our feelin's of happiness and 'uilt* But m$ stor$ has a s$mmetr$ that immediatel$ reminded me of somethin' else that da$, and that &rou'ht me an e"en deeper sense of 'uilt* 7went$5three $ears &efore m$ father left me his suitcase, and four $ears after 0 had decided, a'ed ;;, to &ecome a no"elist, and, a&andonin' all else, shut m$self up in a room, 0 finished m$ first no"el, ,e"det Be$ and 9onsP with trem&lin' hands 0 had 'i"en m$ father a t$pescript of the still unpu&lished no"el, so that he could read it and tell me what he thou'ht* 7his was not simpl$ &ecause 0 had confidence in his taste and his intellect: his opinion was "er$ important to me &ecause he, unli@e m$ mother, had not opposed m$ wish to &ecome a
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writer* At that point, m$ father was not with us, &ut far awa$* 0 waited impatientl$ for his return* Dhen he arri"ed two wee@s later, 0 ran to open the door* M$ father said nothin', &ut he at once threw his arms around me in a wa$ that told me he had li@ed it "er$ much* For a while, we were plun'ed into the sort of aw@ward silence that so often accompanies moments of 'reat emotion* 7hen, when we had calmed down and &e'un to tal@, m$ father resorted to hi'hl$ char'ed and e%a''erated lan'ua'e to e%press his confidence in me or m$ first no"el: he told me that one da$ 0 would win the pri!e that 0 am here to recei"e with such 'reat happiness* .e said this not &ecause he was tr$in' to con"ince me of his 'ood opinion, or to set this pri!e as a 'oalP he said it li@e a 7ur@ish father, 'i"in' support to his son, encoura'in' him &$ sa$in', LGne da$ $ouLll &ecome a pasha_L For $ears, whene"er he saw me, he would encoura'e me with the same words* M$ father died in 3ecem&er ;00;* 7oda$, as 0 stand &efore the 9wedish Academ$ and the distin'uished mem&ers who ha"e awarded me this 'reat pri!e H this 'reat honour H and their distin'uished 'uests, 0 dearl$ wish he could &e amon'st us* 7ranslation from 7ur@ish &$ Maureen Freel$ 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Grhan amu@ 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00:Apamu@5lecture]en*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ %ctavio 9az 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 1990 was awarded to Gcta"io a! #for impassioned writin' with wide hori!ons, characteri!ed &$ sensuous intelli'ence and humanistic inte'rit$#* Born: 31 March 1914, Me%ico ,it$, Me%ico 3ied: 19 April 199/, Me%ico ,it$, Me%ico Residence at the time of the award: Me%ico ri!e moti"ation: #for impassioned writin' with wide hori!ons, characteri!ed &$ sensuous intelli'ence and humanistic inte'rit$# (an'ua'e: 9panish Biography Gcta"io a! was &orn in 1914 in Me%ico ,it$* Gn his fatherLs side, his 'randfather was a prominent li&eral intellectual and one of the first authors to write a no"el with an e%pressl$ 0ndian theme* 7han@s to his 'randfatherLs e%tensi"e li&rar$, a! came into earl$ contact with literature* (i@e his 'randfather, his father was also an acti"e political Iournalist who, to'ether with other pro'ressi"e intellectuals, Ioined the a'rarian uprisin's led &$ <miliano Wapata* a! &e'an to write at an earl$ a'e, and in 193C, he tra"elled to Jalencia, 9pain, to participate in the 9econd 0nternational ,on'ress of Anti5Fascist Driters* Rpon his return to Me%ico in 193/, he &ecame one of the founders of the Iournal, 7aller 6Dor@shop8, a ma'a!ine which si'naled the emer'ence of a new 'eneration of writers in Me%ico as well as a new literar$ sensi&ilit$* 0n 1943, he tra"elled to the R9A on a +u''enheim Fellowship where he &ecame immersed in An'lo5 American Modernist poetr$P two $ears later, he entered the Me%ican diplomatic ser"ice and was
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sent to France, where he wrote his fundamental stud$ of Me%ican identit$, 7he (a&$rinth of 9olitude, and acti"el$ participated 6to'ether with Andre Breton and BenIamin eret8 in "arious acti"ities and pu&lications or'ani!ed &$ the surrealists* 0n 19:;, a! was appointed Me%ican am&assador to 0ndia: an important moment in &oth the poetLs life and wor@, as witnessed in "arious &oo@s written durin' his sta$ there, especiall$, 7he +rammarian Mon@e$ and <ast 9lope* 0n 19:/, howe"er, he resi'ned from the diplomatic ser"ice in protest a'ainst the 'o"ernmentLs &loodstained supression of the student demonstrations in 7latelolco durin' the Gl$mpic +ames in Me%ico* 9ince then, a! has continued his wor@ as an editor and pu&lisher, ha"in' founded two important ma'a!ines dedicated to the arts and politics: lural 619C1519C:8 and Juelta, which he has &een pu&lishin' since 19C:* 0n 19/0, he was named honorar$ doctor at .ar"ard* Recent pri!es include the ,er"antes award in 19/1 5 the most important award in the 9panish5spea@in' world 5 and the presti'ious American Neustadt ri!e in 19/;* a! is a poet and an essa$ist* .is poetic corpus is nourished &$ the &elief that poetr$ constitutes #the secret reli'ion of the modern a'e*# <liot Dein&er'er has written that, for a!, #the re"olution of the word is the re"olution of the world, and that &oth cannot e%ist without the re"olution of the &od$: life as art, a return to the m$thic lost unit$ of thou'ht and &od$, man and nature, 0 and the other*# .is is a poetr$ written within the perpetual motion and transparencies of the eternal present tense* a!Ls poetr$ has &een collected in oemas 193Y519CY 619/18 and ,ollected oems, 19YC5 19/C 619/C8* A remar@a&le prose st$list, a! has written a prolific &od$ of essa$s, includin' se"eral &oo@5len'th studies, in poetics, literar$ and art criticism, as well as on Me%ican histor$, politics and culture* oeska (una sil"estre* M-%ico, Fa&ula, 1933* No pasar\n_ M-%ico, 9im&ad, 193: Rak! del hom&re* M-%ico, 9im&ad, 193C* BaIo tu clara som&ra $ otros poemas so&re <spapa* Jalencia, <diciones <spapolas, 193C* <ntre la piedra $ la flor* M-%ico, Nue"a Jo!, 1941* A la orilla del mundo* M-%ico, AR9, 194;* (i&ertad &aIo pala&ra* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 1949* 9emillas para un himno* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19Y4* iedra de sol* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19YC* (a estaci[n "iolenta* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19Y/* 9alamandra 619Y/519:18* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19:;* Jiento entero* 3elhi, 7he ,a%ton ress, 19:Y* Blanco* M-%ico, )oaFuin Morti!, 19:C* 3iscos "isuales* M-%ico, <diciones <RA, 19:/ 6Arte de Jicente RoIo8* (adera <ste 619:;519:/8* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19:9* (a centena 6193Y519:/8* Barcelona, Barral, 19:9* 7opoemas, M-%ico, <diciones <RA, 19C1* Ren'a* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19C;* oema colecti"o con )acFues Rou&aud, <doardo 9an'uinetti $ ,harles 7omlinson* asado en claro* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19CY* Juelta* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19C:* .iIos del aireAAir&orn* ,on ,harles 7omlinson* M-%ico, Martkn escador, 19C9* oemas 6193Y519CY8* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19C9* rue&a del nue"e* M-%ico, ,krculo de (ectores, 19/Y* yr&ol adentro 619C:519/C8* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19/C* (o meIor de Gcta"io a!* <l fue'o de cada dka* 9elecci[n, pr[lo'o $ notas del autor* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19/9* rosa po-tica y'uila o solE M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19Y1* <l mono 'ram\tico*Barcelona, 9ei%
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Barral, 19C4* 7eatro #(a hiIa de Rappaccini#* M-%ico, en la Re"ista Me%icana de (iteratura, C, septiem&re5octu&re 19Y:, $ en oemas, 19C9* <nsa$os <l la&erinto de la soledad* M-%ico, ,uadernos Americanos, 19Y0* 9e'unda edici[n, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19Y9* <l arco $ la lira* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <conjoacutemica, 19Y:* (as peras del olmo* M-%ico, RNAM, 19YC* ,uadri"io* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19:Y* (os si'nos en rotaci[n* Buenos Aires, 9ur, 19:Y* uertas al campo* M-%ico, RNAM, 19::* ,laude (-"i59trauss o el nue"o festkn de <sopo* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19:C* ,orriente alterna* M-%ico, 9i'lo ee0, 19:C* Marcel 3uchamp o el castillo de la pure!a* M-%ico, <diciones <RA 19:/* 0ncluido despu-s en Apariencia desnudaP la o&ra de Marcel 3uchamp* M-%ico, <diciones <RA 19C3* ,onIunciones $ dis$unciones* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19:9* M-%ico: la mltima d-cada* Austin, 0nstitute of (atin American 9tudies, Rni"ersit$ of 7e%as, 19:9* osdata* M-%ico, 9i'lo ee0, 19C0* (as cosas en su sitio: so&re la literatura espapola del si'lo %%* ,on )uan Marichal* M-%ico, Finisterre, 19C1* (os si'nos en rotaci[n $ otros ensa$os* 0ntroducci[n $ edici[n de ,arlos Fuentes* Madrid, Alian!a <ditorial, 19C1* 7raducci[n: literatura $ literalidad* Barcelona, 7usFuets <ditores, 19C1* <l si'no $ el 'ara&ato* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19C3* 9olo a dos "oces* ,on )uli\n Rios* Barcelona, (umen, 19C3* 7eatro de si'nosA7ransparencias* <dici[n de )uli\n Rios* Madrid, Fundamentos, 19C4* (a &msFueda del comien!o* Madrid, Fundamentos, 19C4* (os hiIos del limo: del romanticismo a la "an'uardia* Barcelona 9ei% Barral, 19C4 ea"ier Jillaurrutia en persona $ en o&ra* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica 19C/* <l o'ro filantropico: historia $ politica 619C1519C/8* M-%ico, )oaFuin Morti!, 19C9* 0nAmediaciones* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19C9* M-%ico en la o&ra de Gcta"io a!* <ditado $ con una introducci[n de (uis Mario 9chneider* M-%ico, romociones <ditoriales Me%icanas, 19C9* 9or )uana 0n-s de la ,ru! o las trampas de la fe* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica 19/;, $ Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19/;* 7iempo nu&lado* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19/3* 9om&ras de o&ras* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19/3* .om&res en su si'lo $ otros ensa$os* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19/4* asi[n crktica: con"ersaciones con Gcta"io a!* <dici[n de .u'o )* Jerani* Barcelona 9ei% Barral, 19/Y* M-%ico en la o&ra de Gcta"io a! 63 "olumenes8* Jol* 0* <l pere'rino en su patria* .istoria $ polktica de M-%ico* Jol* 00* +eneraciones $ sem&lan!as* <scritores $ letras de M-%ico* Jol* 000* (os pri"ile'ios de la "ista* Arte de M-%ico* <dici[n de (uis Mario 9chneider $ Gcta "io a!* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19/C* rimeras p\'inas* <dici[n e introducci[n de <nrico Mario 9antk* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 19//, $ M-%ico, Juelta, 19//* oesjiacutea, mito, re"oluci[n* recedido por los discursos de Francois Mitterrand, Alain e$refitte, ierre +odefro$* remio Ale%is de 7ocFue"ille* M-%ico, Juelta, 19/9 (a otra "e!* oeska $ fin de si'lo* Barcelona, 9ei% Barral, 1990* 7raducciones $ ediciones de Gcta"io a!
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Antholo'ie de la po-sie me%icaine* <dici[n e introducci[n de Gcta"io a! con una nota de aul ,laudel* aris, 2ditions Na'el 6,ol* RN<9,G8, 19Y;* Antholo'$ of Me%ican oetr$* <dici[n e introducci[n de Gcta"io a! con una nota de ,* M* Bowra, $ traducci[n al in'l-s de 9amuel Bec@ett* Bloomin'ton, 0ndiana Rni"ersit$ ress, 19Y/* Basho, Matsuo* 9endas de G@u* 7raducido por <i@ichi .a$ashi$a $ Gcta"io a!, con una introducci[n de Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, RNAM, 19YC, $ 9ei% Barral, 19C0 (aurel: Antolo'ka de la poeska moderna en len'ua espapola* <dici[n de ea"ier Jillaurrutia, <milio rados, )uan +il5Al&ert $ Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, <ditorial 9-neca, 1941* essoa, Fernando* Antolo'ka* <dici[n, traducci[n e introducci[n de Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, RNAM, 19:;* oeska en mo"imiento 6M-%ico: 191Y519::8* <dici[n de Gcta"io a!, Alk ,humacero, .omero AridIis $ )ose <milio acheco* M-%ico, 9i'lo ee0, 19::* Jersiones $ di"ersiones* 7raducciones de poeska* M-%ico, )oaFuin Morti!, 19C4* 9elecci[n de li&ros so&re Gcta"io a! ,-a, ,laire* Gcta"io a!* aris, 9e'hers, 19:Y* ,hanti@ian, =osrof 6<d*8* Gcta"io a!* .oma'e to the oet* 9an Francisco, =osmos, 19/0* ,uadernos .ispanoamericanos* Nmms* 343534Y, enero5mar!o 19C9* .omenaIe a Gcta"io a!* Fein, )ohn M* 7oward Gcta"io a!: A Readin' of his MaIor oems, 19YC519C:* (e%in'ton, 7he Rni"ersit$ ress of =entuc@$, 19/:* Flores, An'el 6<d*8* Apro%imaciones a Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19C4* +imferrer, ere* (ecturas de Gcta"io a!* Barcelona, Ana'rama, 19/0* +imferrer, ere 6<d*8* Gcta"io a!* Madrid, 7aurus, 19/;* +radi"a, : 5 C, fe&rero 19CY* arks* .omenaIe a Gcta"io a!* 0"as@, 0"ar 6<d*8* 7he erpetual resent: 7he oetr$ and rose of Gcta"io a!* Norman, Rni"ersit$ of G@lahoma ress, 19C3* (emaitre, MoniFue* Gcta"io a!: poeska $ po-tica* M-%ico, RNAM, 19C:* Ma'is, ,arlos .* (a poeska herm-tica de Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, <l ,ole'io de M-%ico, 19C/* Martkne! 7orr[n, 3ie'o* Jaria&les po-ticas de Gcta"io a!* Madrid, .iperi[n, 19C9* epa (a&ra, 3/, in"ierno 19/0519/1* .omenaIe a Gcta"io a!* erdi'[, (uisa M* (a est-tica de Gcta"io a!* Madrid, la$or, 19CY* hillips, Rachel* 7he oetic Modes of Gcta"io a!* (ondres, G%ford Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C;* (as estaciones po-ticas de Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19C:* Re"iew, :, otopo 19C;, Nue"a Zor@* .omenaIe a Gcta"io a!* Re"ista 0&eroamericana, 3C:C4, enero5mar!o 19C1* .omenaIe a Gcta"io a!* Rodrk'ue! adr[n, )or'e* Gcta"io a!* Madrid, )mcar, 19CY* Ro''iano, Alfredo 6<d*8* Gcta"io a!* Madrid, Fundamentos, 19C9* RoIas +u!m\n, <use&io* Rein"encion de la pala&ra: la o&ra po-tica de Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, ,osta5Amic, 19C9* 9charer5Nuss&er'er, Ma$a* Gcta"io a!* 7ra$ectorias $ "isiones* M-%ico, Fondo de ,ultura <con[mica, 19/9* 9ucre, +uillermo et al* Acerca de Gcta"io a!* Monte"ideo, Fundaci[n de ,ultura Rni"ersitaria, 19C4* 7i!!oni, )ulia (*M* (a pala&ra, el amor $ el tiempo en Gcta"io a!* aran\, Ar'entina, 19C3* Jalencia )uan $ <dward ,ou'hlin 6<ds*8* .omenaIe a Gcta"io a!* M-%ico, Rni"ersidad Aut[noma de 9an (uis otosi, 19C:* Jerani, .u'o )* Gcta"io a!: &i&lio'rafka crktica* M-%ico, RNAM, 19/3* Dilson, )ason* Gcta"io a!: A 9tud$ of his oetics* ,am&rid'e, ,am&rid'e Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C9* eirau, Ram[n* Gcta"io a!: el entido de la pala&ra* M-%ico, )oaFukn Morti!, 19C0*

a! in <n'lish oetr$
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(lo$d Mallan, #A little Antholo'$ of Zoun' Me%ican oets,# in New 3irections 9, 6194C8 6first translation of a!Ls poetr$ in <n'lish8* 9un 9tone, trans* Muriel Ru@e$ser* (ondon j N*Z*: New 3irections, 19:;* 9un 9tone, trans* eter Miller* 7oronto: ,ontact ress, 19:3* 9elected oems, trans* Muriel Ru@e$ser* Bloomin'ton: 0ndiana Rni"ersit$ ress, 19:3* iedra de 9ol: 7he 9un 9tone, trans* 3onald +ardner* Zor@, <n'land: ,osmos u&lications, 19:9* A'uila o solE <a'le or 9unE, trans* <liot Dein&er'er* N*Z*: Gcto&er .ouse, 19C0* ,onfi'urations, "arious translators* N*Z*: New 3irections, and (ondon: ,ape, 19C1* Ren'a: A ,hain of oems, trans* ,harles 7omlinson* N*Z*: +eor'e Bra!iller, 19C; 6colla&orati"e poem written with 7omlinson, )acFues Rou&aud, j <doardo 9an'uineti8* <arl$ oems: 193Y519YY, "arious translators* N*Z*: New 3irections, 19C3, and Bloomin'ton: 0ndiana Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C4* 3 NotationsARotations* ,am&rid'e, Mass*: ,arpenter ,enter for the Jisual Arts, .ar"ard Rni"ersit$, 19C4 6limited edition with 'raphic desi'ns &$ 7oshihiro =ata$ama8* Blanco, trans* <liot Dein&er'er* N*Z*: 7he ress, 19C4 6limited edition with #illuminations# &$ AdIa Zun@ers8* <a'le or 9unE, trans* <liot Dein&er'er, N*Z*: New 3irections, 19C: 6new "ersion8* A 3raft of 9hadows and Gther oems, ed* j trans* <liot Dein&er'er, N*Z*: New 3irections, 19C9 6additional translations &$ Mar@ 9trand j <li!a&eth Bishop8* 9elected oems, ed* ,harles 7omlinson, Middlese%, <n'land: en'uin Boo@s, 19C9 6"arious translators8* Air&ornA.iIos del Aire, trans* ,harles 7omlinson* (ondon: An"il ress, 19/1 6colla&orati"e poem written with 7omlinson8* 7he Mon@e$ ,rammarian, trans* .elen (ane* N*Z*: 9ea"er Boo@s, 19/1* G&sidian Butterfl$, trans* <liot Dein&er'er* Barcelona: <diciones oli'rafa, 19/3 6limited edition, with artwor@ &$ Brian Nissen8* 9elected oems, ed* <liot Dein&er'er* N*Z*: New 3irections, 19/4 6"arious translators8* 7he Four oplars, trans* <liot Dein&er'er* N*Z*: 7he Red G!ier ress, 19/Y 6limited edition with wood&loc@ &$ Antonio Frasconi8* .oma'e and 3esecrations, trans* <liot Dein&er'er* N*Z*: 7he Red G!ier ress, 19/C 6limited edition with artwor@ &$ Richard Moc@8* rose 7he (a&$rinth of 9olitude, trans* ($sander =emp* N*Z*: +ro"e ress, 19:1* Marcel 3uchamp, or the ,astle of urit$, trans* 3onald +ardner* (ondon: ,ape +oliard, and N*Z*: +rossman, 19C0* ,laude (-"i59trauss: An 0ntroduction, trans* )*9* Bernstein j Ma%ine Bernstein* 0thaca: ,ornell Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C0* 7he Gther Me%ico: ,ritiFue of the $ramid, trans* ($sander =emp* N*Z*: +ro"e ress, 19C;* Alternatin' ,urrent, trans* .elen (ane* N*Z*: Ji@in' ress, 19C3* 7he Bow and the ($re, trans* Ruth (*,* 9imms* Austin: Rni"ersit$ of 7e%as ress, 19C3* ,hildren of the Mire: oetr$ from Romanticism to the A"ant5+arde, trans* Rachel hillips* ,am&rid'e, Mass*: .ar"ard Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C4* ,onIunctions and 3isIunctions, trans* .elen (ane* N*Z*: Ji@in' ress, 19C4* 7he 9iren and the 9eashell, and Gther <ssa$s on oets and oetr$, trans* ($sander =emp j Mar'aret 9e$ers eden* Austin: Rni"ersit$ of 7e%as ress, 19C:* Marcel 3uchamp: Appearance 9tripped Bare, trans* Rachel hillips j 3onald +ardner* N*Z*: Ji@in' ress* 19C/* 7he (a&$rinth of 9olitude, trans* ($sander =emp, Zara Milos, j Rachel hillips Belash* N*Z*: +ro"e ress, 19/Y 6e%panded edition containin' other wor@s8* Gne <arth, Four or Fi"e Dorlds: Reflections on ,ontemporar$ .istor$, trans* .elen (ane* N*Z*: .arcourt Brace )o"ano"ich, 19/Y* Gn oets and Gthers, trans* Michael 9chmidt* N*Z*: 9ea"er Boo@s, 19/:* ,on"er'ences: 9elected <ssa$s on Art and (iterature, trans* .elen (ane* N*Z*: .arcourt Brace
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)o"ano"ich, 19/C* Antholo'ies, critical studies, inter"iews An Antholo'$ of Me%ican oetr$, ed* Gcta"io a!, trans* 9amuel Bec@ett* Bloomin'ton: 0ndiana Rni"ersit$ ress, 19Y/* New oetr$ of Me%ico, selected &$ a!, Ali ,humacero, )os- <milio acheco j .ormero AridIis, &ilin'ual edition edited &$ Mar@ 9trand* N*Z*: <* * 3utton, 19C0 6"arious translators8* Rachel hillips, 7he oetic Modes of Gcta"io a!* (ondon: G%ford Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C;* Rita +ui&ert, 9e"en Joices, trans* Frances artrid'e* N*Z*: Alfred =nopf, 19C3 6contains most e%tensi"e inter"iew with a! a"aila&le in <n'lish8* 7he erpetual resent: 7he oetr$ and rose of Gcta"io a!, ed* 0"ar 0"as@, Norman* Rni"ersit$ of G@lahoma ress, 19C3* )ason Dilson, Gcta"io a!: A 9tud$ of .is oetics* ,am&rid'e, <n'land: ,am&rid'e Rni"ersit$ ress, 19C9* Gcta"io a!: .oma'e to the oet, ed* =osrof ,hanti@ian* 9an Francisco: =osmos <ditions, 19/0 6contains a complete translation &$ .arr$ .as@ell of the la$, RappacciniLs 3au'hter8* )ohn M* Fein, 7orward Gcta"io a!: A Readin' of .is MaIor oems, 19YC519C:* (e%in'ton: 7he Rni"ersit$ ress of =entuc@$, 19/:* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es 1990, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, 1991 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* Gcta"io a! died on April 19, 199/* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1990 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Gcta"io a! 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1990Apa!*html Nobel Lecture No&el (ecture, 3ecem&er /, 1990 67ranslation8 In 6earch o the 9resent 0 &e'in with two words that all men ha"e uttered since the dawn of humanit$: than@ $ou* 7he word 'ratitude has eFui"alents in e"er$ lan'ua'e and in each ton'ue the ran'e of meanin's is a&undant* 0n the Romance lan'ua'es this &readth spans the spiritual and the ph$sical, from the di"ine 'race conceded to men to sa"e them from error and death, to the &odil$ 'race of the dancin' 'irl or the feline leapin' throu'h the under'rowth* +race means pardon, for'i"eness, fa"our, &enefice, inspirationP it is a form of address, a pleasin' st$le of spea@in' or paintin', a 'esture e%pressin' politeness, and, in short, an act that re"eals spiritual 'oodness* +race is 'ratuitousP it is a 'ift* 7he person who recei"es it, the fa"oured one, is 'rateful for itP if he is not &ase, he e%presses 'ratitude* 7hat is what 0 am doin' at this "er$ moment with these wei'htless words* 0 hope m$ emotion compensates their wei'htlessness* 0f each of m$ words were a drop of water, $ou would see throu'h them and 'limpse what 0 feel: 'ratitude, ac@nowled'ement* And also an indefina&le mi%ture of fear, respect and surprise at findin' m$self here &efore $ou, in this place which is the home of &oth 9wedish learnin' and world literature* (an'ua'es are "ast realities that transcend those political and historical entities we call nations* 7he <uropean lan'ua'es we spea@ in the Americas illustrate this* 7he special position of our literatures when compared to those of <n'land, 9pain, ortu'al and France depends precisel$ on this fundamental fact: the$ are literatures written in transplanted ton'ues* (an'ua'es are &orn and
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'row from the nati"e soil, nourished &$ a common histor$* 7he <uropean lan'ua'es were rooted out from their nati"e soil and their own tradition, and then planted in an un@nown and unnamed world: the$ too@ root in the new lands and, as the$ 'rew within the societies of America, the$ were transformed* 7he$ are the same plant $et also a different plant* Gur literatures did not passi"el$ accept the chan'in' fortunes of the transplanted lan'ua'es: the$ participated in the process and e"en accelerated it* 7he$ "er$ soon ceased to &e mere transatlantic reflections: at times the$ ha"e &een the ne'ation of the literatures of <uropeP more often, the$ ha"e &een a repl$* 0n spite of these oscillations the lin@ has ne"er &een &ro@en* M$ classics are those of m$ lan'ua'e and 0 consider m$self to &e a descendant of (ope and Oue"edo, as an$ 9panish writer would *** $et 0 am not a 9paniard* 0 thin@ that most writers of 9panish America, as well as those from the Rnited 9tates, Bra!il and ,anada, would sa$ the same as re'ards the <n'lish, ortu'uese and French traditions* 7o understand more clearl$ the special position of writers in the Americas, we should thin@ of the dialo'ue maintained &$ )apanese, ,hinese or Ara&ic writers with the different literatures of <urope* 0t is a dialo'ue that cuts across multiple lan'ua'es and ci"ili!ations* Gur dialo'ue, on the other hand, ta@es place within the same lan'ua'e* De are <uropeans $et we are not <uropeans* Dhat are we thenE 0t is difficult to define what we are, &ut our wor@s spea@ for us* 0n the field of literature, the 'reat no"elt$ of the present centur$ has &een the appearance of the American literatures* 7he first to appear was that of the <n'lish5spea@in' part and then, in the second half of the ;0th ,entur$, that of (atin America in its two 'reat &ranches: 9panish America and Bra!il* Althou'h the$ are "er$ different, these three literatures ha"e one common feature: the conflict, which is more ideolo'ical than literar$, &etween the cosmopolitan and nati"ist tendencies, &etween <uropeanism and Americanism* Dhat is the le'ac$ of this disputeE 7he polemics ha"e disappearedP what remain are the wor@s* Apart from this 'eneral resem&lance, the differences &etween the three literatures are multiple and profound* Gne of them &elon's more to histor$ than to literature: the de"elopment of An'lo5American literature coincides with the rise of the Rnited 9tates as a world power whereas the rise of our literature coincides with the political and social misfortunes and uphea"als of our nations* 7his pro"es once more the limitations of social and historical determinism: the decline of empires and social distur&ances sometimes coincide with moments of artistic and literar$ splendour* (i5 o and 7u Fu witnessed the fall of the 7an' d$nast$P Jel\!Fue! painted for Felipe 0JP 9eneca and (ucan were contemporaries and also "ictims of Nero* Gther differences are of a literar$ nature and appl$ more to particular wor@s than to the character of each literature* But can we sa$ that literatures ha"e a characterE 3o the$ possess a set of shared features that distin'uish them from other literaturesE 0 dou&t it* A literature is not defined &$ some fanciful, intan'i&le characterP it is a societ$ of uniFue wor@s united &$ relations of opposition and affinit$* 7he first &asic difference &etween (atin5American and An'lo5American literature lies in the di"ersit$ of their ori'ins* Both &e'in as proIections of <urope* 7he proIection of an island in the case of North AmericaP that of a peninsula in our case* 7wo re'ions that are 'eo'raphicall$, historicall$ and culturall$ eccentric* 7he ori'ins of North America are in <n'land and the ReformationP ours are in 9pain, ortu'al and the ,ounter5Reformation* For the case of 9panish America 0 should &riefl$ mention what distin'uishes 9pain from other <uropean countries, 'i"in' it a particularl$ ori'inal historical identit$* 9pain is no less eccentric than <n'land &ut its eccentricit$ is of a different @ind* 7he eccentricit$ of the <n'lish is insular and is characteri!ed &$ isolation: an eccentricit$ that e%cludes* .ispanic eccentricit$ is peninsular and consists of the coe%istence of different ci"ili!ations and different pasts: an inclusi"e eccentricit$* 0n what would later &e ,atholic 9pain, the Jisi'oths professed the heres$ of Arianism, and we could also spea@ a&out the centuries of domination &$ Ara&ic ci"ili!ation, the influence of )ewish thou'ht, the ReconFuest, and other characteristic features* .ispanic eccentricit$ is reproduced and multiplied in America, especiall$ in those countries such as Me%ico and eru, where ancient and splendid ci"ili!ations had e%isted* 0n Me%ico, the
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9paniards encountered histor$ as well as 'eo'raph$* 7hat histor$ is still ali"e: it is a present rather than a past* 7he temples and 'ods of pre5,olum&ian Me%ico are a pile of ruins, &ut the spirit that &reathed life into that world has not disappearedP it spea@s to us in the hermetic lan'ua'e of m$th, le'end, forms of social coe%istence, popular art, customs* Bein' a Me%ican writer means listenin' to the "oice of that present, that presence* (istenin' to it, spea@in' with it, decipherin' it: e%pressin' it *** After this &rief di'ression we ma$ &e a&le to percei"e the peculiar relation that simultaneousl$ &inds us to and separates us from the <uropean tradition* 7his consciousness of &ein' separate is a constant feature of our spiritual histor$* 9eparation is sometimes e%perienced as a wound that mar@s an internal di"ision, an an'uished awareness that in"ites self5e%aminationP at other times it appears as a challen'e, a spur that incites us to action, to 'o forth and encounter others and the outside world* 0t is true that the feelin' of separation is uni"ersal and not peculiar to 9panish Americans* 0t is &orn at the "er$ moment of our &irth: as we are wrenched from the Dhole we fall into an alien land* 7his e%perience &ecomes a wound that ne"er heals* 0t is the unfathoma&le depth of e"er$ manP all our "entures and e%ploits, all our acts and dreams, are &rid'es desi'ned to o"ercome the separation and reunite us with the world and our fellow5&ein's* <ach manLs life and the collecti"e histor$ of man@ind can thus &e seen as attempts to reconstruct the ori'inal situation* An unfinished and endless cure for our di"ided condition* But it is not m$ intention to pro"ide $et another description of this feelin'* 0 am simpl$ stressin' the fact that for us this e%istential condition e%presses itself in historical terms* 0t thus &ecomes an awareness of our histor$* .ow and when does this feelin' appear and how is it transformed into consciousnessE 7he repl$ to this dou&le5ed'ed Fuestion can &e 'i"en in the form of a theor$ or a personal testimon$* 0 prefer the latter: there are man$ theories and none is entirel$ con"incin'* 7he feelin' of separation is &ound up with the oldest and "a'uest of m$ memories: the first cr$, the first scare* (i@e e"er$ child 0 &uilt emotional &rid'es in the ima'ination to lin@ me to the world and to other people* 0 li"ed in a town on the outs@irts of Me%ico ,it$, in an old dilapidated house that had a Iun'le5li@e 'arden and a 'reat room full of &oo@s* First 'ames and first lessons* 7he 'arden soon &ecame the centre of m$ worldP the li&rar$, an enchanted ca"e* 0 used to read and pla$ with m$ cousins and schoolmates* 7here was a fi' tree, temple of "e'etation, four pine trees, three ash trees, a ni'htshade, a pome'ranate tree, wild 'rass and pric@l$ plants that produced purple 'ra!es* Ado&e walls* 7ime was elasticP space was a spinnin' wheel* All time, past or future, real or ima'inar$, was pure presence* 9pace transformed itself ceaselessl$* 7he &e$ond was here, all was here: a "alle$, a mountain, a distant countr$, the nei'h&oursL patio* Boo@s with pictures, especiall$ histor$ &oo@s, ea'erl$ leafed throu'h, supplied ima'es of deserts and Iun'les, palaces and ho"els, warriors and princesses, &e''ars and @in's* De were shipwrec@ed with 9in&ad and with Ro&inson, we fou'ht with dLArta'nan, we too@ Jalencia with the ,id* .ow 0 would ha"e li@ed to sta$ fore"er on the 0sle of ,al$pso_ 0n summer the 'reen &ranches of the fi' tree would swa$ li@e the sails of a cara"el or a pirate ship* .i'h up on the mast, swept &$ the wind, 0 could ma@e out islands and continents, lands that "anished as soon as the$ &ecame tan'i&le* 7he world was limitless $et it was alwa$s within reachP time was a plia&le su&stance that wea"ed an un&ro@en present* Dhen was the spell &ro@enE +raduall$ rather than suddenl$* 0t is hard to accept &ein' &etra$ed &$ a friend, decei"ed &$ the woman we lo"e, or that the idea of freedom is the mas@ of a t$rant* Dhat we call #findin' out# is a slow and tric@$ process &ecause we oursel"es are the accomplices of our errors and deceptions* Ne"ertheless, 0 can remem&er fairl$ clearl$ an incident that was the first si'n, althou'h it was Fuic@l$ for'otten* 0 must ha"e &een a&out si% when one of m$ cousins who was a little older showed me a North American ma'a!ine with a photo'raph of soldiers marchin' alon' a hu'e a"enue, pro&a&l$ in New Zor@* #7he$L"e returned from the war# she said* 7his handful of words distur&ed me, as if the$ foreshadowed the end of the world or the 9econd ,omin' of ,hrist* 0 "a'uel$ @new that somewhere far awa$ a war had ended a few $ears earlier and that the soldiers were marchin' to cele&rate their "ictor$* For me, that war had ta@en place in another time, not here and now* 7he photo refuted me* 0 felt literall$ dislod'ed from the present*

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From that moment time &e'an to fracture more and more* And there was a pluralit$ of spaces* 7he e%perience repeated itself more and more freFuentl$* An$ piece of news, a harmless phrase, the headline in a newspaper: e"er$thin' pro"ed the outside worldLs e%istence and m$ own unrealit$* 0 felt that the world was splittin' and that 0 did not inha&it the present* M$ present was disinte'ratin': real time was somewhere else* M$ time, the time of the 'arden, the fi' tree, the 'ames with friends, the drowsiness amon' the plants at three in the afternoon under the sun, a fi' torn open 6&lac@ and red li@e a li"e coal &ut one that is sweet and fresh8: this was a fictitious time* 0n spite of what m$ senses told me, the time from o"er there, &elon'in' to the others, was the real one, the time of the real present* 0 accepted the ine"ita&le: 0 &ecame an adult* 7hat was how m$ e%pulsion from the present &e'an* 0t ma$ seem parado%ical to sa$ that we ha"e &een e%pelled from the present, &ut it is a feelin' we ha"e all had at some moment* 9ome of us e%perienced it first as a condemnation, later transformed into consciousness and action* 7he search for the present is neither the pursuit of an earthl$ paradise nor that of a timeless eternit$: it is the search for a real realit$* For us, as 9panish Americans, the real present was not in our own countries: it was the time li"ed &$ others, &$ the <n'lish, the French and the +ermans* 0t was the time of New Zor@, aris, (ondon* De had to 'o and loo@ for it and &rin' it &ac@ home* 7hese $ears were also the $ears of m$ disco"er$ of literature* 0 &e'an writin' poems* 0 did not @now what made me write them: 0 was mo"ed &$ an inner need that is difficult to define* Gnl$ now ha"e 0 understood that there was a secret relationship &etween what 0 ha"e called m$ e%pulsion from the present and the writin' of poetr$* oetr$ is in lo"e with the instant and see@s to reli"e it in the poem, thus separatin' it from seFuential time and turnin' it into a fi%ed present* But at that time 0 wrote without wonderin' wh$ 0 was doin' it* 0 was searchin' for the 'atewa$ to the present: 0 wanted to &elon' to m$ time and to m$ centur$* A little later this o&session &ecame a fi%ed idea: 0 wanted to &e a modern poet* M$ search for modernit$ had &e'un* Dhat is modernit$E First of all it is an am&i'uous term: there are as man$ t$pes of modernit$ as there are societies* <ach has its own* 7he wordLs meanin' is uncertain and ar&itrar$, li@e the name of the period that precedes it, the Middle A'es* 0f we are modern when compared to medie"al times, are we perhaps the Middle A'es of a future modernit$E 0s a name that chan'es with time a real nameE Modernit$ is a word in search of its meanin'* 0s it an idea, a mira'e or a moment of histor$E Are we the children of modernit$ or its creatorsE No&od$ @nows for sure* 0t doesnLt matter much: we follow it, we pursue it* For me at that time modernit$ was fused with the present or rather produced it: the present was its last supreme flower* M$ case is neither uniFue nor e%ceptional: from the 9$m&olist period, all modern poets ha"e chased after that ma'netic and elusi"e fi'ure that fascinates them* Baudelaire was the first* .e was also the first to touch her and disco"er that she is nothin' &ut time that crum&les in oneLs hands* 0 am not 'oin' to relate m$ ad"entures in pursuit of modernit$: the$ are not "er$ different from those of other ;0th5,entur$ poets* Modernit$ has &een a uni"ersal passion* 9ince 1/Y0 she has &een our 'oddess and our demoness* 0n recent $ears, there has &een an attempt to e%orcise her and there has &een much tal@ of #postmodernism#* But what is postmodernism if not an e"en more modern modernit$E For us, as (atin Americans, the search for poetic modernit$ runs historicall$ parallel to the repeated attempts to moderni!e our countries* 7his tendenc$ &e'ins at the end of the 1/th ,entur$ and includes 9pain herself* 7he Rnited 9tates was &orn into modernit$ and &$ 1/30 was alread$, as de 7ocFue"ille o&ser"ed, the wom& of the futureP we were &orn at a moment when 9pain and ortu'al were mo"in' awa$ from modernit$* 7his is wh$ there was freFuent tal@ of #<uropeani!in'# our countries: the modern was outside and had to &e imported* 0n Me%ican histor$ this process &e'ins Iust &efore the Dar of 0ndependence* (ater it &ecame a 'reat ideolo'ical and political de&ate that passionatel$ di"ided Me%ican societ$ durin' the 19th ,entur$* Gne e"ent was to call into Fuestion not the le'itimac$ of the reform mo"ement &ut the wa$ in which it had &een implemented: the Me%ican Re"olution* Rnli@e its ;0th5,entur$ counterparts, the Me%ican Re"olution was not reall$ the e%pression of a "a'uel$ utopian ideolo'$ &ut rather the e%plosion of
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a realit$ that had &een historicall$ and ps$cholo'icall$ repressed* 0t was not the wor@ of a 'roup of ideolo'ists intent on introducin' principles deri"ed from a political theor$P it was a popular uprisin' that unmas@ed what was hidden* For this "er$ reason it was more of a re"elation than a re"olution* Me%ico was searchin' for the present outside onl$ to find it within, &uried &ut ali"e* 7he search for modernit$ led us to disco"er our antiFuit$, the hidden face of the nation* 0 am not sure whether this une%pected historical lesson has &een learnt &$ all: &etween tradition and modernit$ there is a &rid'e* Dhen the$ are mutuall$ isolated, tradition sta'nates and modernit$ "apori!esP when in conIunction, modernit$ &reathes life into tradition, while the latter replies with depth and 'ra"it$* 7he search for poetic modernit$ was a Ouest, in the alle'orical and chi"alric sense this word had in the 1;th ,entur$* 0 did not find an$ +rail althou'h 0 did cross se"eral waste lands "isitin' castles of mirrors and campin' amon' 'hostl$ tri&es* But 0 did disco"er the modern tradition* For modernit$ is not a poetic school &ut a linea'e, a famil$ dispersed o"er se"eral continents and which for two centuries has sur"i"ed man$ sudden chan'es and misfortunes: pu&lic indifference, isolation, and tri&unals in the name of reli'ious, political, academic and se%ual orthodo%$* Because it is a tradition and not a doctrine, it has &een a&le to persist and to chan'e at the same time* 7his is also wh$ it is so di"erse: each poetic ad"enture is distinct and each poet has sown a different plant in the miraculous forest of spea@in' trees* Zet if the wor@s are di"erse and each route is distinct, what is it that unites all these poetsE Not an aesthetic &ut a search* M$ search was not fanciful, e"en thou'h the idea of modernit$ is a mira'e, a &undle of reflections* Gne da$ 0 disco"ered 0 was 'oin' &ac@ to the startin' point instead of ad"ancin': the search for modernit$ was a descent to the ori'ins* Modernit$ led me to the source of m$ &e'innin', to m$ antiFuit$* 9eparation had now &ecome reconciliation* 0 thus found out that the poet is a pulse in the rh$thmic flow of 'enerations* o 7he idea of modernit$ is a &$5product of our conception of histor$ as a uniFue and linear process of succession* Althou'h its ori'ins are in )udaeo5,hristianit$, it &rea@s with ,hristian doctrine* 0n ,hristianit$, the c$clical time of pa'an cultures is supplanted &$ unrepeata&le histor$, somethin' that has a &e'innin' and will ha"e an end* 9eFuential time was the profane time of histor$, an arena for the actions of fallen men, $et still 'o"erned &$ a sacred time which had neither &e'innin' nor end* After )ud'ement 3a$ there will &e no future either in hea"en or in hell* 0n the realm of eternit$ there is no succession &ecause e"er$thin' is* Bein' triumphs o"er &ecomin'* 7he now time, our concept of time, is linear li@e that of ,hristianit$ &ut open to infinit$ with no reference to <ternit$* Gurs is the time of profane histor$, an irre"ersi&le and perpetuall$ unfinished time that marches towards the future and not towards its end* .istor$Ls sun is the future and ro'ress is the name of this mo"ement towards the future* ,hristians see the world, or what used to &e called the si4cle or worldl$ life, as a place of trial: souls can &e either lost or sa"ed in this world* 0n the new conception the historical su&Iect is not the indi"idual soul &ut the human race, sometimes "iewed as a whole and sometimes throu'h a chosen 'roup that represents it: the de"eloped nations of the Dest, the proletariat, the white race, or some other entit$* 7he pa'an and ,hristian philosophical tradition had e%alted Bein' as chan'eless perfection o"erflowin' with plenitudeP we adore ,han'e, the motor of pro'ress and the model for our societies* ,han'e articulates itself in two pri"ile'ed wa$s: as e"olution and as re"olution* 7he trot and the leap* Modernit$ is the spearhead of historical mo"ement, the incarnation of e"olution or re"olution, the two faces of pro'ress* Finall$, pro'ress ta@es place than@s to the dual action of science and technolo'$, applied to the realm of nature and to the use of her immense resources* Modern man has defined himself as a historical &ein'* Gther societies chose to define themsel"es in terms of "alues and ideas different from chan'e: the +ree@s "enerated the polis and the circle $et were unaware of pro'ressP li@e all the 9toics, 9eneca was much concerned a&out the eternal returnP 9aint Au'ustine &elie"ed that the end of the world was imminentP 9aint 7homas constructed a scale of the de'rees of &ein', lin@in' the smallest creature to the ,reator, and so on* Gne after the
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other these ideas and &eliefs were a&andoned* 0t seems to me that the same decline is &e'innin' to affect our idea of ro'ress and, as a result, our "ision of time, of histor$ and of oursel"es* De are witnessin' the twili'ht of the future* 7he decline of the idea of modernit$ and the popularit$ of a notion as du&ious as that of #postmodernism# are phenomena that affect not onl$ literature and the arts: we are e%periencin' the crisis of the essential ideas and &eliefs that ha"e 'uided man@ind for o"er two centuries* 0 ha"e dealt with this matter at len'th elsewhere* .ere 0 can onl$ offer a &rief summar$* 0n the first place, the concept of a process open to infinit$ and s$non$mous with endless pro'ress has &een called into Fuestion* 0 need hardl$ mention what e"er$&od$ @nows: natural resources are finite and will run out one da$* 0n addition, we ha"e inflicted what ma$ &e irrepara&le dama'e on the natural en"ironment and our own species is endan'ered* Finall$, science and technolo'$, the instruments of pro'ress, ha"e shown with alarmin' clarit$ that the$ can easil$ &ecome destructi"e forces* 7he e%istence of nuclear weapons is a refutation of the idea that pro'ress is inherent in histor$* 7his refutation, 0 add, can onl$ &e called de"astatin'* 0n the second place, we ha"e the fate of the historical su&Iect, man@ind, in the ;0th ,entur$* 9eldom ha"e nations or indi"iduals suffered so much: two world wars, t$rannies spread o"er fi"e continents, the atomic &om& and the proliferation of one of the cruellest and most lethal institutions @nown &$ man: the concentration camp* Modern technolo'$ has pro"ided countless &enefits, &ut it is impossi&le to close our e$es when confronted &$ slau'hter, torture, humiliation, de'radation, and other wron's inflicted on millions of innocent people in our centur$* 0n the third place, the &elief in the necessit$ of pro'ress has &een sha@en* For our 'randparents and our parents, the ruins of histor$ 6corpses, desolate &attlefields, de"astated cities8 did not in"alidate the underl$in' 'oodness of the historical process* 7he scaffolds and t$rannies, the conflicts and sa"a'e ci"il wars were the price to &e paid for pro'ress, the &lood mone$ to &e offered to the 'od of histor$* A 'odE Zes, reason itself deified and prodi'al in cruel acts of cunnin', accordin' to .e'el* 7he alle'ed rationalit$ of histor$ has "anished* 0n the "er$ domain of order, re'ularit$ and coherence 6in pure sciences li@e ph$sics8 the old notions of accident and catastrophe ha"e reappeared* 7his distur&in' resurrection reminds me of the terrors that mar@ed the ad"ent of the millennium, and the an'uish of the A!tecs at the end of each cosmic c$cle* 7he last element in this hast$ enumeration is the collapse of all the philosophical and historical h$potheses that claimed to re"eal the laws 'o"ernin' the course of histor$* 7he &elie"ers, confident that the$ held the @e$s to histor$, erected powerful states o"er p$ramids of corpses* 7hese arro'ant constructions, destined in theor$ to li&erate men, were "er$ Fuic@l$ transformed into 'i'antic prisons* 7oda$ we ha"e seen them fall, o"erthrown not &$ their ideolo'ical enemies &ut &$ the impatience and the desire for freedom of the new 'enerations* 0s this the end of all RtopiasE 0t is rather the end of the idea of histor$ as a phenomenon, the outcome of which can &e @nown in ad"ance* .istorical determinism has &een a costl$ and &loodstained fantas$* .istor$ is unpredicta&le &ecause its a'ent, man@ind, is the personification of indeterminism* 7his short re"iew shows that we are "er$ pro&a&l$ at the end of a historical period and at the &e'innin' of another* 7he end of the Modern A'e or Iust a mutationE 0t is difficult to tell* 0n an$ case, the collapse of Rtopian schemes has left a 'reat "oid, not in the countries where this ideolo'$ has pro"ed to ha"e failed &ut in those where man$ em&raced it with enthusiasm and hope* For the first time in histor$ man@ind li"es in a sort of spiritual wilderness and not, as &efore, in the shadow of those reli'ious and political s$stems that consoled us at the same time as the$ oppressed us* Althou'h all societies are historical, each one has li"ed under the 'uidance and inspiration of a set of metahistorical &eliefs and ideas* Gurs is the first a'e that is read$ to li"e without a metahistorical doctrineP whether the$ &e reli'ious or philosophical, moral or aesthetic, our a&solutes are not collecti"e &ut pri"ate* 0t is a dan'erous e%perience* 0t is also impossi&le to @now whether the tensions and conflicts unleashed in this pri"ati!ation of ideas, practices and &eliefs that
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&elon'ed traditionall$ to the pu&lic domain will not end up &$ destro$in' the social fa&ric* Men could then &ecome possessed once more &$ ancient reli'ious fur$ or &$ fanatical nationalism* 0t would &e terri&le if the fall of the a&stract idol of ideolo'$ were to foreshadow the resurrection of the &uried passions of tri&es, sects and churches* 7he si'ns, unfortunatel$, are distur&in'* 7he decline of the ideolo'ies 0 ha"e called metahistorical, &$ which 0 mean those that assi'n to histor$ a 'oal and a direction, implies first the tacit a&andonment of 'lo&al solutions* Dith 'ood sense, we tend more and more towards limited remedies to sol"e concrete pro&lems* 0t is prudent to a&stain from le'islatin' a&out the future* Zet the present reFuires much more than attention to its immediate needs: it demands a more ri'orous 'lo&al reflection* For a lon' time 0 ha"e firml$ &elie"ed that the twili'ht of the future heralds the ad"ent of the now* 7o thin@ a&out the now implies first of all to reco"er the critical "ision* For e%ample, the triumph of the mar@et econom$ 6a triumph due to the ad"ersar$Ls default8 cannot &e simpl$ a cause for Io$* As a mechanism the mar@et is efficient, &ut li@e all mechanisms it lac@s &oth conscience and compassion* De must find a wa$ of inte'ratin' it into societ$ so that it e%presses the social contract and &ecomes an instrument of Iustice and fairness* 7he ad"anced democratic societies ha"e reached an en"ia&le le"el of prosperit$P at the same time the$ are islands of a&undance in the ocean of uni"ersal miser$* 7he topic of the mar@et is intricatel$ related to the deterioration of the en"ironment* ollution affects not onl$ the air, the ri"ers and the forests &ut also our souls* A societ$ possessed &$ the frantic need to produce more in order to consume more tends to reduce ideas, feelin's, art, lo"e, friendship and people themsel"es to consumer products* <"er$thin' &ecomes a thin' to &e &ou'ht, used and then thrown in the ru&&ish dump* No other societ$ has produced so much waste as ours has* Material and moral waste* Reflectin' on the now does not impl$ relinFuishin' the future or for'ettin' the past: the present is the meetin' place for the three directions of time* Neither can it &e confused with facile hedonism* 7he tree of pleasure does not 'row in the past or in the future &ut at this "er$ moment* Zet death is also a fruit of the present* 0t cannot &e reIected, for it is part of life* (i"in' well implies d$in' well* De ha"e to learn how to loo@ death in the face* 7he present is alternati"el$ luminous and som&re, li@e a sphere that unites the two hal"es of action and contemplation* 7hus, Iust as we ha"e had philosophies of the past and of the future, of eternit$ and of the "oid, tomorrow we shall ha"e a philosoph$ of the present* 7he poetic e%perience could &e one of its foundations* Dhat do we @now a&out the presentE Nothin' or almost nothin'* Zet the poets do @now one thin': the present is the source of presences* 0n this pil'rima'e in search of modernit$ 0 lost m$ wa$ at man$ points onl$ to find m$self a'ain* 0 returned to the source and disco"ered that modernit$ is not outside &ut within us* 0t is toda$ and the most ancient antiFuit$P it is tomorrow and the &e'innin' of the worldP it is a thousand $ears old and $et new&orn* 0t spea@s in Nahuatl, draws ,hinese ideo'rams from the 9th centur$, and appears on the tele"ision screen* 7his intact present, recentl$ unearthed, sha@es off the dust of centuries, smiles and suddenl$ starts to fl$, disappearin' throu'h the window* A simultaneous pluralit$ of time and presence: modernit$ &rea@s with the immediate past onl$ to reco"er an a'e5old past and transform a tin$ fertilit$ fi'ure from the neolithic into our contemporar$* De pursue modernit$ in her incessant metamorphoses $et we ne"er mana'e to trap her* 9he alwa$s escapes: each encounter ends in fli'ht* De em&race her and she disappears immediatel$: it was Iust a little air* 0t is the instant, that &ird that is e"er$where and nowhere* De want to trap it ali"e &ut it flaps its win's and "anishes in the form of a handful of s$lla&les* De are left empt$5handed* 7hen the doors of perception open sli'htl$ and the other time appears, the real one we were searchin' for without @nowin' it: the present, the presence* 7ranslated &$ Anthon$ 9tanton* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19/151990, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993
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,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1990 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Gcta"io a! 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1990Apa!5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 7arl ;Bertran! 'rthur (illia)< =ussell <arl 6Bertrand Arthur Dilliam8 Russell Born: 1/ Ma$ 1/C;, 7rellec@, Rnited =in'dom 3ied: ; Fe&ruar$ 19C0, enrh$ndeudraeth, Rnited =in'dom Residence at the time of the award: Rnited =in'dom ri!e moti"ation: #in reco'nition of his "aried and si'nificant writin's in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thou'ht# (an'ua'e: <n'lish Biography Bertrand Arthur Dilliam Russell was &orn at 7rellec@ on 1/th Ma$, 1/C;* .is parents were Jiscount Am&erle$ and =atherine, dau'hter of ;nd Baron 9tanle$ of Alderle$* At the a'e of three he was left an orphan* .is father had wished him to &e &rou'ht up as an a'nosticP to a"oid this he was made a ward of ,ourt, and &rou'ht up &$ his 'randmother* 0nstead of &ein' sent to school he was tau'ht &$ 'o"ernesses and tutors, and thus acFuired a perfect @nowled'e of French and +erman* 0n 1/90 he went into residence at 7rinit$ ,olle'e, ,am&rid'e, and after &ein' a "er$ hi'h Dran'ler and o&tainin' a First ,lass with distinction in philosoph$ he was elected a fellow of his colle'e in 1/9Y* But he had alread$ left ,am&rid'e in the summer of 1/94 and for some months was attach- at the British em&ass$ at aris* 0n 3ecem&er 1/94 he married Miss Al$s earsall 9mith* After spendin' some months in Berlin stud$in' social democrac$, the$ went to li"e near .aslemere, where he de"oted his time to the stud$ of philosoph$* 0n 1900 he "isited the Mathematical ,on'ress at aris* .e was impressed with the a&ilit$ of the 0talian mathematician eano and his pupils, and immediatel$ studied eanoLs wor@s* 0n 1903 he wrote his first important &oo@, 7he rinciples of Mathematics, and with his friend 3r* Alfred Dhitehead proceeded to de"elop and e%tend the mathematical lo'ic of eano and Fre'e* From time to time he a&andoned philosoph$ for politics* 0n 1910 he was appointed lecturer at 7rinit$ ,olle'e* After the first Dorld Dar &ro@e out, he too@ an acti"e part in the No ,onscription fellowship and was fined z 100 as the author of a leaflet critici!in' a sentence of two $ears on a conscientious o&Iector* .is colle'e depri"ed him of his lectureship in 191:* .e was offered a post at .ar"ard uni"ersit$, &ut was refused a passport* .e intended to 'i"e a course of lectures 6afterwards pu&lished in America as olitical 0deals, 191/8 &ut was pre"ented &$ the militar$ authorities* 0n 191/ he was sentenced to si% monthsL imprisonment for a pacifistic article he had written in the 7ri&unal* .is 0ntroduction to Mathematical hilosoph$ 619198 was written in prison* .is Anal$sis of Mind 619;18 was the outcome of some lectures he 'a"e in (ondon, which were or'ani!ed &$ a few friends who 'ot up a su&scription for the purpose* 0n 19;0 Russell had paid a short "isit to Russia to stud$ the conditions of Bolshe"ism on the spot* 0n the autumn of the same $ear he went to ,hina to lecture on philosoph$ at the e@in' uni"ersit$* Gn his return in 9ept* 19;1, ha"in' &een di"orced &$ his first wife, he married Miss 3ora Blac@* 7he$ li"ed for si% $ears in ,helsea durin' the winter months and spent the summers near (ands <nd* 0n 19;C he and his wife started a school for $oun' children, which the$ carried on until 193;* .e succeeded to the earldom in 1931* .e was di"orced &$ his second wife in 193Y and the
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followin' $ear married atricia .elen 9pence* 0n 193/ he went to the Rnited 9tates and durin' the ne%t $ears tau'ht at man$ of the countr$Ls leadin' uni"ersities* 0n 1940 he was in"ol"ed in le'al proceedin's when his ri'ht to teach philosoph$ at the ,olle'e of the ,it$ of New Zor@ was Fuestioned &ecause of his "iews on moralit$* Dhen his appointment to the colle'e facult$ was cancelled, he accepted a fi"e5$ear contract as a lecturer for the Barnes foundation, Merion, a*, &ut the cancellation of this contract was announced in )an* 1943 &$ Al&ert ,* Barnes, director of the foundation* Russell was elected a fellow of the Ro$al 9ociet$ in 190/, and re5elected a fellow of 7rinit$ ,olle'e in 1944* .e was awarded the 9$l"ester medal of the Ro$al 9ociet$, 1934, the de Mor'an medal of the (ondon Mathematical 9ociet$ in the same $ear, the No&el ri!e for (iterature, 19Y0* 0n a paper #(o'ical Atomism# 6,ontemporar$ British hilosoph$* ersonal 9tatements, First series* (ond* 19;48 Russell e%posed his "iews on his philosoph$, preceded &$ a few words on historical de"elopment*1 rincipal pu&lications +erman 9ocial 3emocrac$, 1/9: Foundations of +eometr$, 1/9C A ,ritical <%position of the hilosoph$ of (ei&ni!, 1900 rinciples of Mathematics, "ol* 1, 1903 hilosophical <ssa$s, 1910 6with 3r* A* N* Dhitehead8 rincipia mathematica, 3 "ols, 1910513 7he ro&lems of hilosoph$, 191; Gur =nowled'e of the <%ternal Dorld as a Field for 9cientific Method in hilosoph$, 1944 rinciples of 9ocial Reconstruction, 191: M$sticism and (o'ic and Gther <ssa$s, 191/ Roads to Freedom: 9ocialism, Anarchism and 9$ndicalism, 191/ 0ntroduction to Mathematical hilosoph$, 1919 7he ractice and 7heor$ of Bolshe"ism, 19;0 7he Anal$sis of Mind, 19;1 7he ro&lem of ,hina, 19;; 7he AB, of Atoms, 19;3 6with 3ora Russell8 7he rospects of 0ndustrial ,i"ilisation, 19;3 (o'ical Atomism, 19;4 7he AB, of Relati"it$, 19;Y Gn <ducation, 19;: 7he Anal$sis of Matter, 19;C An Gutline of hilosoph$, 19;C 9ceptical <ssa$s, 19;/ Marria'e and Morals, 19;9 7he ,onFuest of .appiness, 1930 7he Freedom and Gr'anisation 1/1451914, 1934 0n raise of 0dleness, 193Y Dhich Da$ to eaceE, 193: 6with atricia Russell editor of8 7he Am&erle$ apers, ; "ols, 193C ower: a new 9ocial 0ntroduction to its 9tud$, 193/ An 0nFuir$ into Meanin' and 7ruth, 1941 .istor$ of Destern hilosoph$, 194: .uman =nowled'e, its 9cope and (imits, 194/ Authorit$ and the 0ndi"idual, 1949 Rnpopular <ssa$s, 19Y0 18 7he matter for this s@etch is ta@en from 'eneral <n'lish reference &oo@s*

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From (es ri% No&el en 19Y0, <ditor Arne .olm&er', >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, 19Y1 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* For more updated &io'raphical information, see: Russell, Bertrand, 7he Auto&io'raph$ of Bertrand Russell* 63 "ols*8 Allen j Rnwin: (ondon, 19:C519:9* Bertrand Russell died on Fe&ruar$ ;, 19C0* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19Y0 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Bertrand Russell 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19Y0Arussell*html 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 19Y0 was awarded to Bertrand Russell #in reco'nition of his "aried and si'nificant writin's in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thou'ht#* Nobel Lecture> 3ecem&er 11, 19Y0 ,op$ri'ht f 9"ens@a A@ademien ;011 (hat #esires 're 9olitically I)portant? Zour Ro$al .i'hness, (adies and +entlemen, 0 ha"e chosen this su&Iect for m$ lecture toni'ht &ecause 0 thin@ that most current discussions of politics and political theor$ ta@e insufficient account of ps$cholo'$* <conomic facts, population statistics, constitutional or'ani!ation, and so on, are set forth minutel$* 7here is no difficult$ in findin' out how man$ 9outh =oreans and how man$ North =oreans there were when the =orean Dar &e'an* 0f $ou will loo@ into the ri'ht &oo@s $ou will &e a&le to ascertain what was their a"era'e income per head, and what were the si!es of their respecti"e armies* But if $ou want to @now what sort of person a =orean is, and whether there is an$ apprecia&le difference &etween a North =orean and a 9outh =oreanP if $ou wish to @now what the$ respecti"el$ want out of life, what are their discontents, what their hopes and what their fearsP in a word, what it is that, as the$ sa$, {ma@es them tic@|, $ou will loo@ throu'h the reference &oo@s in "ain* And so $ou cannot tell whether the 9outh =oreans are enthusiastic a&out RNG, or would prefer union with their cousins in the North* Nor can $ou 'uess whether the$ are willin' to for'o land reform for the pri"ile'e of "otin' for some politician the$ ha"e ne"er heard of* 0t is ne'lect of such Fuestions &$ the eminent men who sit in remote capitals, that so freFuentl$ causes disappointment* 0f politics is to &ecome scientific, and if the e"ent is not to &e constantl$ surprisin', it is imperati"e that our political thin@in' should penetrate more deepl$ into the sprin's of human action* Dhat is the influence of hun'er upon slo'ansE .ow does their effecti"eness fluctuate with the num&er of calories in $our dietE 0f one man offers $ou democrac$ and another offers $ou a &a' of 'rain, at what sta'e of star"ation will $ou prefer the 'rain to the "oteE 9uch Fuestions are far too little considered* .owe"er, let us, for the present, for'et the =oreans, and consider the human race* All human acti"it$ is prompted &$ desire* 7here is a wholl$ fallacious theor$ ad"anced &$ some earnest moralists to the effect that it is possi&le to resist desire in the interests of dut$ and moral principle* 0 sa$ this is fallacious, not &ecause no man e"er acts from a sense of dut$, &ut &ecause dut$ has no hold on him unless he desires to &e dutiful* 0f $ou wish to @now what men will do, $ou must @now not onl$, or principall$, their material circumstances, &ut rather the whole s$stem of their desires with their relati"e stren'ths* 7here are some desires which, thou'h "er$ powerful, ha"e not, as a rule, an$ 'reat political importance* Most men at some period of their li"es desire to marr$, &ut as a rule the$ can satisf$
1;0

this desire without ha"in' to ta@e an$ political action* 7here are, of course, e%ceptionsP the rape of the 9a&ine women is a case in point* And the de"elopment of northern Australia is seriousl$ impeded &$ the fact that the "i'orous $oun' men who ou'ht to do the wor@ disli@e &ein' wholl$ depri"ed of female societ$* But such cases are unusual, and in 'eneral the interest that men and women ta@e in each other has little influence upon politics* 7he desires that are politicall$ important ma$ &e di"ided into a primar$ and a secondar$ 'roup* 0n the primar$ 'roup come the necessities of life: food and shelter and clothin'* Dhen these thin's &ecome "er$ scarce, there is no limit to the efforts that men will ma@e, or to the "iolence that the$ will displa$, in the hope of securin' them* 0t is said &$ students of the earliest histor$ that, on four separate occasions, drou'ht in Ara&ia caused the population of that countr$ to o"erflow into surroundin' re'ions, with immense effects, political, cultural, and reli'ious* 7he last of these four occasions was the rise of 0slam* 7he 'radual spread of +ermanic tri&es from southern Russia to <n'land, and thence to 9an Francisco, had similar moti"es* Rndou&tedl$ the desire for food has &een, and still is, one of the main causes of 'reat political e"ents* But man differs from other animals in one "er$ important respect, and that is that he has some desires which are, so to spea@, infinite, which can ne"er &e full$ 'ratified, and which would @eep him restless e"en in aradise* 7he &oa constrictor, when he has had an adeFuate meal, 'oes to sleep, and does not wa@e until he needs another meal* .uman &ein's, for the most part, are not li@e this* Dhen the Ara&s, who had &een used to li"in' sparin'l$ on a few dates, acFuired the riches of the <astern Roman <mpire, and dwelt in palaces of almost un&elie"a&le lu%ur$, the$ did not, on that account, &ecome inacti"e* .un'er could no lon'er &e a moti"e, for +ree@ sla"es supplied them with e%Fuisite "iands at the sli'htest nod* But other desires @ept them acti"e: four in particular, which we can la&el acFuisiti"eness, ri"alr$, "anit$, and lo"e of power* AcFuisiti"eness 5 the wish to possess as much as possi&le of 'oods, or the title to 'oods 5 is a moti"e which, 0 suppose, has its ori'in in a com&ination of fear with the desire for necessaries* 0 once &efriended two little 'irls from <stonia, who had narrowl$ escaped death from star"ation in a famine* 7he$ li"ed in m$ famil$, and of course had plent$ to eat* But the$ spent all their leisure "isitin' nei'h&ourin' farms and stealin' potatoes, which the$ hoarded* Roc@efeller, who in his infanc$ had e%perienced 'reat po"ert$, spent his adult life in a similar manner* 9imilarl$ the Ara& chieftains on their sil@en B$!antine di"ans could not for'et the desert, and hoarded riches far &e$ond an$ possi&le ph$sical need* But whate"er ma$ &e the ps$choanal$sis of acFuisiti"eness, no one can den$ that it is one of the 'reat moti"es 5 especiall$ amon' the more powerful, for, as 0 said &efore, it is one of the infinite moti"es* .owe"er much $ou ma$ acFuire, $ou will alwa$s wish to acFuire moreP satiet$ is a dream which will alwa$s elude $ou* But acFuisiti"eness, althou'h it is the mainsprin' of the capitalist s$stem, is &$ no means the most powerful of the moti"es that sur"i"e the conFuest of hun'er* Ri"alr$ is a much stron'er moti"e* G"er and o"er a'ain in Mohammedan histor$, d$nasties ha"e come to 'rief &ecause the sons of a sultan &$ different mothers could not a'ree, and in the resultin' ci"il war uni"ersal ruin resulted* 7he same sort of thin' happens in modern <urope* Dhen the British +o"ernment "er$ unwisel$ allowed the =aiser to &e present at a na"al re"iew at 9pithead, the thou'ht which arose in his mind was not the one which we had intended* Dhat he thou'ht was, {0 must ha"e a Na"$ as 'ood as +randmammaLs|* And from this thou'ht ha"e sprun' all our su&seFuent trou&les* 7he world would &e a happier place than it is if acFuisiti"eness were alwa$s stron'er than ri"alr$* But in fact, a 'reat man$ men will cheerfull$ face impo"erishment if the$ can there&$ secure complete ruin for their ri"als* .ence the present le"el of ta%ation* Janit$ is a moti"e of immense potenc$* An$one who has much to do with children @nows how the$ are constantl$ performin' some antic, and sa$in' {(oo@ at me|* {(oo@ at me| is one of the most fundamental desires of the human heart* 0t can ta@e innumera&le forms, from &uffooner$ to the pursuit of posthumous fame* 7here was a Renaissance 0talian princelin' who was as@ed &$ the
1;1

priest on his death&ed if he had an$thin' to repent of* {Zes|, he said, {there is one thin'* Gn one occasion 0 had a "isit from the <mperor and the ope simultaneousl$* 0 too@ them to the top of m$ tower to see the "iew, and 0 ne'lected the opportunit$ to throw them &oth down, which would ha"e 'i"en me immortal fame|* .istor$ does not relate whether the priest 'a"e him a&solution* Gne of the trou&les a&out "anit$ is that it 'rows with what it feeds on* 7he more $ou are tal@ed a&out, the more $ou will wish to &e tal@ed a&out* 7he condemned murderer who is allowed to see the account of his trial in the press is indi'nant if he finds a newspaper which has reported it inadeFuatel$* And the more he finds a&out himself in other newspapers, the more indi'nant he will &e with the one whose reports are mea're* oliticians and literar$ men are in the same case* And the more famous the$ &ecome, the more difficult the press5cuttin' a'enc$ finds it to satisf$ them* 0t is scarcel$ possi&le to e%a''erate the influence of "anit$ throu'hout the ran'e of human life, from the child of three to the potentate at whose frown the world trem&les* Man@ind ha"e e"en committed the impiet$ of attri&utin' similar desires to the 3eit$, whom the$ ima'ine a"id for continual praise* But 'reat as is the influence of the moti"es we ha"e &een considerin', there is one which outwei'hs them all* 0 mean the lo"e of power* (o"e of power is closel$ a@in to "anit$, &ut it is not &$ an$ means the same thin'* Dhat "anit$ needs for its satisfaction is 'lor$, and it is eas$ to ha"e 'lor$ without power* 7he people who enIo$ the 'reatest 'lor$ in the Rnited 9tates are film stars, &ut the$ can &e put in their place &$ the ,ommittee for Rn5American Acti"ities, which enIo$s no 'lor$ whate"er* 0n <n'land, the =in' has more 'lor$ than the rime Minister, &ut the rime Minister has more power than the =in'* Man$ people prefer 'lor$ to power, &ut on the whole these people ha"e less effect upon the course of e"ents than those who prefer power to 'lor$* Dhen Blccher, in 1/14, saw NapoleonLs palaces, he said, {DasnLt he a fool to ha"e all this and to 'o runnin' after Moscow*| Napoleon, who certainl$ was not destitute of "anit$, preferred power when he had to choose* 7o Blccher, this choice seemed foolish* ower, li@e "anit$, is insatia&le* Nothin' short of omnipotence could satisf$ it completel$* And as it is especiall$ the "ice of ener'etic men, the causal efficac$ of lo"e of power is out of all proportion to its freFuenc$* 0t is, indeed, &$ far the stron'est moti"e in the li"es of important men* (o"e of power is 'reatl$ increased &$ the e%perience of power, and this applies to pett$ power as well as to that of potentates* 0n the happ$ da$s &efore 1914, when well5to5do ladies could acFuire a host of ser"ants, their pleasure in e%ercisin' power o"er the domestics steadil$ increased with a'e* 9imilarl$, in an$ autocratic re'ime, the holders of power &ecome increasin'l$ t$rannical with e%perience of the deli'hts that power can afford* 9ince power o"er human &ein's is shown in ma@in' them do what the$ would rather not do, the man who is actuated &$ lo"e of power is more apt to inflict pain than to permit pleasure* 0f $ou as@ $our &oss for lea"e of a&sence from the office on some le'itimate occasion, his lo"e of power will deri"e more satisfaction from a refusal than from a consent* 0f $ou reFuire a &uildin' permit, the pett$ official concerned will o&"iousl$ 'et more pleasure from sa$in' {No| than from sa$in' {Zes|* 0t is this sort of thin' which ma@es the lo"e of power such a dan'erous moti"e* But it has other sides which are more desira&le* 7he pursuit of @nowled'e is, 0 thin@, mainl$ actuated &$ lo"e of power* And so are all ad"ances in scientific techniFue* 0n politics, also, a reformer ma$ ha"e Iust as stron' a lo"e of power as a despot* 0t would &e a complete mista@e to decr$ lo"e of power alto'ether as a moti"e* Dhether $ou will &e led &$ this moti"e to actions which are useful, or to actions which are pernicious, depends upon the social s$stem, and upon $our capacities* 0f $our capacities are theoretical or technical, $ou will contri&ute to @nowled'e or techniFue, and, as a rule, $our acti"it$ will &e useful* 0f $ou are a politician $ou ma$ &e actuated &$ lo"e of power, &ut as a rule this moti"e will Ioin itself on to the desire to see some state of affairs reali!ed which, for some reason, $ou prefer to the status Fuo* A 'reat 'eneral ma$, li@e Alci&iades, &e Fuite indifferent as to which side he fi'hts on, &ut most 'enerals ha"e preferred to fi'ht for their own countr$, and ha"e, therefore, had other moti"es &esides lo"e of power* 7he politician ma$ chan'e sides so freFuentl$ as to find himself alwa$s in the maIorit$, &ut most politicians ha"e a preference for one part$ to the other, and su&ordinate their lo"e of power to this
1;;

preference* (o"e of power as nearl$ pure as possi&le is to &e seen in "arious different t$pes of men* Gne t$pe is the soldier of fortune, of whom Napoleon is the supreme e%ample* Napoleon had, 0 thin@, no ideolo'ical preference for France o"er ,orsica, &ut if he had &ecome <mperor of ,orsica he would not ha"e &een so 'reat a man as he &ecame &$ pretendin' to &e a Frenchman* 9uch men, howe"er, are not Fuite pure e%amples, since the$ also deri"e immense satisfaction from "anit$* 7he purest t$pe is that of the eminence 'rise 5 the power &ehind the throne that ne"er appears in pu&lic, and merel$ hu's itself with the secret thou'ht: {.ow little these puppets @now who is pullin' the strin's*| Baron .olstein, who controlled the forei'n polic$ of the +erman <mpire from 1/90 to 190:, illustrates this t$pe to perfection* .e li"ed in a slumP he ne"er appeared in societ$P he a"oided meetin' the <mperor, e%cept on one sin'le occasion when the <mperorLs importunit$ could not &e resistedP he refused all in"itations to ,ourt functions, on the 'round that he possessed no court dress* .e had acFuired secrets which ena&led him to &lac@mail the ,hancellor and man$ of the =aiserLs intimates* .e used the power of &lac@mail, not to acFuire wealth, or fame, or an$ other o&"ious ad"anta'e, &ut merel$ to compel the adoption of the forei'n polic$ he preferred* 0n the <ast, similar characters were not "er$ uncommon amon' eunuchs* 0 come now to other moti"es which, thou'h in a sense less fundamental than those we ha"e &een considerin', are still of considera&le importance* 7he first of these is lo"e of e%citement* .uman &ein's show their superiorit$ to the &rutes &$ their capacit$ for &oredom, thou'h 0 ha"e sometimes thou'ht, in e%aminin' the apes at the !oo, that the$, perhaps, ha"e the rudiments of this tiresome emotion* .owe"er that ma$ &e, e%perience shows that escape from &oredom is one of the reall$ powerful desires of almost all human &ein's* Dhen white men first effect contact with some unspoilt race of sa"a'es, the$ offer them all @inds of &enefits, from the li'ht of the 'ospel to pump@in pie* 7hese, howe"er, much as we ma$ re'ret it, most sa"a'es recei"e with indifference* Dhat the$ reall$ "alue amon' the 'ifts that we &rin' to them is into%icatin' liFuor which ena&les them, for the first time in their li"es, to ha"e the illusion for a few &rief moments that it is &etter to &e ali"e than dead* Red 0ndians, while the$ were still unaffected &$ white men, would smo@e their pipes, not calml$ as we do, &ut or'iasticall$, inhalin' so deepl$ that the$ san@ into a faint* And when e%citement &$ means of nicotine failed, a patriotic orator would stir them up to attac@ a nei'h&ourin' tri&e, which would 'i"e them all the enIo$ment that we 6accordin' to our temperament8 deri"e from a horse race or a +eneral <lection* 7he pleasure of 'am&lin' consists almost entirel$ in e%citement* Monsieur .uc descri&es ,hinese traders at the +reat Dall in winter, 'am&lin' until the$ ha"e lost all their cash, then proceedin' to lose all their merchandise, and at last 'am&lin' awa$ their clothes and 'oin' out na@ed to die of cold* Dith ci"ili!ed men, as with primiti"e Red 0ndian tri&es, it is, 0 thin@, chiefl$ lo"e of e%citement which ma@es the populace applaud when war &rea@s outP the emotion is e%actl$ the same as at a foot&all match, althou'h the results are sometimes somewhat more serious* 0t is not alto'ether eas$ to decide what is the root cause of the lo"e of e%citement* 0 incline to thin@ that our mental ma@e5up is adapted to the sta'e when men li"ed &$ huntin'* Dhen a man spent a lon' da$ with "er$ primiti"e weapons in stal@in' a deer with the hope of dinner, and when, at the end of the da$, he dra''ed the carcass triumphantl$ to his ca"e, he san@ down in contented weariness, while his wife dressed and coo@ed the meat* .e was sleep$, and his &ones ached, and the smell of coo@in' filled e"er$ noo@ and crann$ of his consciousness* At last, after eatin', he san@ into deep sleep* 0n such a life there was neither time nor ener'$ for &oredom* But when he too@ to a'riculture, and made his wife do all the hea"$ wor@ in the fields, he had time to reflect upon the "anit$ of human life, to in"ent m$tholo'ies and s$stems of philosoph$, and to dream of the life hereafter in which he would perpetuall$ hunt the wild &oar of Jalhalla* Gur mental ma@e5 up is suited to a life of "er$ se"ere ph$sical la&or* 0 used, when 0 was $oun'er, to ta@e m$ holida$s wal@in'* 0 would co"er twent$5fi"e miles a da$, and when the e"enin' came 0 had no need of an$thin' to @eep me from &oredom, since the deli'ht of sittin' ampl$ sufficed* But modern life cannot &e conducted on these ph$sicall$ strenuous principles* A 'reat deal of wor@ is sedentar$, and most manual wor@ e%ercises onl$ a few speciali!ed muscles* Dhen crowds assem&le in 7rafal'ar 9Fuare to cheer to the echo an announcement that the 'o"ernment has decided to ha"e
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them @illed, the$ would not do so if the$ had all wal@ed twent$5fi"e miles that da$* 7his cure for &ellicosit$ is, howe"er, impractica&le, and if the human race is to sur"i"e 5 a thin' which is, perhaps, undesira&le 5 other means must &e found for securin' an innocent outlet for the unused ph$sical ener'$ that produces lo"e of e%citement* 7his is a matter which has &een too little considered, &oth &$ moralists and &$ social reformers* 7he social reformers are of the opinion that the$ ha"e more serious thin's to consider* 7he moralists, on the other hand, are immensel$ impressed with the seriousness of all the permitted outlets of the lo"e of e%citementP the seriousness, howe"er, in their minds, is that of 9in* 3ance halls, cinemas, this a'e of Ia!!, are all, if we ma$ &elie"e our ears, 'atewa$s to .ell, and we should &e &etter emplo$ed sittin' at home contemplatin' our sins* 0 find m$self una&le to &e in entire a'reement with the 'ra"e men who utter these warnin's* 7he de"il has man$ forms, some desi'ned to decei"e the $oun', some desi'ned to decei"e the old and serious* 0f it is the de"il that tempts the $oun' to enIo$ themsel"es, is it not, perhaps, the same persona'e that persuades the old to condemn their enIo$mentE And is not condemnation perhaps merel$ a form of e%citement appropriate to old a'eE And is it not, perhaps, a dru' which 5 li@e opium 5 has to &e ta@en in continuall$ stron'er doses to produce the desired effectE 0s it not to &e feared that, &e'innin' with the wic@edness of the cinema, we should &e led step &$ step to condemn the opposite political part$, da'oes, wops, Asiatics, and, in short, e"er$&od$ e%cept the fellow mem&ers of our clu&E And it is from Iust such condemnations, when widespread, that wars proceed* 0 ha"e ne"er heard of a war that proceeded from dance halls* Dhat is serious a&out e%citement is that so man$ of its forms are destructi"e* 0t is destructi"e in those who cannot resist e%cess in alcohol or 'am&lin'* 0t is destructi"e when it ta@es the form of mo& "iolence* And a&o"e all it is destructi"e when it leads to war* 0t is so deep a need that it will find harmful outlets of this @ind unless innocent outlets are at hand* 7here are such innocent outlets at present in sport, and in politics so lon' as it is @ept within constitutional &ounds* But these are not sufficient, especiall$ as the @ind of politics that is most e%citin' is also the @ind that does most harm* ,i"ili!ed life has 'rown alto'ether too tame, and, if it is to &e sta&le, it must pro"ide harmless outlets for the impulses which our remote ancestors satisfied in huntin'* 0n Australia, where people are few and ra&&its are man$, 0 watched a whole populace satisf$in' the primiti"e impulse in the primiti"e manner &$ the s@illful slau'hter of man$ thousands of ra&&its* But in (ondon or New Zor@ some other means must &e found to 'ratif$ primiti"e impulse* 0 thin@ e"er$ &i' town should contain artificial waterfalls that people could descend in "er$ fra'ile canoes, and the$ should contain &athin' pools full of mechanical shar@s* An$ person found ad"ocatin' a pre"enti"e war should &e condemned to two hours a da$ with these in'enious monsters* More seriousl$, pains should &e ta@en to pro"ide constructi"e outlets for the lo"e of e%citement* Nothin' in the world is more e%citin' than a moment of sudden disco"er$ or in"ention, and man$ more people are capa&le of e%periencin' such moments than is sometimes thou'ht* 0nterwo"en with man$ other political moti"es are two closel$ related passions to which human &ein's are re'retta&l$ prone: 0 mean fear and hate* 0t is normal to hate what we fear, and it happens freFuentl$, thou'h not alwa$s, that we fear what we hate* 0 thin@ it ma$ &e ta@en as the rule amon' primiti"e men, that the$ &oth fear and hate whate"er is unfamiliar* 7he$ ha"e their own herd, ori'inall$ a "er$ small one* And within one herd, all are friends, unless there is some special 'round of enmit$* Gther herds are potential or actual enemiesP a sin'le mem&er of one of them who stra$s &$ accident will &e @illed* An alien herd as a whole will &e a"oided or fou'ht accordin' to circumstances* 0t is this primiti"e mechanism which still controls our instincti"e reaction to forei'n nations* 7he completel$ untra"elled person will "iew all forei'ners as the sa"a'e re'ards a mem&er of another herd* But the man who has tra"elled, or who has studied international politics, will ha"e disco"ered that, if his herd is to prosper, it must, to some de'ree, &ecome amal'amated with other herds* 0f $ou are <n'lish and someone sa$s to $ou, {7he French are $our &rothers|, $our first instincti"e feelin' will &e, {Nonsense* 7he$ shru' their shoulders, and tal@ French* And 0 am e"en told that the$ eat fro's*| 0f he e%plains to $ou that we ma$ ha"e to fi'ht the Russians, that, if so, it will &e desira&le to defend the line of the Rhine, and that, if the line of the Rhine is to &e defended, the help of the French is essential, $ou will &e'in to see what he means when he sa$s that the
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French are $our &rothers* But if some fellow5tra"eller were to 'o on to sa$ that the Russians also are $our &rothers, he would &e una&le to persuade $ou, unless he could show that we are in dan'er from the Martians* De lo"e those who hate our enemies, and if we had no enemies there would &e "er$ few people whom we should lo"e* All this, howe"er, is onl$ true so lon' as we are concerned solel$ with attitudes towards other human &ein's* Zou mi'ht re'ard the soil as $our enem$ &ecause it $ields reluctantl$ a ni''ardl$ su&sistence* Zou mi'ht re'ard Mother Nature in 'eneral as $our enem$, and en"isa'e human life as a stru''le to 'et the &etter of Mother Nature* 0f men "iewed life in this wa$, cooperation of the whole human race would &ecome eas$* And men could easil$ &e &rou'ht to "iew life in this wa$ if schools, newspapers, and politicians de"oted themsel"es to this end* But schools are out to teach patriotismP newspapers are out to stir up e%citementP and politicians are out to 'et re5elected* None of the three, therefore, can do an$thin' towards sa"in' the human race from reciprocal suicide* 7here are two wa$s of copin' with fear: one is to diminish the e%ternal dan'er, and the other is to culti"ate 9toic endurance* 7he latter can &e reinforced, e%cept where immediate action is necessar$, &$ turnin' our thou'hts awa$ from the cause of fear* 7he conFuest of fear is of "er$ 'reat importance* Fear is in itself de'radin'P it easil$ &ecomes an o&sessionP it produces hate of that which is feared, and it leads headlon' to e%cesses of cruelt$* Nothin' has so &eneficent an effect on human &ein's as securit$* 0f an international s$stem could &e esta&lished which would remo"e the fear of war, the impro"ement in e"er$da$ mentalit$ of e"er$da$ people would &e enormous and "er$ rapid* Fear, at present, o"ershadows the world* 7he atom &om& and the &acterial &om&, wielded &$ the wic@ed communist or the wic@ed capitalist as the case ma$ &e, ma@e Dashin'ton and the =remlin trem&le, and dri"e men further alon' the road toward the a&$ss* 0f matters are to impro"e, the first and essential step is to find a wa$ of diminishin' fear* 7he world at present is o&sessed &$ the conflict of ri"al ideolo'ies, and one of the apparent causes of conflict is the desire for the "ictor$ of our own ideolo'$ and the defeat of the other* 0 do not thin@ that the fundamental moti"e here has much to do with ideolo'ies* 0 thin@ the ideolo'ies are merel$ a wa$ of 'roupin' people, and that the passions in"ol"ed are merel$ those which alwa$s arise &etween ri"al 'roups* 7here are, of course, "arious reasons for hatin' communists* First and foremost, we &elie"e that the$ wish to ta@e awa$ our propert$* But so do &ur'lars, and althou'h we disappro"e of &ur'lars our attitude towards them is "er$ different indeed from our attitude towards communists 5 chiefl$ &ecause the$ do not inspire the same de'ree of fear* 9econdl$, we hate the communists &ecause the$ are irreli'ious* But the ,hinese ha"e &een irreli'ious since the ele"enth centur$, and we onl$ &e'an to hate them when the$ turned out ,hian' =ai5she@* 7hirdl$, we hate the communists &ecause the$ do not &elie"e in democrac$, &ut we consider this no reason for hatin' Franco* Fourthl$, we hate them &ecause the$ do not allow li&ert$P this we feel so stron'l$ that we ha"e decided to imitate them* 0t is o&"ious that none of these is the real 'round for our hatred* De hate them &ecause we fear them and the$ threaten us* 0f the Russians still adhered to the +ree@ Grthodo% reli'ion, if the$ had instituted parliamentar$ 'o"ernment, and if the$ had a completel$ free press which dail$ "ituperated us, then 5 pro"ided the$ still had armed forces as powerful as the$ ha"e now 5 we should still hate them if the$ 'a"e us 'round for thin@in' them hostile* 7here is, of course, the odium theolo'icum, and it can &e a cause of enmit$* But 0 thin@ that this is an offshoot of herd feelin': the man who has a different theolo'$ feels stran'e, and whate"er is stran'e must &e dan'erous* 0deolo'ies, in fact, are one of the methods &$ which herds are created, and the ps$cholo'$ is much the same howe"er the herd ma$ ha"e &een 'enerated* Zou ma$ ha"e &een feelin' that 0 ha"e allowed onl$ for &ad moti"es, or, at &est, such as are ethicall$ neutral* 0 am afraid the$ are, as a rule, more powerful than more altruistic moti"es, &ut 0 do not den$ that altruistic moti"es e%ist, and ma$, on occasion, &e effecti"e* 7he a'itation a'ainst sla"er$ in <n'land in the earl$ nineteenth centur$ was indu&ita&l$ altruistic, and was thorou'hl$ effecti"e* 0ts altruism was pro"ed &$ the fact that in 1/33 British ta%pa$ers paid man$ millions in compensation to )amaican landowners for the li&eration of their sla"es, and also &$ the fact that at the ,on'ress of Jienna the British +o"ernment was prepared to ma@e important concessions with
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a "iew to inducin' other nations to a&andon the sla"e trade* 7his is an instance from the past, &ut present5da$ America has afforded instances eFuall$ remar@a&le* 0 will not, howe"er, 'o into these, as 0 do not wish to &ecome em&ar@ed in current contro"ersies* 0 do not thin@ it can &e Fuestioned that s$mpath$ is a 'enuine moti"e, and that some people at some times are made somewhat uncomforta&le &$ the sufferin's of some other people* 0t is s$mpath$ that has produced the man$ humanitarian ad"ances of the last hundred $ears* De are shoc@ed when we hear stories ofthe ill5treatment of lunatics, and there are now Fuite a num&er of as$lums in which the$ are not ill5treated* risoners in Destern countries are not supposed to &e tortured, and when the$ are, there is an outcr$ if the facts are disco"ered* De do not appro"e of treatin' orphans as the$ are treated in Gli"er 7wist* rotestant countries disappro"e of cruelt$ to animals* 0n all these wa$s s$mpath$ has &een politicall$ effecti"e* 0f the fear of war were remo"ed, its effecti"eness would &ecome much 'reater* erhaps the &est hope for the future of man@ind is that wa$s will &e found of increasin' the scope and intensit$ of s$mpath$* 7he time has come to sum up our discussion* olitics is concerned with herds rather than with indi"iduals, and the passions which are important in politics are, therefore, those in which the "arious mem&ers of a 'i"en herd can feel ali@e* 7he &road instincti"e mechanism upon which political edifices ha"e to &e &uilt is one of cooperation within the herd and hostilit$ towards other herds* 7he co5operation within the herd is ne"er perfect* 7here are mem&ers who do not conform, who are, in the et$molo'ical sense, {e're'ious|, that is to sa$, outside the floc@* 7hese mem&ers are those who ha"e fallen &elow, or risen a&o"e, the ordinar$ le"el* 7he$ are: idiots, criminals, prophets, and disco"erers* A wise herd will learn to tolerate the eccentricit$ of those who rise a&o"e the a"era'e, and to treat with a minimum of ferocit$ those who fall &elow it* As re'ards relations to other herds, modern techniFue has produced a conflict &etween self5interest and instinct* 0n old da$s, when two tri&es went to war, one of them e%terminated the other, and anne%ed its territor$* From the point of "iew of the "ictor, the whole operation was thorou'hl$ satisfactor$* 7he @illin' was not at all e%pensi"e, and the e%citement was a'reea&le* 0t is not to &e wondered at that, in such circumstances, war persisted* Rnfortunatel$, we still ha"e the emotions appropriate to such primiti"e warfare, while the actual operations of war ha"e chan'ed completel$* =illin' an enem$ in a modern war is a "er$ e%pensi"e operation* 0f $ou consider how man$ +ermans were @illed in the late war, and how much the "ictors are pa$in' in income ta%, $ou can, &$ a sum in lon' di"ision, disco"er the cost of a dead +erman, and $ou will find it considera&le* 0n the <ast, it is true, the enemies of the +ermans ha"e secured the ancient ad"anta'es of turnin' out the defeated population and occup$in' their lands* 7he Destern "ictors, howe"er, ha"e secured no such ad"anta'es* 0t is o&"ious that modern war is not 'ood &usiness from a financial point of "iew* Althou'h we won &oth the world wars, we should now &e much richer if the$ had not occured* 0f men were actuated &$ self5interest, which the$ are not 5 e%cept in the case of a few saints 5 the whole human race would cooperate* 7here would &e no more wars, no more armies, no more na"ies, no more atom &om&s* 7here would not &e armies of propa'andists emplo$ed in poisonin' the minds of Nation A a'ainst Nation B, and reciprocall$ of Nation B a'ainst Nation A* 7here would not &e armies of officials at frontiers to pre"ent the entr$ of forei'n &oo@s and forei'n ideas, howe"er e%cellent in themsel"es* 7here would not &e customs &arriers to ensure the e%istence of man$ small enterprises where one &i' enterprise would &e more economic* All this would happen "er$ Fuic@l$ if men desired their own happiness as ardentl$ as the$ desired the miser$ of their nei'h&ours* But, $ou will tell me, what is the use of these utopian dreams E Moralists will see to it that we do not &ecome wholl$ selfish, and until we do the millenium will &e impossi&le* 0 do not wish to seem to end upon a note of c$nicism* 0 do not den$ that there are &etter thin's than selfishness, and that some people achie"e these thin's* 0 maintain, howe"er, on the one hand, that there are few occasions upon which lar'e &odies of men, such as politics is concerned with, can rise a&o"e selfishness, while, on the other hand, there are a "er$ 'reat man$ circumstances in which populations will fall &elow selfishness, if selfishness is interpreted as enli'htened self5
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interest* And amon' those occasions on which people fall &elow self5interest are most of the occasions on which the$ are con"inced that the$ are actin' from idealistic moti"es* Much that passes as idealism is dis'uised hatred or dis'uised lo"e of power* Dhen $ou see lar'e masses of men swa$ed &$ what appear to &e no&le moti"es, it is as well to loo@ &elow the surface and as@ $ourself what it is that ma@es these moti"es effecti"e* 0t is partl$ &ecause it is so eas$ to &e ta@en in &$ a facade of no&ilit$ that a ps$cholo'ical inFuir$, such as 0 ha"e &een attemptin', is worth ma@in'* 0 would sa$, in conclusion, that if what 0 ha"e said is ri'ht, the main thin' needed to ma@e the world happ$ is intelli'ence* And this, after all, is an optimistic conclusion, &ecause intelli'ence is a thin' that can &e fostered &$ @nown methods of education* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 1901519:C, <ditor .orst Fren!, <lse"ier u&lishin' ,ompan$, Amsterdam, 19:9 o 3isclaimer <"er$ effort has &een made &$ the pu&lisher to credit or'ani!ations and indi"iduals with re'ard to the suppl$ of audio files* lease notif$ the pu&lishers re'ardin' corrections* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19Y0 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Bertrand Russell 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19Y0Arussell5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Jos 6ara)ago 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 199/ was awarded to )os- 9arama'o #who with para&les sustained &$ ima'ination, compassion and iron$ continuall$ ena&les us once a'ain to apprehend an elusor$ realit$#* Born: 1: No"em&er 19;;, A!inha'a, ortu'al 3ied: 1/ )une ;010, (an!arote, 9pain Residence at the time of the award: ortu'al ri!e moti"ation: #who with para&les sustained &$ ima'ination, compassion and iron$ continuall$ ena&les us once a'ain to apprehend an elusor$ realit$# (an'ua'e: ortu'uese 'utobiography Dritten o"er the authorLs si'nature and translated into <n'lish &$ Fernando Rodri'ues and 7im ,rosfield 0 was &orn in a famil$ of landless peasants, in A!inha'a, a small "illa'e in the pro"ince of Ri&ateIo, on the ri'ht &an@ of the Almonda Ri"er, around a hundred @ilometres north5east of (is&on* M$ parents were )os- de 9ousa and Maria da iedade* )os- de 9ousa would ha"e &een m$ own name had not the Re'istrar, on his own inititia"e added the nic@name &$ which m$ fatherLs famil$ was @nown in the "illa'e: 9arama'o* 0 should add that sarama'o is a wild her&aceous plant, whose lea"es in those times ser"ed at need as nourishment for the poor* Not until the a'e of se"en, when 0 had to present an identification document at primar$ school, was it realised that m$ full name was )os- de 9ousa 9arama'o*** 7his was not, howe"er, the onl$ identit$ pro&lem to which 0 was fated at &irth* 7hou'h 0 had come into the world on 1: No"em&er 19;;, m$ official documents show that 0 was &orn two da$s later,
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on the 1/th* 0t was than@s to this pett$ fraud that m$ famil$ escaped from pa$in' the fine for not ha"in' re'istered m$ &irth at the proper le'al time* Ma$&e &ecause he had ser"ed in Dorld Dar 0, in France as an artiller$ soldier, and had @nown other surroundin's from those of the "illa'e, m$ father decided in 19;4 to lea"e farm wor@ and mo"e with his famil$ to (is&on, where he started as a policeman, for which Io& were reFuired no more #literar$ Fualifications# 6a common e%pression then***8 than readin', writin' and arithmetic* A few months after settlin' in the capital m$ &rother Francisco two $ears older, died* 7hou'h our li"in' conditions had impro"ed a little after mo"in', we were ne"er 'oin' to &e well off* 0 was alread$ 13 or 14 when we mo"ed, at last, to our own 5 &ut "er$ tin$ 5 house: till then we had li"ed in parts of houses, with other families* 3urin' all this time, and until 0 came of a'e 0 spent man$, and "er$ often Fuite lon', periods in the "illa'e with m$ motherLs parents )er[nimo Meirinho and )osefa ,ai%inha* 0 was a 'ood pupil at primar$ school: in the second class 0 was writin' with no spellin' mista@es and the third and fourth classes were done in a sin'le $ear* 7hen 0 was mo"ed up to the 'rammar school where 0 sta$ed two $ears, with e%cellent mar@s in the first $ear, not so 'ood in the second, &ut was well li@ed &$ classmates and teachers, e"en &ein' elected 60 was then 1;***8 treasurer of the 9tudentsL Rnion*** Meanwhile m$ parents reached the conclusion that, in the a&sence of resources, the$ could not 'o on @eepin' me in the 'rammar school* 7he onl$ alternati"e was to 'o to a technical school* And so it was: for fi"e $ears 0 learned to &e a mechanic* But surprisin'l$ the s$lla&us at that time, thou'h o&"iousl$ technicall$ oriented, included, &esides French, a literature su&Iect* As 0 had no &oo@s at home 6m$ own &oo@s, &ou'ht &$ m$self, howe"er with mone$ &orrowed from a friend, 0 would onl$ ha"e when 0 was 198 the ortu'uese lan'ua'e te%t&oo@s, with their #antholo'ical# character, were what opened to me the doors of literar$ fruition: e"en toda$ 0 can recite poetr$ learnt in that distant era* After finishin' the course, 0 wor@ed for two $ears as a mechanic at a car repair shop* B$ that time 0 had alread$ started to freFuent, in its e"enin' openin' hours, a pu&lic li&rar$ in (is&on* And it was there, with no help or 'uidance e%cept curiosit$ and the will to learn, that m$ taste for readin' de"eloped and was refined* Dhen 0 'ot married in 1944, 0 had alread$ chan'ed Io&s* 0 was now wor@in' in the 9ocial Delfare 9er"ice as an administrati"e ci"il ser"ant* M$ wife, 0lda Reis, then a t$pist with the Railwa$ ,ompan$, was to &ecome, man$ $ears later, one of the most important ortu'uese en'ra"ers* 9he died in 199/* 0n 194C, the $ear of the &irth of m$ onl$ child, Jiolante, 0 pu&lished m$ first &oo@, a no"el 0 m$self entitled 7he Didow, &ut which for editorial reasons appeared as 7he (and of 9in* 0 wrote another no"el, 7he 9@$li'ht, still unpu&lished, and started another one, &ut did not 'et past the first few pa'es: its title was to &e .one$ and +all, or ma$&e (ouis, son of 7adeus*** 7he matter was settled when 0 a&andoned the proIect: it was &ecomin' Fuite clear to me that 0 had nothin' worthwhile to sa$* For 19 $ears, till 19::, when 0 'ot to pu&lish ossi&le oems, 0 was a&sent from the ortu'uese literar$ scene, where few people can ha"e noticed m$ a&sence* For political reasons 0 &ecame unemplo$ed in 1949, &ut than@s to the 'oodwill of a former teacher at the technical school, 0 mana'ed to find wor@ at the metal compan$ where he was a mana'er* At the end of the 19Y0s 0 started wor@in' at a pu&lishin' compan$, <stmdios ,or, as production mana'er, so returnin', &ut not as an author, to the world of letters 0 had left some $ears &efore* 7his new acti"it$ allowed me acFuaintance and friendship with some of the most important ortu'uese writers of the time* 0n 19YY, to impro"e the famil$ &ud'et, &ut also &ecause 0 enIo$ed it, 0 started to spend part of m$ free time in translation, an acti"it$ that would continue till 19/1: ,olette, Sr (a'er@"ist, )ean ,assou, Maupassant, Andr- Bonnard, 7olstoi, Baudelaire, 2tienne Bali&ar, Ni@os oulant!as, .enri Focillon, )acFues Roumain, .e'el, Ra$mond Ba$er were some of the authors 0 translated* Between Ma$ 19:C and No"em&er 19:/, 0 had another parallel
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occupation as a literar$ critic* Meanwhile, in 19::, 0 had pu&lished ossi&le oems, a poetr$ &oo@ that mar@ed m$ return to literature* After that, in 19C0, another &oo@ of poems, ro&a&l$ )o$ and shortl$ after, in 19C1 and 19C3 respecti"el$, under the titles From this Dorld and the Gther and 7he 7ra"ellerLs Ba''a'e, two collections of newspaper articles which the critics consider essential to the full understandin' of m$ later wor@* After m$ di"orce in 19C0, 0 initiated a relationship, which would last till 19/:, with the ortu'uese writer 0sa&el da N[&re'a* After lea"in' the pu&lisher at the end of 19C1, 0 wor@ed for the followin' two $ears at the e"enin' newspaper 3i\rio de (is&oa, as mana'er of a cultural supplement and as an editor* u&lished in 19C4 with the title 7he Gpinions the 3( .ad, those te%ts represent a "er$ precise #readin'# of the last time of the dictatorship, which was to &e toppled that April* 0n April 19CY, 0 &ecame deput$ director of the mornin' paper 3i\rio de N[ticias, a post 0 filled till that No"em&er and from which 0 was sac@ed in the aftermath of the chan'es pro"o@ed &$ the politico5militar$ coup of the ;Yth No"em&er which &loc@ed the re"olutionar$ process* 7wo &oo@s mar@ this era: 7he Zear of 1993, a lon' poem pu&lished in 19CY, which some critics consider a herald of the wor@s that two $ears later would start to appear with Manual of aintin' and ,alli'raph$, a no"el, and, under the title of Notes, the political articles 0 had pu&lished in the newspaper of which 0 had &een a director* Rnemplo$ed a'ain and &earin' in mind the political situation we were under'oin', without the faintest possi&ilit$ of findin' a Io&, 0 decided to de"ote m$self to literature: it was a&out time to find out what 0 was worth as a writer* At the &e'innin' of 19C:, 0 settled for some wee@s in (a"re, a countr$ "illa'e in AlenteIo ro"ince* 0t was that period of stud$, o&ser"ation and note5ta@in' that led, in 19/0, to the no"el Risen from the +round, where the wa$ of narratin' which characterises m$ no"els was &orn* Meanwhile, in 19C/ 0 had pu&lished a collection of short stories, Ouasi G&IectP in 19C9 the pla$ 7he Ni'ht, and after that, a few months &efore Risen from the +round, a new pla$, Dhat shall 0 do with this Boo@E Dith the e%ception of another pla$, entitled 7he 9econd (ife of Francis of Assisi, pu&lished in 19/C, the 19/0s were entirel$ dedicated to the No"el: Balta!ar and Blimunda, 19/;, 7he Zear of the 3eath of Ricardo Reis, 19/4, 7he 9tone Raft, 19/:, 7he .istor$ of the 9ie'e of (is&on, 19/9* 0n 19/:, 0 met the 9panish Iournalist ilar del Rko* De 'ot married in 19//* 0n conseFuence of the ortu'uese 'o"ernment censorship of 7he +ospel Accordin' to )esus ,hrist 619918, "etoin' its presentation for the <uropean (iterar$ ri!e under the prete%t that the &oo@ was offensi"e to ,atholics, m$ wife and 0 transferred our residence to the island of (an!arote in the ,anaries* At the &e'innin' of that $ear 0 pu&lished the pla$ 0n Nomine 3ei, which had &een written in (is&on, from which the li&retto for the opera 3i"ara would &e ta@en, with music &$ the 0talian composer A!io ,or'hi and sta'ed for the first time in Mcnster, +erman$ in 1993* 7his was not the first cooperation with ,or'hi: his also is the music to the opera Blimunda, from m$ no"el Balta!ar and Blimunda, sta'ed in Milan, 0tal$ in 1990* 0n 1993, 0 started writin' a diar$, ,adernos de (an!arote 6(an!arote 3iaries8, with fi"e "olumes so far* 0n 199Y, 0 pu&lished the no"el Blindness and in 199C All the Names* 0n 199Y, 0 was awarded the ,amXes ri!e and in 199/ the No&el ri!e for (iterature* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es 199/, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, 1999 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 199/ 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<:
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M(A st$le: #)os- 9arama'o 5 Auto&io'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA199/Asarama'o*html Nobel Lecture No&el (ecture, 3ecem&er C, 199/ 1o- Characters Beca)e the Masters an! the 'uthor ,heir 'pprentice 7he wisest man 0 e"er @new in m$ whole life could not read or write* At four oLcloc@ in the mornin', when the promise of a new da$ still lin'ered o"er French lands, he 'ot up from his pallet and left for the fields, ta@in' to pasture the half5do!en pi's whose fertilit$ nourished him and his wife* M$ motherLs parents li"ed on this scarcit$, on the small &reedin' of pi's that after weanin' were sold to the nei'h&ours in our "illa'e of A!inha'a in the pro"ince of Ri&ateIo* 7heir names were )er[nimo Meirinho and )osefa ,ai%inha and the$ were &oth illiterate* 0n winter when the cold of the ni'ht 'rew to the point of free!in' the water in the pots inside the house, the$ went to the st$ and fetched the wea@lin's amon' the pi'lets, ta@in' them to their &ed* Rnder the coarse &lan@ets, the warmth from the humans sa"ed the little animals from free!in' and rescued them from certain death* Althou'h the two were @indl$ people, it was not a compassionate soul that prompted them to act in that wa$: what concerned them, without sentimentalism or rhetoric, was to protect their dail$ &read, as is natural for people who, to maintain their life, ha"e not learnt to thin@ more than is needful* Man$ times 0 helped m$ 'randfather )er[nimo in his swineherdLs la&our, man$ times 0 du' the land in the "e'eta&le 'arden adIoinin' the house, and 0 chopped wood for the fire, man$ times, turnin' and turnin' the &i' iron wheel which wor@ed the water pump* 0 pumped water from the communit$ well and carried it on m$ shoulders* Man$ times, in secret, dod'in' from the men 'uardin' the cornfields, 0 went with m$ 'randmother, also at dawn, armed with ra@es, sac@in' and cord, to 'lean the stu&&le, the loose straw that would then ser"e as litter for the li"estoc@* And sometimes, on hot summer ni'hts, after supper, m$ 'randfather would tell me: #)os-, toni'ht weLre 'oin' to sleep, &oth of us, under the fi' tree#* 7here were two other fi' trees, &ut that one, certainl$ &ecause it was the &i''est, &ecause it was the oldest, and timeless, was, for e"er$&od$ in the house, the fi' tree* More or less &$ antonomasia, an erudite word that 0 met onl$ man$ $ears after and learned the meanin' of *** Amon'st the peace of the ni'ht, amon'st the treeLs hi'h &ranches a star appeared to me and then slowl$ hid &ehind a leaf while, turnin' m$ 'a!e in another direction 0 saw risin' into "iew li@e a ri"er flowin' silent throu'h the hollow s@$, the opal clarit$ of the Mil@$ Da$, the Road to 9antia'o as we still used to call it in the "illa'e* Dith sleep dela$ed, ni'ht was peopled with the stories and the cases m$ 'randfather told and told: le'ends, apparitions, terrors, uniFue episodes, old deaths, scuffles with stic@s and stones, the words of our forefathers, an untirin' rumour of memories that would @eep me awa@e while at the same time 'entl$ lullin' me* 0 could ne"er @now if he was silent when he realised that 0 had fallen asleep or if he @ept on tal@in' so as not to lea"e half5unanswered the Fuestion 0 in"aria&l$ as@ed into the most dela$ed pauses he placed on purpose within the account: #And what happened ne%tE# Ma$&e he repeated the stories for himself, so as not to for'et them, or else to enrich them with new detail* At that a'e and as we all do at some time, needless to sa$, 0 ima'ined m$ 'randfather )er[nimo was master of all the @nowled'e in the world* Dhen at first li'ht the sin'in' of &irds wo@e me up, he was not there an$ lon'er, had 'one to the field with his animals, lettin' me sleep on* 7hen 0 would 'et up, fold the coarse &lan@et and &arefoot 5 in the "illa'e 0 alwa$s wal@ed &arefoot till 0 was fourteen 5 and with straws still stuc@ in m$ hair, 0 went from the culti"ated part of the $ard to the other part, where the sties were, &$ the house* M$ 'randmother, alread$ afoot &efore m$ 'randfather, set in front of me a &i' &owl of coffee with pieces of &read in and as@ed me if 0 had slept well* 0f 0 told her some &ad dream, &orn of m$ 'randfatherLs stories, she alwa$s reassured me: #3onLt ma@e much of it, in dreams thereLs nothin' solid#* At the time 0 thou'ht, thou'h m$ 'randmother was also a "er$ wise woman, she couldnLt rise to the hei'hts 'randfather could, a man who, l$in' under a fi' tree, ha"in' at his side )os- his 'randson, could set the uni"erse in motion Iust with a couple of words* 0t was onl$ man$ $ears after, when m$ 'randfather had departed from this world and 0 was a
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'rown man, 0 finall$ came to realise that m$ 'randmother, after all, also &elie"ed in dreams* 7here could ha"e &een no other reason wh$, sittin' one e"enin' at the door of her cotta'e where she now li"ed alone, starin' at the &i''est and smallest stars o"erhead, she said these words: #7he world is so &eautiful and it is such a pit$ that 0 ha"e to die#* 9he didnLt sa$ she was afraid of d$in', &ut that it was a pit$ to die, as if her hard life of unrelentin' wor@ was, in that almost final moment, recei"in' the 'race of a supreme and last farewell, the consolation of &eaut$ re"ealed* 9he was sittin' at the door of a house li@e none other 0 can ima'ine in all the world, &ecause in it li"ed people who could sleep with pi'lets as if the$ were their own children, people who were sorr$ to lea"e life Iust &ecause the world was &eautifulP and this )er[nimo, m$ 'randfather, swineherd and stor$5teller, feelin' death a&out to arri"e and ta@e him, went and said 'ood&$e to the trees in the $ard, one &$ one, em&racin' them and cr$in' &ecause he @new he wouldnLt see them a'ain* Man$ $ears later, writin' for the first time a&out m$ 'randfather )er[nimo and m$ 'randmother )osefa 60 ha"enLt said so far that she was, accordin' to man$ who @new her when $oun', a woman of uncommon &eaut$8, 0 was finall$ aware 0 was transformin' the ordinar$ people the$ were into literar$ characters: this was, pro&a&l$, m$ wa$ of not for'ettin' them, drawin' and redrawin' their faces with the pencil that e"er chan'es memor$, colourin' and illuminatin' the monoton$ of a dull and hori!onless dail$ routine as if creatin', o"er the unsta&le map of memor$, the supernatural unrealit$ of the countr$ where one has decided to spend oneLs life* 7he same attitude of mind that, after e"o@in' the fascinatin' and eni'matic fi'ure of a certain Ber&er 'randfather, would lead me to descri&e more or less in these words an old photo 6now almost ei'ht$ $ears old8 showin' m$ parents #&oth standin', &eautiful and $oun', facin' the photo'rapher, showin' in their faces an e%pression of solemn seriousness, ma$&e fri'ht in front of the camera at the "er$ instant when the lens is a&out to capture the ima'e the$ will ne"er ha"e a'ain, &ecause the followin' da$ will &e, implaca&l$, another da$ *** M$ mother is leanin' her ri'ht el&ow a'ainst a tall pillar and holds, in her ri'ht hand drawn in to her &od$, a flower* M$ father has his arm round m$ motherLs &ac@, his callused hand showin' o"er her shoulder, li@e a win'* 7he$ are standin', sh$, on a carpet patterned with &ranches* 7he can"as formin' the fa@e &ac@'round of the picture shows diffuse and incon'ruous neo5classic architecture*# And 0 ended, #7he da$ will come when 0 will tell these thin's* Nothin' of this matters e%cept to me* A Ber&er 'randfather from North Africa, another 'randfather a swineherd, a wonderfull$ &eautiful 'randmotherP serious and handsome parents, a flower in a picture 5 what other 'enealo'$ would 0 care forE and what &etter tree would 0 lean a'ainstE# 0 wrote these words almost thirt$ $ears a'o, ha"in' no other purpose than to re&uild and re'ister instants of the li"es of those people who en'endered and were closest to m$ &ein', thin@in' that nothin' else would need e%plainin' for people to @now where 0 came from and what materials the person 0 am was made of, and what 0 ha"e &ecome little &$ little* But after all 0 was wron', &iolo'$ doesnLt determine e"er$thin' and as for 'enetics, "er$ m$sterious must ha"e &een its paths to ma@e its "o$a'es so lon' *** M$ 'enealo'ical tree 6$ou will for'i"e the presumption of namin' it this wa$, &ein' so diminished in the su&stance of its sap8 lac@ed not onl$ some of those &ranches that time and lifeLs successi"e encounters cause to &urst from the main stem &ut also someone to help its roots penetrate the deepest su&terranean la$ers, someone who could "erif$ the consistenc$ and fla"our of its fruit, someone to e%tend and stren'then its top to ma@e of it a shelter for &irds of passa'e and a support for nests* Dhen paintin' m$ parents and 'randparents with the paints of literature, transformin' them from common people of flesh and &lood into characters, newl$ and in different wa$s &uilders of m$ life, 0 was, without noticin', tracin' the path &$ which the characters 0 would in"ent later on, the others, trul$ literar$, would construct and &rin' to me the materials and the tools which, at last, for &etter or for worse, in the sufficient and in the insufficient, in profit and loss, in all that is scarce &ut also in what is too much, would ma@e of me the person whom 0 nowada$s reco'nise as m$self: the creator of those characters &ut at the same time their own creation* 0n one sense it could e"en &e said that, letter5&$5letter, word5&$5word, pa'e5&$5pa'e, &oo@ after &oo@, 0 ha"e &een successi"el$ implantin' in the man 0 was the characters 0 created* 0 &elie"e that without them 0 wouldnLt &e the person 0 am toda$P without them ma$&e m$ life
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wouldnLt ha"e succeeded in &ecomin' more than an ine%act s@etch, a promise that li@e so man$ others remained onl$ a promise, the e%istence of someone who ma$&e mi'ht ha"e &een &ut in the end could not mana'e to &e* Now 0 can clearl$ see those who were m$ life5masters, those who most intensi"el$ tau'ht me the hard wor@ of li"in', those do!ens of characters from m$ no"els and pla$s that ri'ht now 0 see marchin' past &efore m$ e$es, those men and women of paper and in@, those people 0 &elie"ed 0 was 'uidin' as 0 the narrator chose accordin' to m$ whim, o&edient to m$ will as an author, li@e articulated puppets whose actions could ha"e no more effect on me than the &urden and the tension of the strin's 0 mo"ed them with* Gf those masters, the first was, undou&tedl$, a mediocre portrait5 painter, whom 0 called simpl$ ., the main character of a stor$ that 0 feel ma$ reasona&l$ &e called a dou&le initiation 6his own, &ut also in a manner of spea@in' the authorLs8 entitled Manual of aintin' and ,alli'raph$, who tau'ht me the simple honest$ of ac@nowled'in' and o&ser"in', without resentment or frustration, m$ own limitations: as 0 could not and did not aspire to "enture &e$ond m$ little plot of culti"ated land, all 0 had left was the possi&ilit$ of di''in' down, underneath, towards the roots* M$ own &ut also the worldLs, if 0 can &e allowed such an immoderate am&ition* 0tLs not up to me, of course, to e"aluate the merits of the results of efforts made, &ut toda$ 0 consider it o&"ious that all m$ wor@ from then on has o&e$ed that purpose and that principle* 7hen came the men and women of AlenteIo, that same &rotherhood of the condemned of the earth where &elon'ed m$ 'randfather )er[nimo and m$ 'randmother )osefa, primiti"e peasants o&li'ed to hire out the stren'th of their arms for a wa'e and wor@in' conditions that deser"ed onl$ to &e called infamous, 'ettin' for less than nothin' a life which the culti"ated and ci"ilised &ein's we are proud to &e are pleased to call 5 dependin' on the occasion 5 precious, sacred or su&lime* ,ommon people 0 @new, decei"ed &$ a ,hurch &oth accomplice and &eneficiar$ of the power of the 9tate and of the landlords, people permanentl$ watched &$ the police, people so man$ times innocent "ictims of the ar&itrariness of a false Iustice* 7hree 'enerations of a peasant famil$, the Badweathers, from the &e'innin' of the centur$ to the April Re"olution of 19C4 which toppled dictatorship, mo"e throu'h this no"el, called Risen from the +round, and it was with such men and women risen from the 'round, real people first, fi'ures of fiction later, that 0 learned how to &e patient, to trust and to confide in time, that same time that simultaneousl$ &uilds and destro$s us in order to &uild and once more to destro$ us* 7he onl$ thin' 0 am not sure of ha"in' assimilated satisfactoril$ is somethin' that the hardship of those e%periences turned into "irtues in those women and men: a naturall$ austere attitude towards life* .a"in' in mind, howe"er, that the lesson learned still after more than twent$ $ears remains intact in m$ memor$, that e"er$ da$ 0 feel its presence in m$ spirit li@e a persistent summons: 0 ha"enLt lost, not $et at least, the hope of meritin' a little more the 'reatness of those e%amples of di'nit$ proposed to me in the "ast immensit$ of the plains of AlenteIo* 7ime will tell* Dhat other lessons could 0 possi&l$ recei"e from a ortu'uese who li"ed in the si%teenth centur$, who composed the Rimas and the 'lories, the shipwrec@s and the national disenchantments in the (uskadas, who was an a&solute poetical 'enius, the 'reatest in our literature, no matter how much sorrow this causes to Fernando essoa, who proclaimed himself its 9uper ,amXesE No lesson would fit me, no lesson could 0 learn, e%cept the simplest, which could ha"e &een offered to me &$ (uks Ja! de ,amXes in his pure humanit$, for instance the proud humilit$ of an author who 'oes @noc@in' at e"er$ door loo@in' for someone willin' to pu&lish the &oo@ he has written, there&$ sufferin' the scorn of the i'noramuses of &lood and race, the disdainful indifference of a @in' and of his powerful entoura'e, the moc@er$ with which the world has alwa$s recei"ed the "isits of poets, "isionaries and fools* At least once in life, e"er$ author has &een, or will ha"e to &e, (uks de ,amXes, e"en if the$ ha"enLt written the poem 9Q&olos Rios *** Amon' no&les, courtiers and censors from the .ol$ 0nFuisition, amon' the lo"es of $ester5$ear and the disillusionments of premature old a'e, &etween the pain of writin' and the Io$ of ha"in' written, it was this ill man, returnin' poor from 0ndia where so man$ sailed Iust to 'et rich, it was this soldier &lind in one e$e,
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slashed in his soul, it was this seducer of no fortune who will ne"er a'ain flutter the hearts of the ladies in the ro$al court, whom 0 put on sta'e in a pla$ called Dhat shall 0 do with this Boo@E, whose endin' repeats another Fuestion, the onl$ trul$ important one, the one we will ne"er @now if it will e"er ha"e a sufficient answer: #Dhat will $ou do with this &oo@E# 0t was also proud humilit$ to carr$ under his arm a masterpiece and to &e unfairl$ reIected &$ the world* roud humilit$ also, and o&stinate too 5 wantin' to @now what the purpose will &e, tomorrow, of the &oo@s we are writin' toda$, and immediatel$ dou&tin' whether the$ will last a lon' time 6how lon'E8 the reassurin' reasons we are 'i"en or that are 'i"en us &$ oursel"es* No5one is &etter decei"ed than when he allows others to decei"e him* .ere comes a man whose left hand was ta@en in war and a woman who came to this world with the m$sterious power of seein' what lies &e$ond peopleLs s@in* .is name is Balta!ar Mateus and his nic@name 9e"en59unsP she is @nown as Blimunda and also, later, as 9e"en5Moons &ecause it is written that where there is a sun there will ha"e to &e a moon and that onl$ the conIoined and harmonious presence of the one and the other will, throu'h lo"e, ma@e earth ha&ita&le* 7here also approaches a )esuit priest called Bartolomeu who in"ented a machine capa&le of 'oin' up to the s@$ and fl$in' with no other fuel than the human will, the will which, people sa$, can do an$thin', the will that could not, or did not @now how to, or until toda$ did not want to, &e the sun and the moon of simple @indness or of e"en simpler respect* 7hese three ortu'uese fools from the ei'hteenth centur$, in a time and countr$ where superstition and the fires of the 0nFuisition flourished, where "anit$ and the me'alomania of a @in' raised a con"ent, a palace and a &asilica which would ama!e the outside world, if that world, in a "er$ unli@el$ supposition, had e$es enou'h to see ortu'al, e$es li@e BlimundaLs, e$es to see what was hidden *** .ere also comes a crowd of thousands and thousands of men with dirt$ and callused hands, e%hausted &odies after ha"in' lifted $ear after $ear, stone5&$5stone, the implaca&le con"ent walls, the hu'e palace rooms, the columns and pilasters, the air$ &elfries, the &asilica dome suspended o"er empt$ space* 7he sounds we hear are from 3omenico 9carlattiLs harpsichord, and he doesnLt Fuite @now if he is supposed to &e lau'hin' or cr$in' *** 7his is the stor$ of Balta!ar and Blimunda, a &oo@ where the apprentice author, than@s to what had lon' a'o &een tau'ht to him in his 'randparentsL )er[nimoLs and )osefaLs time, mana'ed to write some similar words not without poetr$: #Besides womenLs tal@, dreams are what hold the world in its or&it* But it is also dreams that crown it with moons, thatLs wh$ the s@$ is the splendour in menLs heads, unless menLs heads are the one and onl$ s@$*# 9o &e it* Gf poetr$ the teena'er alread$ @new some lessons, learnt in his te%t&oo@s when, in a technical school in (is&on, he was &ein' prepared for the trade he would ha"e at the &e'innin' of his la&ourLs life: mechanic* .e also had 'ood poetr$ masters durin' lon' e"enin' hours in pu&lic li&raries, readin' at random, with finds from catalo'ues, with no 'uidance, no5one to ad"ise him, with the creati"e ama!ement of the sailor who in"ents e"er$ place he disco"ers* But it was at the 0ndustrial 9chool (i&rar$ that 7he Zear of the 3eath of Ricardo Reis started to &e written *** 7here, one da$ the $oun' mechanic 6he was a&out se"enteen8 found a ma'a!ine entitled Atena containin' poems si'ned with that name and, naturall$, &ein' "er$ poorl$ acFuainted with the literar$ carto'raph$ of his countr$, he thou'ht that there reall$ was a ortu'uese poet called Ricardo Reis* Jer$ soon, thou'h, he found that this poet was reall$ one Fernando No'ueira essoa, who si'ned his wor@s with the names of non5e%istent poets, &orn of his mind* .e called them heteron$ms, a word that did not e%ist in the dictionaries of the time which is wh$ it was so hard for the apprentice to letters to @now what it meant* .e learnt man$ of Ricardo ReisL poems &$ heart 6#7o &e 'reat, &e oneA ut $ourself into the little thin's $ou do#8P &ut in spite of &ein' so $oun' and i'norant, he could not accept that a superior mind could reall$ ha"e concei"ed, without remorse, the cruel line #Dise is he who is satisfied with the spectacle of the world#* (ater, much later, the apprentice, alread$ with 're$ hairs and a little wiser in his own wisdom, dared to write a no"el to show this poet of the Gdes somethin' a&out the spectacle of the world of 193:, where he had placed him to li"e out his last few da$s: the occupation of the Rhineland &$ the Na!i arm$, FrancoLs war a'ainst the 9panish Repu&lic, the creation &$ 9ala!ar of the ortu'uese Fascist militias* 0t was his wa$ of tellin' him: #.ere is the spectacle of the world, m$ poet of serene &itterness and ele'ant
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scepticism* <nIo$, &ehold, since to &e sittin' is $our wisdom ***# 7he Zear of the 3eath of Ricardo Reis ended with the melanchol$ words: #.ere, where the sea has ended and land awaits*# 9o there would &e no more disco"eries &$ ortu'al, fated to one infinite wait for futures not e"en ima'ina&leP onl$ the usual fado, the same old saudade and little more *** 7hen the apprentice ima'ined that there still mi'ht &e a wa$ of sendin' the ships &ac@ to the water, for instance, &$ mo"in' the land and settin' that out to sea* An immediate fruit of collecti"e ortu'uese resentment of the historical disdain of <urope 6more accurate to sa$ fruit of m$ own resentment ***8 the no"el 0 then wrote 5 7he 9tone Raft 5 separated from the ,ontinent the whole 0&erian eninsula and transformed it into a &i' floatin' island, mo"in' of its own accord with no oars, no sails, no propellers, in a southerl$ direction, #a mass of stone and land, co"ered with cities, "illa'es, ri"ers, woods, factories and &ushes, ara&le land, with its people and animals# on its wa$ to a new Rtopia: the cultural meetin' of the eninsular peoples with the peoples from the other side of the Atlantic, there&$ def$in' 5 m$ strate'$ went that far 5 the suffocatin' rule e%ercised o"er that re'ion &$ the Rnited 9tates of America *** A "ision twice Rtopian would see this political fiction as a much more 'enerous and human metaphor: that <urope, all of it, should mo"e 9outh to help &alance the world, as compensation for its former and its present colonial a&uses* 7hat is, <urope at last as an ethical reference* 7he characters in 7he 9tone Raft 5 two women, three men and a do' 5 continuall$ tra"el throu'h the eninsula as it furrows the ocean* 7he world is chan'in' and the$ @now the$ ha"e to find in themsel"es the new persons the$ will &ecome 6not to mention the do', he is not li@e other do's ***8* 7his will suffice for them* 7hen the apprentice recalled that at a remote time of his life he had wor@ed as a proof5reader and that if, so to sa$, in 7he 9tone Raft he had re"ised the future, now it mi'ht not &e a &ad thin' to re"ise the past, in"entin' a no"el to &e called .istor$ of the 9ie'e of (is&on, where a proof5reader, chec@in' a &oo@ with the same title &ut a real histor$ &oo@ and tired of watchin' how #.istor$# is less and less a&le to surprise, decides to su&stitute a #$es# for a #no#, su&"ertin' the authorit$ of #historical truth#* Raimundo 9il"a, the proof5reader, is a simple, common man, distin'uished from the crowd onl$ &$ &elie"in' that all thin's ha"e their "isi&le sides and their in"isi&le ones and that we will @now nothin' a&out them until we mana'e to see &oth* .e tal@s a&out this with the historian thus: #0 must remind $ou that proof5readers are serious people, much e%perienced in literature and life, M$ &oo@, donLt for'et, deals with histor$* .owe"er, since 0 ha"e no intention of pointin' out other contradictions, in m$ modest opinion, 9ir, e"er$thin' that is not literature is life, .istor$ as well, <speciall$ histor$, without wishin' to 'i"e offence, And paintin' and music, Music has resisted since &irth, it comes and 'oes, tries to free itself from the word, 0 suppose out of en"$, onl$ to su&mit in the end, And paintin', Dell now, paintin' is nothin' more than literature achie"ed with paint&rushes, 0 trust $ou ha"enLt for'otten that man@ind &e'an to paint lon' &efore it @new how to write, Are $ou familiar with the pro"er&, 0f $ou donLt ha"e a do', 'o huntin' with a cat, in other words, the man who cannot write, paints or draws, as if he were a child, Dhat $ou are tr$in' to sa$, in other words, is that literature alread$ e%isted &efore it was &orn, Zes, 9ir, Iust li@e man who, in a manner of spea@in', e%isted &efore he came into &ein', 0t stri@es me that $ou ha"e missed $our "ocation, $ou should ha"e &ecome a philosopher, or historian, $ou ha"e the flair and temperament needed for these disciplines, 0 lac@ the necessar$ trainin', 9ir, and what can a simple man achie"e without trainin', 0 was more than fortunate to come into the world with m$ 'enes in order, &ut in a raw state as it were, and then no education &e$ond primar$ school, Zou could ha"e presented $ourself as &ein' self5tau'ht, the product of $our own worth$ efforts, thereLs nothin' to &e ashamed of, societ$ in the past too@ pride in its autodidacts, No lon'er, pro'ress has come alon' and put an end to all of that, now the self5tau'ht are frowned upon, onl$ those who write entertainin' "erses and stories are entitled to &e and 'o on &ein' autodidacts, luc@$ for them, &ut as for me, 0 must confess that 0 ne"er had an$ talent for literar$ creation, Become a philosopher, man, Zou ha"e a @een sense of humour, 9ir, with a distinct flair for iron$, and 0 as@ m$self how $ou e"er came to de"ote $ourself to histor$, serious and profound science as it is, 0Lm onl$ ironic in real life, 0t has alwa$s struc@ me that histor$ is not real life, literature, $es, and nothin' else, But histor$ was real life at the time when it could not $et &e called histor$, 9o $ou &elie"e, 9ir, that histor$ is real
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life, Gf course, 0 do, 0 meant to sa$ that histor$ was real life, No dou&t at all, Dhat would &ecome of us if the deleatur did not e%ist, si'hed the proof5reader*# 0t is useless to add that the apprentice had learnt, with Raimundo 9il"a, the lesson of dou&t* 0t was a&out time* Dell, pro&a&l$ it was this learnin' of dou&t that made him 'o throu'h the writin' of 7he +ospel Accordin' to )esus ,hrist* 7rue, and he has said so, the title was the result of an optical illusion, &ut it is fair to as@ whether it was the serene e%ample of the proof5reader who, all the time, had &een preparin' the 'round from where the new no"el would 'ush out* 7his time it was not a matter of loo@in' &ehind the pa'es of the New 7estament searchin' for antitheses, &ut of illuminatin' their surfaces, li@e that of a paintin', with a low li'ht to hei'hten their relief, the traces of crossin's, the shadows of depressions* 7hatLs how the apprentice read, now surrounded &$ e"an'elical characters, as if for the first time, the description of the massacre of the innocents and, ha"in' read, he couldnLt understand* .e couldnLt understand wh$ there were alread$ mart$rs in a reli'ion that would ha"e to wait thirt$ $ears more to listen to its founder pronouncin' the first word a&out it, he could not understand wh$ the onl$ person that could ha"e done so dared not sa"e the li"es of the children of Bethlehem, he could not understand )osephLs lac@ of a minimum feelin' of responsi&ilit$, of remorse, of 'uilt, or e"en of curiosit$, after returnin' with his famil$ from <'$pt* 0t cannot e"en &e ar'ued in defence that it was necessar$ for the children of Bethlehem to die to sa"e the life of )esus: simple common sense, that should preside o"er all thin's human and di"ine, is there to remind us that +od would not send .is 9on to <arth, particularl$ with the mission of redeemin' the sins of man@ind, to die &eheaded &$ a soldier of .erod at the a'e of two *** 0n that +ospel, written &$ the apprentice with the 'reat respect due to 'reat drama, )oseph will &e aware of his 'uilt, will accept remorse as a punishment for the sin he has committed and will &e ta@en to die almost without resistance, as if this were the last remainin' thin' to do to clear his accounts with the world* 7he apprenticeLs +ospel is not, conseFuentl$, one more edif$in' le'end of &lessed &ein's and 'ods, &ut the stor$ of a few human &ein's su&Iected to a power the$ fi'ht &ut cannot defeat* )esus, who will inherit the dust$ sandals with which his father had wal@ed so man$ countr$ roads, will also inherit his tra'ic feelin' of responsi&ilit$ and 'uilt that will ne"er a&andon him, not e"en when he raises his "oice from the top of the cross: #Men, for'i"e him &ecause he @nows not what he has done#, referrin' certainl$ to the +od who has sent him there, &ut perhaps also, if in that last a'on$ he still remem&ers, his real father who has 'enerated him humanl$ in flesh and &lood* As $ou can see, the apprentice had alread$ made a lon' "o$a'e when in his heretical +ospel he wrote the last words of the temple dialo'ue &etween )esus and the scri&e: #+uilt is a wolf that eats its cu& after ha"in' de"oured its father, 7he wolf of which $ou spea@ has alread$ de"oured m$ father, 7hen it will &e soon $our turn, And what a&out $ou, ha"e $ou e"er &een de"oured, Not onl$ de"oured, &ut also spewed up#* .ad <mperor ,harlema'ne not esta&lished a monaster$ in North +erman$, had that monaster$ not &een the ori'in of the cit$ of Mcnster, had Mcnster not wished to cele&rate its twel"e5hundredth anni"ersar$ with an opera a&out the dreadful si%teenth5centur$ war &etween rotestant Ana&aptists and ,atholics, the apprentice would not ha"e written his pla$ 0n Nomine 3ei* Gnce more, with no other help than the tin$ li'ht of his reason, the apprentice had to penetrate the o&scure la&$rinth of reli'ious &eliefs, the &eliefs that so easil$ ma@e human &ein's @ill and &e @illed* And what he saw was, once a'ain, the hideous mas@ of intolerance, an intolerance that in Mcnster &ecame an insane paro%$sm, an intolerance that insulted the "er$ cause that &oth parties claimed to defend* Because it was not a Fuestion of war in the name of two inimical 'ods, &ut of war in the name of a same 'od* Blinded &$ their own &eliefs, the Ana&aptists and the ,atholics of Mcnster were incapa&le of understandin' the most e"ident of all proofs: on )ud'ement 3a$, when &oth parties come forward to recei"e the reward or the punishment the$ deser"e for their actions on earth, +od 5 if .is decisions are ruled &$ an$thin' li@e human lo'ic 5 will ha"e to accept them all in aradise, for the simple reason that the$ all &elie"e in it* 7he terri&le slau'hter in Mcnster tau'ht the apprentice that reli'ions, despite all the$ promised, ha"e ne"er &een used to &rin' men to'ether and that the most a&surd of all wars is a hol$ war, considerin' that +od cannot, e"en if he wanted to, declare war on himself ***
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Blind* 7he apprentice thou'ht, #we are &lind#, and he sat down and wrote Blindness to remind those who mi'ht read it that we per"ert reason when we humiliate life, that human di'nit$ is insulted e"er$ da$ &$ the powerful of our world, that the uni"ersal lie has replaced the plural truths, that man stopped respectin' himself when he lost the respect due to his fellow5creatures* 7hen the apprentice, as if tr$in' to e%orcise the monsters 'enerated &$ the &lindness of reason, started writin' the simplest of all stories: one person is loo@in' for another, &ecause he has realised that life has nothin' more important to demand from a human &ein'* 7he &oo@ is called All the Names* Rnwritten, all our names are there* 7he names of the li"in' and the names of the dead* 0 conclude* 7he "oice that read these pa'es wished to &e the echo of the conIoined "oices of m$ characters* 0 donLt ha"e, as it were, more "oice than the "oices the$ had* For'i"e me if what has seemed little to $ou, to me is all* 7ranslated from the ortu'uese: 7im ,rosfield and Fernando Rodri'ues ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 199/ 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #)os- 9arama'o 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA199/Asarama'o5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Isaac Bashevis 6inger 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 19C/ was awarded to 0saac Bashe"is 9in'er #for his impassioned narrati"e art which, with roots in a olish5)ewish cultural tradition, &rin's uni"ersal human conditions to life#* Born: 14 )ul$ 1904, (eoncin, Russian <mpire 6now oland8 3ied: ;4 )ul$ 1991, 9urfside, F(, R9A Residence at the time of the award: R9A ri!e moti"ation: #for his impassioned narrati"e art which, with roots in a olish5)ewish cultural tradition, &rin's uni"ersal human conditions to life# (an'ua'e: Ziddish Biography 0n one of his more li'ht5hearted &oo@s, 0saac Bashe"is 9in'er depicts his childhood in one of the o"er5populated poor Fuarters of Darsaw, a )ewish Fuarter, Iust &efore and durin' the First Dorld Dar* 7he &oo@, called 0n M$ FatherLs ,ourt 619::8, is sustained &$ a redeemin', melanchol$ sense of humour and a clear5si'htedness free of illusion* 7his world has 'one fore"er, destro$ed &$ the most terri&le of all scour'es that ha"e afflicted the )ews and other people in oland* But it comes to life in 9in'erLs memories and writin' in 'eneral* 0ts mental and ph$sical en"ironment and its centuries5old traditions ha"e set their stamp on 9in'er as a man and a writer, and pro"ide the e"er5 "i"id su&Iect matter for his inspiration and ima'ination* 0t is the world and life of <ast <uropean )ewr$, such as it was li"ed in cities and "illa'es, in po"ert$ and persecution, and im&ued with sincere piet$ and rites com&ined with &lind faith and superstition* 0ts lan'ua'e was Ziddish 5 the lan'ua'e of the simple people and of the women, the lan'ua'e of the mothers which preser"ed fair$tales and anecdotes, le'ends and memories for hundreds of $ears past, throu'h a histor$ which seems to ha"e left nothin' untried in the wa$ of a'on$, passions, a&errations, cruelt$ and &estialit$, &ut also of heroism, lo"e and self5sacrifice* 9in'erLs father was a ra&&i, a spiritual mentor and confessor, of the .asid school of piet$* .is mother also came from a famil$ of ra&&is* 7he <ast <uropean )ewish5m$stical .asidism com&ined
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7almud doctrine and a fidelit$ to scripture and rites 5 which often mer'ed into pruder$ and strict adherence to the law 5 with a li"el$ and sensuall$ candid earthiness that seemed familiar with all human e%perience* 0ts world, which the reader encounters in 9in'erLs stories, is a "er$ )ewish &ut also a "er$ human world* 0t appears to include e"er$thin' 5 pleasure and sufferin', coarseness and su&tlet$* De find o&strusi"e carnalit$, spic$, colourful, fra'rant or smell$, lewd or "iolent* But there is also room for sa'acit$, worldl$ wisdom and shrewd speculation* 7he ran'e e%tends from the saintl$ to the demoniacal, from Fuiet contemplation and su&limit$, to ruthless o&session and infernal confusion or destruction* 0t is t$pical that amon' the authors 9in'er read at an earl$ a'e who ha"e influenced him and accompanied him throu'h life were 9pino!a, +o'ol and 3ostoie"s@$, in addition to 7almud, =a&&ala and @indred writin's* 9in'er &e'an his writin' career as a Iournalist in Darsaw in the $ears &etween the wars* .e was influenced &$ his elder &rother, now dead, who was alread$ an author and who contri&uted to the $oun'er &rotherLs spiritual li&eration and contact with the new currents of seethin' political, social and cultural uphea"al* 7he clash &etween tradition and renewal, &etween other5worldliness and faith and m$sticism on the one hand, and free thou'ht, seculari!ation, dou&t and nihilism on the other, is an essential theme in 9in'erLs short stories and no"els* 7he theme is )ewish, made topical &$ the &ar&arous conflicts of our a'e, a painful drama &etween contentious lo$alties* But it is also of concern to man@ind, to us all, )ew or non5)ew, actuali!ed &$ modern western cultureLs stru''les &etween preser"ation and renewal* Amon' man$ other themes, it is dealt with in 9in'erLs &i' famil$ chronicles 5 the no"els, 7he Famil$ Mos@at 619Y08, 7he Manor 619:C8, and 7he <state 619:98* 7hese e%tensi"e epic wor@s ha"e &een compared with 7homas MannLs no"el, Budden&roo@s* (i@e Mann, 9in'er descri&es how old families are &ro@en up &$ the new a'e and its demands, from the middle of the 19th centur$ up to the 9econd Dorld Dar, and how the$ are split, financiall$, sociall$ and humanl$* But 9in'erLs chronicles are 'reater in scope than MannLs no"el and more richl$ orchestrated in their characteri!ation* 7he authorLs apparentl$ ine%hausti&le ps$cholo'ical fantas$ has created a microcosm, or rather, a well5populated microchaos, out of independent and 'raphicall$ con"incin' fi'ures* 7he$ &rin' to mind another writer whom 9in'er read when $oun' 5 (eo 7olsto$* 9in'erLs earliest fictional wor@s, howe"er, were not &i' no"els &ut short stories and no"ellas, a 'enre in which he has perhaps 'i"en his "er$ &est as a consummate stor$teller and st$list* 7he no"el, 9atan in +ora$, written ori'inall$ in Ziddish, li@e practicall$ all 9in'er &oo@s, appeared in 193Y when the Na!i catastrophe was threatenin' and Iust &efore the author emi'rated to the R9A, where he has li"ed and wor@ed e"er since* 0t treats of a theme to which 9in'er has often returned in different wa$s and with "ariations in time, place and persona'es 5 the false Messiah, his seducti"e arts and successes, the mass h$steria around him, his fall and the &rea@in' up of illusions in destitution and new illusion, or in penance and purit$* 9atan in +ora$ ta@es place in the 1Cth centur$, in the confusion and the sufferin's after the cruel ra"a'es of the ,ossac@s, with outra'es and mass murder of )ews and other wretched peasants and artisans* 7he people in this no"el, as elsewhere with 9in'er, are often at the merc$ of the capricious infliction of circumstance, &ut e"en more so, their own passions* 7he passions are freFuentl$ of a se%ual nature &ut also of another @ind 5 manias and superstitions, fanatical hopes and dreams, the fi'ments of terror, the lure of lust or power, the ni'htmares of an'uish, and so on* <"en &oredom can &ecome a restless passion, as with the main character in the tra'i5comic picaresFue no"el, 7he Ma'ician of (u&lin 619:18, a most eccentric anti5hero, a @ind of )ewish 3on )uan and ro'ue, who ends up as an ascetic or saint* 7his is one of the most characteristic themes with 9in'er 5 the t$rann$ of the passions, the power and fic@le in"enti"eness of o&session, the 'rotesFue wealth of "ariation, and the destructi"e, &ut also inflamin' and parado%icall$ creati"e potential of the emotions* De encounter this tumultuous and colourful world particularl$ in 9in'erLs numerous and fantastic short stories, a"aila&le in <n'lish translation in a&out a do!en collections, from the earl$ +impel 7he Fool 6translated 19Y38, to the later wor@, A ,rown of Feathers 619C38, with nota&le masterpieces in &etween, such as, 7he 9pino!a of Mar@et 9treet 619:18, or, A Friend of =af@a 619C08* 7he passions and cra!es are
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personified in 9in'er as demons, spectres, 'hosts and all @inds of infernal or supernatural powers from the rich storehouse of )ewish popular ima'ination* 7hese demons are not onl$ 'raphic literar$ s$m&ols, &ut also real, tan'i&le &ein's 5 9in'er, in fact, sa$s he &elie"es in their ph$sical presence* 7he middle a'es rise up in his wor@ and permeate the present* <"er$da$ life is interwo"en with wonders, realit$ spun from dreams, the &lood of the past with the moment in which we are li"in'* 7his is where 9in'erLs narrati"e art cele&rates its 'reatest triumphs and &estows a readin' e%perience of a deepl$ ori'inal @ind, harrowin', &ut also stimulatin' and edif$in'* Man$ of his characters step with unFuestioned authorit$ into the antheon of literature, where the eternal companions and m$thical fi'ures li"e, tra'ic and 'rotesFue, comic and touchin', weird and wonderful people of dream and torment, &aseness and 'randeur* Boo@s 0ssac Bashe"is 9in'er, &orn in (eoncin near Darsaw, emi'rated 193Y to R9A* .e died in 1991* 0n addition to the wor@s mentioned a&o"e 9in'erLs writin's include 5 in <n'lish: the no"els 7he 9la"e, transl* &$ the author and ,ecil .emle$* New Zor@: Farrar 9traus, 19:;P (ondon: 9ec@er and Dar&ur', 19:3* <nemies: A (o"e 9tor$, transl* &$ Ali!ah 9he"rin and <li!a&eth 9hu&* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19C;* 9hosha* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19C/* Reaches of .ea"en* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19/0* 7he +olem* (ondon: 3eutsch, 19/3* 7he enitent* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19/3* Zentl the Zeshi"a Bo$, transl* from the Ziddish &$ Marion Ma'id and <lisa&eth allet* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19/3* 7he Rin' of the Fields* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19//* 9cum, transl* &$ Rosaline 3u@als@$ 9chwart!* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 1991* the collections of short stories 9hort Frida$, transl* &$ Ruth Dhitman and others* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19:4P (ondon: 9ee@er and Dar&ur', 19:C* 7he 9eance, transl* &$ Ruth Dhitman and others* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19:/P (ondon: ,ape, 19C0* assions, transl* &$ the author in colla&* with others* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19CYP (ondon: ,ape, 19C:* Gld (o"e* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19C9* 7he ower of (i'ht* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19/0* 7he 0ma'e and Gther 9tories* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19/Y* 7he 3eath of Metuselah and Gther 9tories* (ondon: ,ape, 19//* the memoirs A (ittle Bo$ in 9earch of +od: M$sticism in a ersonal (i'ht* N*Z*: 3ou&leda$, 19C:* A Zoun' Man in 9earch of (o"e, transl* &$ )oseph 9in'er* N*Z*: 3ou&leda$, 19C/* (ost in America* N*Z*: 3ou&leda$, 19/1* for children Wlateh the +oat and Gther 9tories, transl* &$ the author and <li!a&eth 9hu&* N*Z*: .arper, 19::P (ondon: 9ec@er and Dar&ur', 19:C* Dhen 9chlemiel Dent to Darsaw and Gther 9tories, transl* &$ the author and <li!a&eth 9hu&* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19:/* A 3a$ of leasure: 9tories of a Bo$ +rowin' up in Darsaw, transl* &$ the author and <li!a&eth 9hu&* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19:9* 7he Fools of ,helm and 7heir .istor$, transl* &$ the author and <li!a&eth 9hu&* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19C3* Dh$ Noah ,hose the 3o"e, transl* &$ <li!a&eth 9hu&* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19C4* 9tories for ,hildren* N*Z*: Farrar 9traus, 19/:* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19:/519/0, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993
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7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19C/ 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #0saac Bashe"is 9in'er 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19C/Asin'er*html Nobel Lecture / 3ecem&er 19C/ 7he stor$teller and poet of our time, as in an$ other time, must &e an entertainer of the spirit in the full sense of the word, not Iust a preacher of social or political ideals* 7here is no paradise for &ored readers and no e%cuse for tedious literature that does not intri'ue the reader, uplift him, 'i"e him the Io$ and the escape that true art alwa$s 'rants* Ne"ertheless, it is also true that the serious writer of our time must &e deepl$ concerned a&out the pro&lems of his 'eneration* .e cannot &ut see that the power of reli'ion, especiall$ &elief in re"elation, is wea@er toda$ than it was in an$ other epoch in human histor$* More and more children 'row up without faith in +od, without &elief in reward and punishment, in the immortalit$ of the soul and e"en in the "alidit$ of ethics* 7he 'enuine writer cannot i'nore the fact that the famil$ is losin' its spiritual foundation* All the dismal prophecies of Gswald 9pen'ler ha"e &ecome realities since the 9econd Dorld Dar* No technolo'ical achie"ements can miti'ate the disappointment of modern man, his loneliness, his feelin' of inferiorit$, and his fear of war, re"olution and terror* Not onl$ has our 'eneration lost faith in ro"idence &ut also in man himself, in his institutions and often in those who are nearest to him* 0n their despair a num&er of those who no lon'er ha"e confidence in the leadership of our societ$ loo@ up to the writer, the master of words* 7he$ hope a'ainst hope that the man of talent and sensiti"it$ can perhaps rescue ci"ili!ation* Ma$&e there is a spar@ of the prophet in the artist after all* As the son of a people who recei"ed the worst &lows that human madness can inflict, 0 must &rood a&out the forthcomin' dan'ers* 0 ha"e man$ times resi'ned m$self to ne"er findin' a true wa$ out* But a new hope alwa$s emer'es tellin' me that it is not $et too late for all of us to ta@e stoc@ and ma@e a decision* 0 was &rou'ht up to &elie"e in free will* Althou'h 0 came to dou&t all re"elation, 0 can ne"er accept the idea that the Rni"erse is a ph$sical or chemical accident, a result of &lind e"olution* <"en thou'h 0 learned to reco'ni!e the lies, the clich-s and the idolatries of the human mind, 0 still clin' to some truths which 0 thin@ all of us mi'ht accept some da$* 7here must &e a wa$ for man to attain all possi&le pleasures, all the powers and @nowled'e that nature can 'rant him, and still ser"e +od 5 a +od who spea@s in deeds, not in words, and whose "oca&ular$ is the ,osmos* 0 am not ashamed to admit that 0 &elon' to those who fantasi!e that literature is capa&le of &rin'in' new hori!ons and new perspecti"es 5 philosophical, reli'ious, aesthetical and e"en social* 0n the histor$ of old )ewish literature there was ne"er an$ &asic difference &etween the poet and the prophet* Gur ancient poetr$ often &ecame law and a wa$ of life* 9ome of m$ cronies in the cafeteria near the )ewish 3ail$ Forward in New Zor@ call me a pessimist and a decadent, &ut there is alwa$s a &ac@'round of faith &ehind resi'nation* 0 found comfort in such pessimists and decadents as Baudelaire, Jerlaine, <d'ar Allan oe, and 9trind&er'* M$ interest in ps$chic research made me find solace in such m$stics as $our 9weden&or' and in
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our own Ra&&i Nachman Brat!la"er, as well as in a 'reat poet of m$ time, m$ friend Aaron Weitlin who died a few $ears a'o and left a literar$ inheritance of hi'h Fualit$, most of it in Ziddish* 7he pessimism of the creati"e person is not decadence &ut a mi'ht$ passion for the redemption of man* Dhile the poet entertains he continues to search for eternal truths, for the essence of &ein'* 0n his own fashion he tries to sol"e the riddle of time and chan'e, to find an answer to sufferin', to re"eal lo"e in the "er$ a&$ss of cruelt$ and inIustice* 9tran'e as these words ma$ sound 0 often pla$ with the idea that when all the social theories collapse and wars and re"olutions lea"e humanit$ in utter 'loom, the poet 5 whom lato &anned from his Repu&lic 5 ma$ rise up to sa"e us all* 7he hi'h honor &estowed upon me &$ the 9wedish Academ$ is also a reco'nition of the Ziddish lan'ua'e 5 a lan'ua'e of e%ile, without a land, without frontiers, not supported &$ an$ 'o"ernment, a lan'ua'e which possesses no words for weapons, ammunition, militar$ e%ercises, war tacticsP a lan'ua'e that was despised &$ &oth 'entiles and emancipated )ews* 7he truth is that what the 'reat reli'ions preached, the Ziddish5spea@in' people of the 'hettos practiced da$ in and da$ out* 7he$ were the people of 7he Boo@ in the truest sense of the word* 7he$ @new of no 'reater Io$ than the stud$ of man and human relations, which the$ called 7orah, 7almud, Mussar, ,a&ala* 7he 'hetto was not onl$ a place of refu'e for a persecuted minorit$ &ut a 'reat e%periment in peace, in self5 discipline and in humanism* As such it still e%ists and refuses to 'i"e up in spite of all the &rutalit$ that surrounds it* 0 was &rou'ht up amon' those people* M$ fatherLs home on =rochmalna 9treet in Darsaw was a stud$ house, a court of Iustice, a house of pra$er, of stor$tellin', as well as a place for weddin's and ,hassidic &anFuets* As a child 0 had heard from m$ older &rother and master, 0* )* 9in'er, who later wrote 7he Brothers Ash@ena!i, all the ar'uments that the rationalists from 9pino!a to Ma% Nordau &rou'ht out a'ainst reli'ion* 0 ha"e heard from m$ father and mother all the answers that faith in +od could offer to those who dou&t and search for the truth* 0n our home and in man$ other homes the eternal Fuestions were more actual than the latest news in the Ziddish newspaper* 0n spite of all the disenchantments and all m$ s@epticism 0 &elie"e that the nations can learn much from those )ews, their wa$ of thin@in', their wa$ of &rin'in' up children, their findin' happiness where others see nothin' &ut miser$ and humiliation* 7o me the Ziddish lan'ua'e and the conduct of those who spo@e it are identical* Gne can find in the Ziddish ton'ue and in the Ziddish spirit e%pressions of pious Io$, lust for life, lon'in' for the Messiah, patience and deep appreciation of human indi"idualit$* 7here is a Fuiet humor in Ziddish and a 'ratitude for e"er$ da$ of life, e"er$ crum& of success, each encounter of lo"e* 7he Ziddish mentalit$ is not hau'ht$* 0t does not ta@e "ictor$ for 'ranted* 0t does not demand and command &ut it muddles throu'h, snea@s &$, smu''les itself amidst the powers of destruction, @nowin' somewhere that +odLs plan for ,reation is still at the "er$ &e'innin'* 7here are some who call Ziddish a dead lan'ua'e, &ut so was .e&rew called for two thousand $ears* 0t has &een re"i"ed in our time in a most remar@a&le, almost miraculous wa$* Aramaic was certainl$ a dead lan'ua'e for centuries &ut then it &rou'ht to li'ht the Wohar, a wor@ of m$sticism of su&lime "alue* 0t is a fact that the classics of Ziddish literature are also the classics of the modern .e&rew literature* Ziddish has not $et said its last word* 0t contains treasures that ha"e not &een re"ealed to the e$es of the world* 0t was the ton'ue of mart$rs and saints, of dreamers and ,a&alists 5 rich in humor and in memories that man@ind ma$ ne"er for'et* 0n a fi'urati"e wa$, Ziddish is the wise and hum&le lan'ua'e of us all, the idiom of fri'htened and hopeful .umanit$* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 19:/519/0, <ditor5in5,har'e 7ore FrSn'sm$r, <ditor 9ture All-n, Dorld 9cientific u&lishin' ,o*, 9in'apore, 1993

o 3isclaimer <"er$ effort has &een made &$ the pu&lisher to credit or'ani!ations and indi"iduals with re'ard to
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the suppl$ of audio files* lease notif$ the pu&lishers re'ardin' corrections* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19C/ 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #0saac Bashe"is 9in'er 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19C/Asin'er5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Mario 8argas Llosa Born: ;/ March 193:, AreFuipa, eru ri!e moti"ation: #for his carto'raph$ of structures of power and his trenchant ima'es of the indi"idualLs resistance, re"olt, and defeat# Biography Mario Jar'as (losa was &orn in 193: in AreFuipa, eru1s second lar'est cit$* 3urin' his childhood in ,ocha&am&a, Boli"ia, and iura, a cit$ in the north of eru, he &elie"ed that his father had died* .owe"er, this was a lie told &$ his mother to conceal their tortuous separation* 7he truth emer'ed when, in 194:, his father appeared une%pectedl$ to ta@e him awa$ from his mother1s parents, mo"in' with him and his mother to (ima* 7his re"elation si'nified an a&rupt chan'e in Jar'as (losa1s life, from the pampered up&rin'in' of a feminine en"ironment to the hostile treatment of an authoritarian father* At his side, he was to disco"er fear, inIustice and "iolence for the first time* 3urin' these $ears in which he left his childhood &ehind, de"ourin' the wor@s of 3umas and Jictor .u'o, the political climate in eru was a reflection of Jar'as (losa1s home life* 7he dictator Manuel Gdrka rose to power in 194/ and o"er the ne%t ei'ht $ears, while Jar'as (losa studied law and literature at the Rni"ersit$ of 9an Marcos, he imposed ri'id controls on social life which stifled indi"idualit$, en'enderin' scepticism, defeatism and frustration amon' eru"ians* 7his period later inspired his no"el ,on"ersation in the ,athedral, pu&lished in 19:9* 7he dominant presence of authoritarianism in &oth pu&lic and pri"ate spheres led Jar'as (losa to stron'l$ condemn s$stems which, in one wa$ or another, sou'ht to inhi&it indi"idual initiati"e and restrict personal freedom* .is literar$ wor@s, startin' with 7he 7ime of the .ero 619:38 H one of the @e$ no"els which pioneered the LBoomL period in (atin American literature H reflect his loathin' of ar&itrar$ manifestations of power and the a&sence of law which ena&les the stron'est to impose their will* 7he inspiration for this no"el was the time he spent &etween 19Y0 and 19Y1 in the (eoncio rado Militar$ Academ$, where he was sent &$ his father to stifle his literar$ am&itions throu'h militar$ discipline* .owe"er, Jar'as (losa mana'ed to re&el a'ainst his paternal $o@e, not onl$ pursuin' a writin' career, &ut also marr$in' his maternal uncle1s sister5in5law )ulia RrFuidi, who was ele"en $ears older than him and di"orced* .e drew on these e%periences to write his no"el Aunt )ulia and the 9criptwriter, pu&lished in 19CC* Another fundamental e%perience in his life was a Iourne$ he made in the Ama!on Iun'le in 19Y/, which inspired no"els such as 7he +reen .ouse 619::8, ,aptain antoIa and the 9pecial 9er"ice 619C38, 7he 9tor$teller 619/C8 and 7he 3ream of the ,elt 6;0108* As opposed to other cit$ dwellers who first came into contact with the remote Iun'le landscapes of eru, which are still inha&ited &$ primiti"e indi'enous tri&es, Jar'as (losa found neither e%oticism nor harmon$ &etween humanit$ and nature &ut rather despotism, "iolence and cruelt$* 7he a&sence of law and institutions e%posed the Iun'le nati"es to the worst humiliations and acts of inIustice &$ colonists, missionaries and ad"enturers, who had come to impose their will throu'h the use of terror and force* Dhat he heard, saw and felt in the Iun'le con"inced Jar'as (losa that the archaic eru which sur"i"ed in the depths of the Ama!on and the pea@s of the Andes should &e inte'rated into a modern eru, the onl$ eru which, due to its le'al framewor@, could stop the pilla'in' and
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wron'ful acts committed a'ainst minorities and the most "ulnera&le sectors of eru"ian societ$* Rntil the earl$ se"enties, Jar'as (losa percei"ed in socialism and the ,u&an re"olution a series of ideas which em&odied modernit$ and a solution to the moral "ices and economic underde"elopment of (atin America* .owe"er, when the re"olution showed si'ns of ha"in' &ecome an oppressi"e dictatorship where writers felt their freedom to create was restricted, Jar'as (losa distanced himself from Fidel ,astro and socialism and &e'an to ad"ocate reformism, li&eral pluralism, democrac$ and the free mar@et* .is chan'in' political inclination &rou'ht with it a new wa$ of understandin' (atin American pro&lems* 7he re"olution, the dictatorship, nationalism, racism and reli'ious m$sticism, all of which are present throu'hout the course of the repu&lican histor$ of (atin America, now pro"ed to &e s$mptoms of a deeper pro&lem related to intolerance and do'matism* A host of leaders, re&els and sa"iours had insti'ated fanatical attempts to impose a closed "iew of the world with no concern for the conseFuences* 7his human tendenc$, which is e"er present in (atin America and the root cause &ehind innumera&le tra'edies, pro"ided the plot for his no"el 7he Dar of the <nd of the Dorld in 19/1* 0n 19/C the attempt &$ the then president of eru, Alan +arcka, to nationalise the &an@in' industr$ was "ehementl$ reIected &$ Jar'as (losa, who saw this proIect as a strate'$ to accumulate power and place the media and &usinesses in 'o"ernment hands* Dith the support of lar'e sectors of the population, Jar'as (losa or'anised protest marches which catapulted him into the political arena* .is Mo"imiento (i&ertad, which opposed Alan +arcka, e"ol"ed into the Frente 3emocr\tico, three $ears later* As the leader of this part$ he ran in the presidential elections in 1990* .owe"er, he lost in the second round to the en'ineer Al&erto FuIimori, who then shut down con'ress and esta&lished a despotic and corrupt dictatorship for which he is currentl$ ser"in' a sentence* Memories of these $ears can &e found in his &oo@ of memoirs A Fish in the Dater 619938* 9ince 1990 Jar'as (losa has pu&lished a fortni'htl$ column in the 9panish dail$ newspaper <l aks, which is reprinted in different media sources all o"er the world* 0n these, he states his opinion re'ardin' the most important current political, social and cultural e"ents* .e also teaches literature courses at American uni"ersities and writes literar$ essa$s* Althou'h Jar'as (losa &e'an writin' pla$s in the 19/0s, it was not until ;00Y that he decided to ta@e to the sta'e himself to portra$ his characters* Aitana 9\nche! +iI[n, the actress who accompanies him in this new ad"enture, has descri&ed him as a promisin' $oun' actor* 7ranslated &$ ,olin .owe From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;010, <ditor =arl +randin, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;011 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;010 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Mario Jar'as (losa 5 Bio'raphical#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;010A"ar'as]llosa*html

7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;010 Mario Jar'as (losa

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Mario Jar'as (losa deli"ered his No&el (ecture, C 3ecem&er ;010, at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm* .e was introduced &$ eter <n'lund, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* 7he lecture was deli"ered in 9panish* Nobel Lecture 3ecem&er C, ;010 In 9raise o =ea!ing an! $iction 0 learned to read at the a'e of fi"e, in Brother )ustiniano1s class at the 3e la 9alle Academ$ in ,ocha&am&a, Boli"ia* 0t is the most important thin' that has e"er happened to me* Almost se"ent$ $ears later 0 remem&er clearl$ how the ma'ic of translatin' the words in &oo@s into ima'es enriched m$ life, &rea@in' the &arriers of time and space and allowin' me to tra"el with ,aptain Nemo twent$ thousand lea'ues under the sea, fi'ht with d1Arta'nan, Athos, ortos, and Aramis a'ainst the intri'ues threatenin' the Oueen in the da$s of the secreti"e Richelieu, or stum&le throu'h the sewers of aris, transformed into )ean JalIean carr$in' Marius1s inert &od$ on m$ &ac@* Readin' chan'ed dreams into life and life into dreams and placed the uni"erse of literature within reach of the &o$ 0 once was* M$ mother told me the first thin's 0 wrote were continuations of the stories 0 read &ecause it made me sad when the$ concluded or &ecause 0 wanted to chan'e their endin's* And perhaps this is what 0 ha"e spent m$ life doin' without reali!in' it: prolon'in' in time, as 0 'rew, matured, and a'ed, the stories that filled m$ childhood with e%altation and ad"entures* 0 wish m$ mother were here, a woman who was mo"ed to tears readin' the poems of Amado Ner"o and a&lo Neruda, and +randfather edro too, with his lar'e nose and 'leamin' &ald head, who cele&rated m$ "erses, and Rncle (ucho, who ur'ed me so ener'eticall$ to throw m$self &od$ and soul into writin' e"en thou'h literature, in that time and place, compensated its de"otees so &adl$* 7hrou'hout m$ life 0 ha"e had people li@e that at m$ side, people who lo"ed and encoura'ed me and infected me with their faith when 0 had dou&ts* 7han@s to them, and certainl$ to m$ o&stinac$ and some luc@, 0 ha"e &een a&le to de"ote most of m$ time to the passion, the "ice, the mar"el of writin', creatin' a parallel life where we can ta@e refu'e a'ainst ad"ersit$, one that ma@es the e%traordinar$ natural and the natural e%traordinar$, that dissipates chaos, &eautifies u'liness, eternali!es the moment, and turns death into a passin' spectacle* Dritin' stories was not eas$* Dhen the$ were turned into words, proIects withered on the paper and ideas and ima'es failed* .ow to reanimate themE Fortunatel$, the masters were there, teachers to learn from and e%amples to follow* Flau&ert tau'ht me that talent is un$ieldin' discipline and lon' patience* Faul@ner, that form H writin' and structure H ele"ates or impo"erishes su&Iects* Martorell, ,er"antes, 3ic@ens, Bal!ac, 7olsto$, ,onrad, 7homas Mann, that scope and am&ition are as important in a no"el as st$listic de%terit$ and narrati"e strate'$* 9artre, that words are acts, that a no"el, a pla$, or an essa$, en'a'ed with the present moment and &etter options, can chan'e the course of histor$* ,amus and Grwell, that a literature stripped of moralit$ is inhuman, and Malrau% that heroism and the epic are as possi&le in the present as is the time of the Ar'onauts, the Gd$sse$, and the 0liad* 0f in this address 0 were to summon all the writers to whom 0 owe a few thin's or a 'reat deal, their shadows would plun'e us into dar@ness* 7he$ are innumera&le* 0n addition to re"ealin' the secrets of the stor$tellin' craft, the$ o&li'ed me to e%plore the &ottomless depths of humanit$, admire its heroic deeds, and feel horror at its sa"a'er$* 7he$ were m$ most o&li'in' friends, the ones who "itali!ed m$ callin' and in whose &oo@s 0 disco"ered that there is hope e"en in the worst of circumstances, that li"in' is worth the effort if onl$ &ecause without life we could not read or ima'ine stories*
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At times 0 wondered whether writin' was not a solipsistic lu%ur$ in countries li@e mine, where there were scant readers, so man$ people who were poor and illiterate, so much inIustice, and where culture was a pri"ile'e of the few* 7hese dou&ts, howe"er, ne"er stifled m$ callin', and 0 alwa$s @ept writin' e"en durin' those periods when earnin' a li"in' a&sor&ed most of m$ time* 0 &elie"e 0 did the ri'ht thin', since if, for literature to flourish, it was first necessar$ for a societ$ to achie"e hi'h culture, freedom, prosperit$, and Iustice, it ne"er would ha"e e%isted* But than@s to literature, to the consciousness it shapes, the desires and lon'in's it inspires, and our disenchantment with realit$ when we return from the Iourne$ to a &eautiful fantas$, ci"ili!ation is now less cruel than when stor$tellers &e'an to humani!e life with their fa&les* De would &e worse than we are without the 'ood &oo@s we ha"e read, more conformist, not as restless, more su&missi"e, and the critical spirit, the en'ine of pro'ress, would not e"en e%ist* (i@e writin', readin' is a protest a'ainst the insufficiencies of life* Dhen we loo@ in fiction for what is missin' in life, we are sa$in', with no need to sa$ it or e"en to @now it, that life as it is does not satisf$ our thirst for the a&solute H the foundation of the human condition H and should &e &etter* De in"ent fictions in order to li"e somehow the man$ li"es we would li@e to lead when we &arel$ ha"e one at our disposal* Dithout fictions we would &e less aware of the importance of freedom for life to &e li"a&le, the hell it turns into when it is trampled underfoot &$ a t$rant, an ideolo'$, or a reli'ion* (et those who dou&t that literature not onl$ su&mer'es us in the dream of &eaut$ and happiness &ut alerts us to e"er$ @ind of oppression, as@ themsel"es wh$ all re'imes determined to control the &eha"ior of citi!ens from cradle to 'ra"e fear it so much the$ esta&lish s$stems of censorship to repress it and @eep so war$ an e$e on independent writers* 7he$ do this &ecause the$ @now the ris@ of allowin' the ima'ination to wander free in &oo@s, @now how seditious fictions &ecome when the reader compares the freedom that ma@es them possi&le and is e%ercised in them with the o&scurantism and fear l$in' in wait in the real world* Dhether the$ want it or not, @now it or not, when the$ in"ent stories the writers of tales propa'ate dissatisfaction, demonstratin' that the world is &adl$ made and the life of fantas$ richer than the life of our dail$ routine* 7his fact, if it ta@es root in their sensi&ilit$ and consciousness, ma@es citi!ens more difficult to manipulate, less willin' to accept the lies of the interro'ators and Iailers who would li@e to ma@e them &elie"e that &ehind &ars the$ lead more secure and &etter li"es* +ood literature erects &rid'es &etween different peoples, and &$ ha"in' us enIo$, suffer, or feel surprise, unites us &eneath the lan'ua'es, &eliefs, ha&its, customs, and preIudices that separate us* Dhen the 'reat white whale &uries ,aptain Aha& in the sea, the hearts of readers ta@e fri'ht in e%actl$ the same wa$ in 7o@$o, (ima, or 7im&uctu* Dhen <mma Bo"ar$ swallows arsenic, Anna =arenina throws herself in front of the train, and )ulien 9orel clim&s to the scaffold, and when, in v<l sur,w the ur&an doctor )uan 3ahlmann wal@s out of that ta"ern on the pampa to face a thu'1s @nife, or we reali!e that all the residents of ,omala, edro \ramo1s "illa'e, are dead, the shudder is the same in the reader who worships Buddha, ,onfucius, ,hrist, Allah, or is an a'nostic, wears a Iac@et and tie, a Iala&a, a @imono, or &om&achas* (iterature creates a fraternit$ within human di"ersit$ and eclipses the frontiers erected amon' men and women &$ i'norance, ideolo'ies, reli'ions, lan'ua'es, and stupidit$* 9ince e"er$ period has its horrors, ours is the a'e of fanatics, of suicide terrorists, an ancient species con"inced that &$ @illin' the$ earn hea"en, that the &lood of innocents washes awa$ collecti"e affronts, corrects inIustices, and imposes truth on false &eliefs* <"er$ da$, all o"er the world, countless "ictims are sacrificed &$ those who feel the$ possess a&solute truths* Dith the collapse of totalitarian empires, we &elie"ed that li"in' to'ether, peace, pluralism, and human ri'hts would 'ain the ascendanc$ and the world would lea"e &ehind holocausts, 'enocides, in"asions, and wars of e%termination* None of that has occurred* New forms of &ar&arism flourish, incited &$ fanaticism, and with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, we cannot o"erloo@ the fact that an$ small faction of cra!ed redeemers ma$ one da$ pro"o@e a nuclear
144

catacl$sm* De ha"e to thwart them, confront them, and defeat them* 7here aren1t man$, althou'h the tumult of their crimes resounds all o"er the planet and the ni'htmares the$ pro"o@e o"erwhelm us with dread* De should not allow oursel"es to &e intimidated &$ those who want to snatch awa$ the freedom we ha"e &een acFuirin' o"er the lon' course of ci"ili!ation* (et us defend the li&eral democrac$ that, with all its limitations, continues to si'nif$ political pluralism, coe%istence, tolerance, human ri'hts, respect for criticism, le'alit$, free elections, alternation in power, e"er$thin' that has &een ta@in' us out of a sa"a'e life and &rin'in' us closer H thou'h we will ne"er attain it H to the &eautiful, perfect life literature de"ises, the one we can deser"e onl$ &$ in"entin', writin', and readin' it* B$ confrontin' homicidal fanatics we defend our ri'ht to dream and to ma@e our dreams realit$* 0n m$ $outh, li@e man$ writers of m$ 'eneration, 0 was a Mar%ist and &elie"ed socialism would &e the remed$ for the e%ploitation and social inIustices that were &ecomin' more se"ere in m$ countr$, in (atin America, and in the rest of the 7hird Dorld* M$ disillusion with statism and collecti"ism and m$ transition to the democrat and li&eral that 0 am H that 0 tr$ to &e H was lon' and difficult and carried out slowl$ as a conseFuence of episodes li@e the con"ersion of the ,u&an Re"olution, a&out which 0 initiall$ had &een enthusiastic, to the authoritarian, "ertical model of the 9o"iet RnionP the testimon$ of dissidents who mana'ed to slip past the &ar&ed wire fences of the +ula'P the in"asion of ,!echoslo"a@ia &$ the nations of the Darsaw actP and &ecause of thin@ers li@e Ra$mond Aron, )ean Francois R-"el, 0saiah Berlin, and =arl opper, to whom 0 owe m$ ree"aluation of democratic culture and open societies* 7hose masters were an e%ample of lucidit$ and 'allant coura'e when the intelli'entsia of the Dest, as a result of fri"olit$ or opportunism, appeared to ha"e succum&ed to the spell of 9o"iet socialism or, e"en worse, to the &lood$ witches1 9a&&ath of the ,hinese ,ultural Re"olution* As a &o$ 0 dreamed of comin' some da$ to aris &ecause, da!!led &$ French literature, 0 &elie"ed that li"in' there and &reathin' the air &reathed &$ Bal!ac, 9tendhal, Baudelaire, and roust would help transform me into a real writer, and if 0 did not lea"e eru 0 would &e onl$ a pseudo 9unda$s5 and5holida$s writer* And the truth is 0 owe to France and French culture unfor'etta&le lessons, for e%ample that literature is as much a callin' as it is a discipline, a Io&, an o&stinac$* 0 li"ed there when 9artre and ,amus were ali"e and writin', in the $ears of 0onesco, Bec@ett, Bataille, and ,ioran, the disco"er$ of the theater of Brecht and the films of 0n'mar Ber'man, the 7heatre National opulaire of )ean Jilar and the Gd-on of )ean5(ouis Barrault, of the Nou"elle Ja'ue and the Nou"eau Roman and the speeches, &eautiful literar$ pieces, of Andr- Malrau%, and what ma$ ha"e &een the most theatrical spectacle in <urope durin' that time, the press conferences and Gl$mpic thunderin's of +eneral de +aulle* But perhaps 0 am most 'rateful to France for the disco"er$ of (atin America* 7here 0 learned that eru was part of a "ast communit$ united &$ histor$, 'eo'raph$, social and political pro&lems, a certain mode of &ein', and the delicious lan'ua'e it spo@e and wrote* And in those same $ears, it was producin' a new, forceful literature* 7here 0 read Bor'es, Gcta"io a!, ,ort\!ar, +arcka M\rFue!, Fuentes, ,a&rera 0nfante, Rulfo, Gnetti, ,arpentier, <dwards, 3onoso, and man$ others whose writin's were re"olutioni!in' narrati"e in the 9panish lan'ua'e, and than@s to whom <urope and a 'ood part of the world disco"ered that (atin America was not the continent onl$ of coups, operetta despots, &earded 'uerrillas, and the maracas of the mam&o and the cha5cha5cha &ut of ideas, artistic forms, and literar$ fantasies that transcended the picturesFue and spo@e a uni"ersal lan'ua'e* From that time to this, not without stum&lin' and &lunders, (atin America has made pro'ress althou'h, as ,-sar JalleIo said in a poem, .a$, hermanos, muchksimo Fue hacer >7here is still, &rothers, so much to do?* De are afflicted with fewer dictatorships than &efore, onl$ ,u&a and her named successor, Jene!uela, and some pseudo populist, clownish democracies li@e those in Boli"ia and Nicara'ua* But in the rest of the continent democrac$ is functionin', supported &$ a &road popular consensus, and for the first time in our histor$, as in Bra!il, ,hile, Rru'ua$, eru, ,olom&ia, the 3ominican Repu&lic, Me%ico, and almost all of ,entral America, we ha"e a left and a ri'ht that respect le'alit$, the freedom to critici!e, elections, and succession in power* 7hat is the
14Y

ri'ht road, and if it sta$s on it, com&ats insidious corruption, and continues to inte'rate with the world, (atin America will finall$ stop &ein' the continent of the future and &ecome the continent of the present* 0 ne"er felt li@e a forei'ner in <urope or, in fact, an$where* 0n all the places 0 ha"e li"ed, in aris, (ondon, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Dashin'ton, New Zor@, Bra!il, or the 3ominican Repu&lic, 0 felt at home* 0 ha"e alwa$s found a lair where 0 could li"e in peace, wor@, learn thin's, nurture dreams, and find friends, 'ood &oo@s to read, and su&Iects to write a&out* 0t does not seem to me that m$ unintentionall$ &ecomin' a citi!en of the world has wea@ened what are called vm$ roots,w m$ connections to m$ own countr$ H which would not &e particularl$ important H &ecause if that were so, m$ eru"ian e%periences would not continue to nourish me as a writer and would not alwa$s appear in m$ stories, e"en when the$ seem to occur "er$ far from eru* 0 &elie"e instead that li"in' for so lon' outside the countr$ where 0 was &orn has stren'thened those connections, addin' a more lucid perspecti"e to them, and a nostal'ia that can differentiate the adIecti"al from the su&stanti"e and @eep memories re"er&eratin'* (o"e of the countr$ where one was &orn cannot &e o&li'ator$, &ut li@e an$ other lo"e must &e a spontaneous act of the heart, li@e the one that unites lo"ers, parents and children, and friends* 0 carr$ eru deep inside me &ecause that is where 0 was &orn, 'rew up, was formed, and li"ed those e%periences of childhood and $outh that shaped m$ personalit$ and for'ed m$ callin', and there 0 lo"ed, hated, enIo$ed, suffered, and dreamed* Dhat happens there affects me more, mo"es and e%asperates me more than what occurs elsewhere* 0 ha"e not wished it or imposed it on m$selfP it simpl$ is so* 9ome compatriots accused me of &ein' a traitor, and 0 was on the "er'e of losin' m$ citi!enship when, durin' the last dictatorship, 0 as@ed the democratic 'o"ernments of the world to penali!e the re'ime with diplomatic and economic sanctions, as 0 ha"e alwa$s done with all dictatorships of an$ @ind, whether of inochet, Fidel ,astro, the 7ali&an in Af'hanistan, the 0mams in 0ran, apartheid in 9outh Africa, the uniformed satraps of Burma 6now called M$anmar8* And 0 would do it a'ain tomorrow if H ma$ destin$ not wish it and eru"ians not permit it H eru were once a'ain the "ictim of a coup that would annihilate our fra'ile democrac$* 0t was not the precipitate, emotional action of a resentful man, as some scri&&lers wrote, accustomed to Iud'in' others from the point of "iew of their own pettiness* 0t was an act in line with m$ con"iction that a dictatorship represents a&solute e"il for a countr$, a source of &rutalit$ and corruption and profound wounds that ta@e a lon' time to close, poison the nation1s future, and create pernicious ha&its and practices that endure for 'enerations and dela$ democratic reconstruction* 7his is wh$ dictatorships must &e fou'ht without hesitation, with all the means at our disposal, includin' economic sanctions* 0t is re'retta&le that democratic 'o"ernments, instead of settin' an e%ample &$ ma@in' common cause with those, li@e the 3amas de Blanco in ,u&a, the Jene!uelan opposition, or Aun' 9an 9uu =$i and (iu eiao&o, who coura'eousl$ confront the dictatorships the$ endure, often show themsel"es complaisant not with them &ut with their tormenters* 7hose "aliant people, stru''lin' for their freedom, are also stru''lin' for ours* A compatriot of mine, )os- Marka Ar'uedas, called eru the countr$ of ve"er$ &lood*w 0 do not &elie"e an$ formula defines it &etter: that is what we are and that is what all eru"ians carr$ inside us, whether we li@e it or not: an a''re'ate of traditions, races, &eliefs, and cultures proceedin' from the four cardinal points* 0 am proud to feel m$self the heir to the pre5.ispanic cultures that created the te%tiles and feather mantles of Na!ca and aracas and the Mochican or 0ncan ceramics e%hi&ited in the &est museums in the world, the &uilders of Machu icchu, +ran ,himm, ,han ,han, =uelap, 9ip\n, the &urial 'rounds of (a BruIa and <l 9ol and (a (una, and to the 9paniards who, with their saddle &a's, swords, and horses, &rou'ht to eru +reece, Rome, the )udeo5 ,hristian tradition, the Renaissance, ,er"antes, Oue"edo, and +[n'ora, and the harsh lan'ua'e of ,astile sweetened &$ the Andes* And with 9pain came Africa, with its stren'th, its music, and its effer"escent ima'ination, to enrich eru"ian hetero'eneit$* 0f we in"esti'ate onl$ a little we disco"er that eru, li@e the Aleph of Bor'es, is a small format of the entire world* Dhat an e%traordinar$ pri"ile'e for a countr$ not to ha"e an identit$ &ecause it has all of them_
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7he conFuest of America was cruel and "iolent, li@e all conFuests, of course, and we should critici!e it &ut not for'et as we do that those who committed pilla'e and crimes were, for the most part, our 'reat5'randfathers and 'reat5'reat5'randfathers, the 9paniards who came to America and adopted American wa$s, not those who remained in their own countr$* 9uch criticism, to &e Iust, should &e self5criticism* Because when we 'ained our independence from 9pain two hundred $ears a'o, those who assumed power in the former colonies, instead of li&eratin' the 0ndians and creatin' Iustice for old wron's, continued to e%ploit them with as much 'reed and ferocit$ as the conFuerors and, in some countries, decimatin' and e%terminatin' them* (et us sa$ this with a&solute clarit$: for two centuries the emancipation of the indi'enous population has &een our e%clusi"e responsi&ilit$, and we ha"e not fulfilled it* 7his continues to &e an unresol"ed issue in all of (atin America* 7here is not a sin'le e%ception to this i'nomin$ and shame* 0 lo"e 9pain as much as eru, and m$ de&t to her is as 'reat as m$ 'ratitude* 0f not for 9pain, 0 ne"er would ha"e reached this podium or &ecome a @nown writer and perhaps, li@e so man$ unfortunate collea'ues, 0 would wander in the lim&o of writers without luc@, pu&lishers, pri!es, or readers, whose talent H sad comfort H posterit$ ma$ one da$ disco"er* All m$ &oo@s were pu&lished in 9pain, where 0 recei"ed e%a''erated reco'nition, and friends li@e ,arlos Barral, ,armen Balcells, and so man$ others were !ealous a&out m$ stories ha"in' readers* And 9pain 'ranted me a second nationalit$ when 0 could ha"e lost mine* 0 ha"e ne"er felt the sli'htest incompati&ilit$ &etween &ein' eru"ian and ha"in' a 9panish passport, &ecause 0 ha"e alwa$s felt that 9pain and eru are two sides of the same coin, not onl$ in m$ small person &ut in essential realities li@e histor$, lan'ua'e, and culture* Gf all the $ears 0 ha"e li"ed on 9panish soil, 0 remem&er as most &rilliant the fi"e 0 spent in a dearl$ lo"ed Barcelona in the earl$ 19C0s* Franco1s dictatorship was still in power and shootin', &ut &$ then it was a fossil in ra's, and especiall$ in the field of culture, incapa&le of maintainin' its earlier controls* ,rac@s and chin@s were openin' that the censors could not patch o"er, and throu'h them 9panish societ$ a&sor&ed new ideas, &oo@s, currents of thou'ht, and artistic "alues and forms prohi&ited until then as su&"ersi"e* No cit$ too@ as much or &etter ad"anta'e of this start of an openin' than Barcelona or e%perienced a compara&le e%citement in all fields of ideas and creati"it$* 0t &ecame the cultural capital of 9pain, the place $ou had to &e to &reathe anticipation of the freedom to come* And, in a sense, it was also the cultural capital of (atin America &ecause of the num&er of painters, writers, pu&lishers, and artists from (atin American countries who either settled in or tra"eled &ac@ and forth to Barcelona: it was where $ou had to &e if $ou wanted to &e a poet, no"elist, painter, or composer in our time* For me, those were unfor'etta&le $ears of comradeship, friendship, plots, and fertile intellectual wor@* )ust as aris had &een, Barcelona was a 7ower of Ba&el, a cosmopolitan, uni"ersal cit$ where it was stimulatin' to li"e and wor@ and where, for the first time since the da$s of the ,i"il Dar, 9panish and (atin American writers mi%ed and fraterni!ed, reco'ni!in' one another as possessors of the same tradition and allied in a common enterprise and certaint$: the end of the dictatorship was imminent and in democratic 9pain, culture would &e the principal prota'onist* Althou'h it did not occur e%actl$ that wa$, the 9panish transition from dictatorship to democrac$ has &een one of the &est stories of modern times, an e%ample of how, when 'ood sense and reason pre"ail and political ad"ersaries set aside sectarianism for the common 'ood, e"ents can occur as mar"elous as the ones in no"els of ma'ic realism* 7he 9panish transition from authoritarianism to freedom, from underde"elopment to prosperit$, from third5world economic contrasts and ineFualities to a countr$ of middle classes, her inte'ration into <urope and her adoption in a few $ears of a democratic culture, has astonished the entire world and precipitated 9pain1s moderni!ation* 0t has &een mo"in' and instructi"e for me to e%perience this near at hand, at times from the inside* 0 fer"entl$ hope that nationalism, the incura&le pla'ue of the modern world and of 9pain as well, does not ruin this happ$ tale*

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0 despise e"er$ form of nationalism, a pro"incial ideolo'$ H or rather, reli'ion H that is short5 si'hted, e%clusi"e, that cuts off the intellectual hori!on and hides in its &osom ethnic and racist preIudices, for it transforms into a supreme "alue, a moral and ontolo'ical pri"ile'e, the fortuitous circumstance of one1s &irthplace* Alon' with reli'ion, nationalism has &een the cause of the worst slau'hters in histor$, li@e those in the two world wars and the current &loodlettin' in the Middle <ast* Nothin' has contri&uted as much as nationalism to (atin America1s ha"in' &een Bal@ani!ed and stained with &lood in senseless &attles and disputes, sFuanderin' astronomical resources to purchase weapons instead of &uildin' schools, li&raries, and hospitals* De should not confuse a &lin@ered nationalism and its reIection of the vother,w alwa$s the seed of "iolence, with patriotism, a salutar$, 'enerous feelin' of lo"e for the land where we were &orn, where our ancestors li"ed, where our first dreams were for'ed, a familiar landscape of 'eo'raphies, lo"ed ones, and e"ents that are transformed into si'nposts of memor$ and defenses a'ainst solitude* .omeland is not fla's, anthems, or apodictic speeches a&out em&lematic heroes, &ut a handful of places and people that populate our memories and tin'e them with melanchol$, the warm sensation that no matter where we are, there is a home for us to return to* eru is for me AreFuipa, where 0 was &orn &ut ne"er li"ed, a cit$ m$ mother, 'randparents, and aunts and uncles tau'ht me to @now throu'h their memories and $earnin's, &ecause m$ entire famil$ tri&e, as AreFuepepos tend to do, alwa$s carried the Dhite ,it$ with them in their wanderin' e%istence* 0t is iura in the desert, mesFuite trees and the lon'5sufferin' &urros that iurans of m$ $outh called vsome&od$ else1s feetw H an ele'ant, sad name H where 0 disco"ered that stor@s did not &rin' &a&ies into the world &ut couples made them &$ doin' outra'eous thin's that were a mortal sin* 0t is 9an Mi'uel Academ$ and the Jarieties 7heater where for the first time 0 saw a short wor@ 0 had written produced on sta'e* 0t is the corner of 3ie'o Ferr- and ,ol[n, in (ima1s Miraflores H we called it the .app$ Nei'h&orhood H where 0 e%chan'ed short pants for lon' trousers, smo@ed m$ first ci'arette, learned to dance, fall in lo"e, and open m$ heart to 'irls* 0t is the dust$, pulsin' editorial offices of the paper (a ,r[nica where, at si%teen, 0 stood "ir'il o"er m$ first arms as a Iournalist, a trade that, alon' with literature, has occupied almost m$ entire life and, li@e &oo@s, has made me li"e more, @now the world &etter, and &e with men and women from e"er$where and e"er$ class, e%cellent, 'ood, &ad, and e%ecra&le people* 0t is the (eoncio rado Militar$ Academ$, where 0 learned that eru was not the small middle5class redou&t where 0 had li"ed until then, confined and protected, &ut a lar'e, ancient, rancorous, uneFual countr$, sha@en &$ all @inds of social storms* 0t is the clandestine cells of ,ahuide where, with a handful of 9an Marcos students, we prepared the world re"olution* And eru is m$ friends in the Freedom Mo"ement with whom for three $ears, in the midst of &om&s, &lac@outs, and terrorist assassinations, we wor@ed in defense of democrac$ and the culture of freedom* eru is atricia, m$ cousin with the upturned nose and indomita&le character, whom 0 was luc@$ enou'h to marr$ fort$5fi"e $ears a'o and who still endures the manias, neuroses, and temper tantrums that help me to write* Dithout her m$ life would ha"e dissol"ed a lon' time a'o into a tur&ulent whirlwind, and Al"aro, +on!alo, Mor'ana and the si% 'randchildren who e%tend and 'ladden our e%istence would not ha"e &een &orn* 9he does e"er$thin' and does e"er$thin' well* 9he sol"es pro&lems, mana'es the econom$, imposes order on chaos, @eeps Iournalists and intrusi"e people at &a$, defends m$ time, decides appointments and trips, pac@s and unpac@s suitcases, and is so 'enerous that e"en when she thin@s she is re&u@in' me, she pa$s me the hi'hest compliment: vMario, the onl$ thin' $ou1re 'ood for is writin'*w (et us return to literature* 7he paradise of childhood is not a literar$ m$th for me &ut a realit$ 0 li"ed and enIo$ed in the lar'e famil$ house with three court$ards in ,ocha&am&a, where with m$ cousins and school friends we could reproduce the stories of 7ar!an and 9al'ari, and in the prefecture of iura, where &ats nested in the lofts, silent shadows that filled the starr$ ni'hts of that hot land with m$ster$* 3urin' those $ears, writin' was pla$in' a 'ame m$ famil$ cele&rated, somethin' charmin' that earned applause for me, the 'randson, the nephew, the son without a papa
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&ecause m$ father had died and 'one to hea"en* .e was a tall, 'ood5loo@in' man in a na"$ uniform whose photo adorned m$ ni'ht ta&le, which 0 pra$ed to and then @issed &efore 'oin' to sleep* Gne iuran mornin' H 0 do not thin@ 0 ha"e reco"ered from it $et H m$ mother re"ealed that the 'entleman was, in fact, ali"e* And on that "er$ da$ we were 'oin' to li"e with him in (ima* 0 was ele"en $ears old, and from that moment e"er$thin' chan'ed* 0 lost m$ innocence and disco"ered loneliness, authorit$, adult life, and fear* M$ sal"ation was readin', readin' 'ood &oo@s, ta@in' refu'e in those worlds where life was 'lorious, intense, one ad"enture after another, where 0 could feel free and &e happ$ a'ain* And it was writin', in secret, li@e someone 'i"in' himself up to an unspea@a&le "ice, a for&idden passion* (iterature stopped &ein' a 'ame* 0t &ecame a wa$ of resistin' ad"ersit$, protestin', re&ellin', escapin' the intolera&le, m$ reason for li"in'* From then until now, in e"er$ circumstance when 0 ha"e felt disheartened or &eaten down, on the ed'e of despair, 'i"in' m$self &od$ and soul to m$ wor@ as a stor$teller has &een the li'ht at the end of the tunnel, the plan@ that carries the shipwrec@ed man to shore* Althou'h it is "er$ difficult and forces me to sweat &lood and, li@e e"er$ writer, to feel at times the threat of paral$sis, a dr$ season of the ima'ination, nothin' has made me enIo$ life as much as spendin' months and $ears constructin' a stor$, from its uncertain &e'innin's, the ima'e memor$ stores of a li"ed e%perience that &ecomes a restlessness, an enthusiasm, a da$dream that then 'erminates into a proIect and the decision to attempt to con"ert the a'itated cloud of phantoms into a stor$* vDritin' is a wa$ of li"in',w said Flau&ert* Zes, a&solutel$, a wa$ of li"in' with illusion and Io$ and a fire throwin' out spar@s in $our head, stru''lin' with intracta&le words until $ou master them, e%plorin' the &road world li@e a hunter trac@in' down desira&le pre$ to feed an em&r$onic fiction and appease the "oracious appetite of e"er$ stor$ that, as it 'rows, would li@e to de"our e"er$ other stor$* Be'innin' to feel the "erti'o a 'estatin' no"el leads us to, when it ta@es shape and seems to &e'in to li"e on its own, with characters that mo"e, act, thin@, feel, and demand respect and consideration, on whom it is no lon'er possi&le to ar&itraril$ impose &eha"ior or to depri"e them of their free will without @illin' them, without ha"in' the stor$ lose its power to persuade H this is an e%perience that continues to &ewitch me as it did the first time, as complete and di!!$in' as ma@in' lo"e to the woman $ou lo"e for da$s, wee@s, months, without stoppin'* Dhen spea@in' of fiction, 0 ha"e tal@ed a 'reat deal a&out the no"el and "er$ little a&out the theater, another of its preeminent forms* A 'reat inIustice, of course* 7heater was m$ first lo"e, e"er since, as an adolescent, 0 saw Arthur Miller1s 3eath of a 9alesman at the 9e'ura 7heater in (ima, a performance that left me transfi%ed with emotion and precipitated m$ writin' a drama with 0ncas* 0f there had &een a theatrical mo"ement in the (ima of the 19Y0s, 0 would ha"e &een a pla$wri'ht rather than a no"elist* 7here was not, and that must ha"e turned me more and more toward narrati"e* But m$ lo"e for the theater ne"er endedP it do!ed, curled up in the shadow of no"els, li@e a temptation and a nostal'ia, a&o"e all whene"er 0 saw an enthrallin' pla$* 0n the late 19C0s, the persistent memor$ of a hundred5$ear5old 'reat5aunt, Mama-, who in the final $ears of her life cut off her surroundin' realit$ to ta@e refu'e in memories and fiction, su''ested a stor$* And 0 felt, propheticall$, that it was a stor$ for the theater, that onl$ on sta'e would it ta@e on the animation and splendor of successful fictions* 0 wrote it with the tremulous e%citement of a &e'inner and so enIo$ed seein' it on sta'e with Norma Aleandro in the heroine1s role that since then, &etween no"els and essa$s, 0 ha"e relapsed se"eral times* And 0 must add, 0 ne"er ima'ined that at the a'e of se"ent$ 0 would mount 60 should sa$, stum&le onto8 a sta'e to act* 7hat rec@less ad"enture made me e%perience for the first time in m$ own flesh and &one the miracle it is for someone who has spent his life writin' fictions to em&od$ for a few hours a character of fantas$, to li"e the fiction in front of an audience* 0 can ne"er adeFuatel$ than@ m$ dear friends, the director )oan Gll- and the actress Aitana 9\nche! +iI[n, for ha"in' encoura'ed me to share with them that fantastic e%perience 6in spite of the panic that accompanied it8* (iterature is a false representation of life that ne"ertheless helps us to understand life &etter, to orient oursel"es in the la&$rinth where we are &orn, pass &$, and die* 0t compensates for the re"erses and frustrations real life inflicts on us, and &ecause of it we can decipher, at least partiall$,
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the hiero'l$phic that e%istence tends to &e for the 'reat maIorit$ of human &ein's, principall$ those of us who 'enerate more dou&ts than certainties and confess our perple%it$ &efore su&Iects li@e transcendence, indi"idual and collecti"e destin$, the soul, the sense or senselessness of histor$, the to and fro of rational @nowled'e* 0 ha"e alwa$s &een fascinated to ima'ine the uncertain circumstance in which our ancestors H still &arel$ different from animals, the lan'ua'e that allowed them to communicate with one another Iust recentl$ &orn H in ca"es, around fires, on ni'hts seethin' with the menace of li'htnin' &olts, thunder claps, and 'rowlin' &easts, &e'an to in"ent and tell stories* 7hat was the crucial moment in our destin$, &ecause in those circles of primiti"e &ein's held &$ the "oice and fantas$ of the stor$teller, ci"ili!ation &e'an, the lon' passa'e that 'raduall$ would humani!e us and lead us to in"ent the autonomous indi"idual, then disen'a'e him from the tri&e, de"ise science, the arts, law, freedom, and to scrutini!e the innermost recesses of nature, the human &od$, space, and tra"el to the stars* 7hose tales, fa&les, m$ths, le'ends that resounded for the first time li@e new music &efore listeners intimidated &$ the m$steries and perils of a world where e"er$thin' was un@nown and dan'erous, must ha"e &een a cool &ath, a Fuiet pool for those spirits alwa$s on the alert, for whom e%istin' meant &arel$ eatin', ta@in' shelter from the elements, @illin', and fornicatin'* From the time the$ &e'an to dream collecti"el$, to share their dreams, insti'ated &$ stor$tellers, the$ ceased to &e tied to the treadmill of sur"i"al, a "orte% of &rutali!in' tas@s, and their life &ecame dream, pleasure, fantas$, and a re"olutionar$ plan: to &rea@ out of confinement and chan'e and impro"e, a stru''le to appease the desires and am&itions that stirred ima'ined li"es in them, and the curiosit$ to clear awa$ the m$steries that filled their surroundin's* 7his ne"er5interrupted process was enriched when writin' was &orn and stories, in addition to &ein' heard, could &e read, achie"in' the permanence literature confers on them* 7hat is wh$ this must &e repeated incessantl$ until new 'enerations are con"inced of it: fiction is more than an entertainment, more than an intellectual e%ercise that sharpens one1s sensi&ilit$ and awa@ens a critical spirit* 0t is an a&solute necessit$ so that ci"ili!ation continues to e%ist, renewin' and preser"in' in us the &est of what is human* 9o that we do not retreat into the sa"a'er$ of isolation and life is not reduced to the pra'matism of specialists who see thin's profoundl$ &ut i'nore what surrounds, precedes, and continues those thin's* 9o that we do not mo"e from ha"in' the machines we in"ent ser"e us to &ein' their ser"ants and sla"es* And &ecause a world without literature would &e a world without desires or ideals or irre"erence, a world of automatons depri"ed of what ma@es the human &ein' reall$ human: the capacit$ to mo"e out of oneself and into another, into others, modeled with the cla$ of our dreams* From the ca"e to the s@$scraper, from the clu& to weapons of mass destruction, from the tautolo'ical life of the tri&e to the era of 'lo&ali!ation, the fictions of literature ha"e multiplied human e%periences, pre"entin' us from succum&in' to lethar'$, self5a&sorption, resi'nation* Nothin' has sown so much disFuiet, so distur&ed our ima'ination and our desires as the life of lies we add, than@s to literature, to the one we ha"e, so we can &e prota'onists in the 'reat ad"entures, the 'reat passions real life will ne"er 'i"e us* 7he lies of literature &ecome truths throu'h us, the readers transformed, infected with lon'in's and, throu'h the fault of fiction, permanentl$ Fuestionin' a mediocre realit$* 9orcer$, when literature offers us the hope of ha"in' what we do not ha"e, &ein' what we are not, accedin' to that impossi&le e%istence where li@e pa'an 'ods we feel mortal and eternal at the same time, that introduces into our spirits non5conformit$ and re&ellion, which are &ehind all the heroic deeds that ha"e contri&uted to the reduction of "iolence in human relationships* Reducin' "iolence, not endin' it* Because ours will alwa$s &e, fortunatel$, an unfinished stor$* 7hat is wh$ we ha"e to continue dreamin', readin', and writin', the most effecti"e wa$ we ha"e found to alle"iate our mortal condition, to defeat the corrosion of time, and to transform the impossi&le into possi&ilit$* 9toc@holm, 3ecem&er C, ;010

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7ranslation &$ <dith +rossman 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #Mario Jar'as (losa 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;010A"ar'as]llosa5lecture]en*html ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1arol! 9inter Born: 10 Gcto&er 1930, (ondon, Rnited =in'dom 3ied: ;4 3ecem&er ;00/, (ondon, Rnited =in'dom Residence at the time of the award: Rnited =in'dom ri!e moti"ation: #who in his pla$s unco"ers the precipice under e"er$da$ prattle and forces entr$ into oppressionLs closed rooms# (an'ua'e: <n'lish .arold inter has not su&mitted an auto&io'raph$* 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;00Y Nobel Lecture Art, 7ruth j olitics .arold interLs No&el (ecture was pre5recorded, and shown on "ideo on C 3ecem&er ;00Y, in Bgrssalen at the 9wedish Academ$ in 9toc@holm* 'rt> ,ruth @ 9olitics 0n 19Y/ 0 wrote the followin': L7here are no hard distinctions &etween what is real and what is unreal, nor &etween what is true and what is false* A thin' is not necessaril$ either true or falseP it can &e &oth true and false*L 0 &elie"e that these assertions still ma@e sense and do still appl$ to the e%ploration of realit$ throu'h art* 9o as a writer 0 stand &$ them &ut as a citi!en 0 cannot* As a citi!en 0 must as@: Dhat is trueE Dhat is falseE 7ruth in drama is fore"er elusi"e* Zou ne"er Fuite find it &ut the search for it is compulsi"e* 7he search is clearl$ what dri"es the endea"our* 7he search is $our tas@* More often than not $ou stum&le upon the truth in the dar@, collidin' with it or Iust 'limpsin' an ima'e or a shape which seems to correspond to the truth, often without realisin' that $ou ha"e done so* But the real truth is that there ne"er is an$ such thin' as one truth to &e found in dramatic art* 7here are man$* 7hese truths challen'e each other, recoil from each other, reflect each other, i'nore each other, tease each other, are &lind to each other* 9ometimes $ou feel $ou ha"e the truth of a moment in $our hand, then it slips throu'h $our fin'ers and is lost* 0 ha"e often &een as@ed how m$ pla$s come a&out* 0 cannot sa$* Nor can 0 e"er sum up m$ pla$s, e%cept to sa$ that this is what happened* 7hat is what the$ said* 7hat is what the$ did* Most of the pla$s are en'endered &$ a line, a word or an ima'e* 7he 'i"en word is often shortl$ followed &$ the ima'e* 0 shall 'i"e two e%amples of two lines which came ri'ht out of the &lue into m$ head, followed &$ an ima'e, followed &$ me* 7he pla$s are 7he .omecomin' and Gld 7imes* 7he first line of 7he .omecomin' is LDhat ha"e $ou done with the scissorsEL 7he first line of Gld 7imes is L3ar@*L
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0n each case 0 had no further information* 0n the first case someone was o&"iousl$ loo@in' for a pair of scissors and was demandin' their wherea&outs of someone else he suspected had pro&a&l$ stolen them* But 0 somehow @new that the person addressed didnLt 'i"e a damn a&out the scissors or a&out the Fuestioner either, for that matter* L3ar@L 0 too@ to &e a description of someoneLs hair, the hair of a woman, and was the answer to a Fuestion* 0n each case 0 found m$self compelled to pursue the matter* 7his happened "isuall$, a "er$ slow fade, throu'h shadow into li'ht* 0 alwa$s start a pla$ &$ callin' the characters A, B and ,* 0n the pla$ that &ecame 7he .omecomin' 0 saw a man enter a star@ room and as@ his Fuestion of a $oun'er man sittin' on an u'l$ sofa readin' a racin' paper* 0 somehow suspected that A was a father and that B was his son, &ut 0 had no proof* 7his was howe"er confirmed a short time later when B 6later to &ecome (enn$8 sa$s to A 6later to &ecome Ma%8, L3ad, do $ou mind if 0 chan'e the su&IectE 0 want to as@ $ou somethin'* 7he dinner we had &efore, what was the name of itE Dhat do $ou call itE Dh$ donLt $ou &u$ a do'E ZouLre a do' coo@* .onest* Zou thin@ $ouLre coo@in' for a lot of do's*L 9o since B calls A L3adL it seemed to me reasona&le to assume that the$ were father and son* A was also clearl$ the coo@ and his coo@in' did not seem to &e held in hi'h re'ard* 3id this mean that there was no motherE 0 didnLt @now* But, as 0 told m$self at the time, our &e'innin's ne"er @now our ends* L3ar@*L A lar'e window* <"enin' s@$* A man, A 6later to &ecome 3eele$8, and a woman, B 6later to &ecome =ate8, sittin' with drin@s* LFat or thinEL the man as@s* Dho are the$ tal@in' a&outE But 0 then see, standin' at the window, a woman, , 6later to &ecome Anna8, in another condition of li'ht, her &ac@ to them, her hair dar@* 0tLs a stran'e moment, the moment of creatin' characters who up to that moment ha"e had no e%istence* Dhat follows is fitful, uncertain, e"en hallucinator$, althou'h sometimes it can &e an unstoppa&le a"alanche* 7he authorLs position is an odd one* 0n a sense he is not welcomed &$ the characters* 7he characters resist him, the$ are not eas$ to li"e with, the$ are impossi&le to define* Zou certainl$ canLt dictate to them* 7o a certain e%tent $ou pla$ a ne"er5endin' 'ame with them, cat and mouse, &lind manLs &uff, hide and see@* But finall$ $ou find that $ou ha"e people of flesh and &lood on $our hands, people with will and an indi"idual sensi&ilit$ of their own, made out of component parts $ou are una&le to chan'e, manipulate or distort* 9o lan'ua'e in art remains a hi'hl$ am&i'uous transaction, a Fuic@sand, a trampoline, a fro!en pool which mi'ht 'i"e wa$ under $ou, the author, at an$ time* But as 0 ha"e said, the search for the truth can ne"er stop* 0t cannot &e adIourned, it cannot &e postponed* 0t has to &e faced, ri'ht there, on the spot* olitical theatre presents an entirel$ different set of pro&lems* 9ermonisin' has to &e a"oided at all cost* G&Iecti"it$ is essential* 7he characters must &e allowed to &reathe their own air* 7he author cannot confine and constrict them to satisf$ his own taste or disposition or preIudice* .e must &e prepared to approach them from a "ariet$ of an'les, from a full and uninhi&ited ran'e of perspecti"es, ta@e them &$ surprise, perhaps, occasionall$, &ut ne"ertheless 'i"e them the freedom to 'o which wa$ the$ will* 7his does not alwa$s wor@* And political satire, of course, adheres to none of these precepts, in fact does precisel$ the opposite, which is its proper function* 0n m$ pla$ 7he Birthda$ art$ 0 thin@ 0 allow a whole ran'e of options to operate in a dense forest
1Y;

of possi&ilit$ &efore finall$ focussin' on an act of su&Iu'ation* Mountain (an'ua'e pretends to no such ran'e of operation* 0t remains &rutal, short and u'l$* But the soldiers in the pla$ do 'et some fun out of it* Gne sometimes for'ets that torturers &ecome easil$ &ored* 7he$ need a &it of a lau'h to @eep their spirits up* 7his has &een confirmed of course &$ the e"ents at A&u +hrai& in Ba'hdad* Mountain (an'ua'e lasts onl$ ;0 minutes, &ut it could 'o on for hour after hour, on and on and on, the same pattern repeated o"er and o"er a'ain, on and on, hour after hour* Ashes to Ashes, on the other hand, seems to me to &e ta@in' place under water* A drownin' woman, her hand reachin' up throu'h the wa"es, droppin' down out of si'ht, reachin' for others, &ut findin' no&od$ there, either a&o"e or under the water, findin' onl$ shadows, reflections, floatin'P the woman a lost fi'ure in a drownin' landscape, a woman una&le to escape the doom that seemed to &elon' onl$ to others* But as the$ died, she must die too* olitical lan'ua'e, as used &$ politicians, does not "enture into an$ of this territor$ since the maIorit$ of politicians, on the e"idence a"aila&le to us, are interested not in truth &ut in power and in the maintenance of that power* 7o maintain that power it is essential that people remain in i'norance, that the$ li"e in i'norance of the truth, e"en the truth of their own li"es* Dhat surrounds us therefore is a "ast tapestr$ of lies, upon which we feed* As e"er$ sin'le person here @nows, the Iustification for the in"asion of 0raF was that 9addam .ussein possessed a hi'hl$ dan'erous &od$ of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could &e fired in 4Y minutes, &rin'in' a&out appallin' de"astation* De were assured that was true* 0t was not true* De were told that 0raF had a relationship with Al Ouaeda and shared responsi&ilit$ for the atrocit$ in New Zor@ of 9eptem&er 11th ;001* De were assured that this was true* 0t was not true* De were told that 0raF threatened the securit$ of the world* De were assured it was true* 0t was not true* 7he truth is somethin' entirel$ different* 7he truth is to do with how the Rnited 9tates understands its role in the world and how it chooses to em&od$ it* But &efore 0 come &ac@ to the present 0 would li@e to loo@ at the recent past, &$ which 0 mean Rnited 9tates forei'n polic$ since the end of the 9econd Dorld Dar* 0 &elie"e it is o&li'ator$ upon us to su&Iect this period to at least some @ind of e"en limited scrutin$, which is all that time will allow here* <"er$one @nows what happened in the 9o"iet Rnion and throu'hout <astern <urope durin' the post5war period: the s$stematic &rutalit$, the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent thou'ht* All this has &een full$ documented and "erified* But m$ contention here is that the R9 crimes in the same period ha"e onl$ &een superficiall$ recorded, let alone documented, let alone ac@nowled'ed, let alone reco'nised as crimes at all* 0 &elie"e this must &e addressed and that the truth has considera&le &earin' on where the world stands now* Althou'h constrained, to a certain e%tent, &$ the e%istence of the 9o"iet Rnion, the Rnited 9tatesL actions throu'hout the world made it clear that it had concluded it had carte &lanche to do what it li@ed* 3irect in"asion of a so"erei'n state has ne"er in fact &een AmericaLs fa"oured method* 0n the main, it has preferred what it has descri&ed as Llow intensit$ conflictL* (ow intensit$ conflict means that thousands of people die &ut slower than if $ou dropped a &om& on them in one fell swoop* 0t means that $ou infect the heart of the countr$, that $ou esta&lish a mali'nant 'rowth and watch the
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'an'rene &loom* Dhen the populace has &een su&dued 5 or &eaten to death 5 the same thin' 5 and $our own friends, the militar$ and the 'reat corporations, sit comforta&l$ in power, $ou 'o &efore the camera and sa$ that democrac$ has pre"ailed* 7his was a commonplace in R9 forei'n polic$ in the $ears to which 0 refer* 7he tra'ed$ of Nicara'ua was a hi'hl$ si'nificant case* 0 choose to offer it here as a potent e%ample of AmericaLs "iew of its role in the world, &oth then and now* 0 was present at a meetin' at the R9 em&ass$ in (ondon in the late 19/0s* 7he Rnited 9tates ,on'ress was a&out to decide whether to 'i"e more mone$ to the ,ontras in their campai'n a'ainst the state of Nicara'ua* 0 was a mem&er of a dele'ation spea@in' on &ehalf of Nicara'ua &ut the most important mem&er of this dele'ation was a Father )ohn Metcalf* 7he leader of the R9 &od$ was Ra$mond 9eit! 6then num&er two to the am&assador, later am&assador himself8* Father Metcalf said: L9ir, 0 am in char'e of a parish in the north of Nicara'ua* M$ parishioners &uilt a school, a health centre, a cultural centre* De ha"e li"ed in peace* A few months a'o a ,ontra force attac@ed the parish* 7he$ destro$ed e"er$thin': the school, the health centre, the cultural centre* 7he$ raped nurses and teachers, slau'htered doctors, in the most &rutal manner* 7he$ &eha"ed li@e sa"a'es* lease demand that the R9 'o"ernment withdraw its support from this shoc@in' terrorist acti"it$*L Ra$mond 9eit! had a "er$ 'ood reputation as a rational, responsi&le and hi'hl$ sophisticated man* .e was 'reatl$ respected in diplomatic circles* .e listened, paused and then spo@e with some 'ra"it$* LFather,L he said, Llet me tell $ou somethin'* 0n war, innocent people alwa$s suffer*L 7here was a fro!en silence* De stared at him* .e did not flinch* 0nnocent people, indeed, alwa$s suffer* Finall$ some&od$ said: LBut in this case #innocent people# were the "ictims of a 'ruesome atrocit$ su&sidised &$ $our 'o"ernment, one amon' man$* 0f ,on'ress allows the ,ontras more mone$ further atrocities of this @ind will ta@e place* 0s this not the caseE 0s $our 'o"ernment not therefore 'uilt$ of supportin' acts of murder and destruction upon the citi!ens of a so"erei'n stateEL 9eit! was impertur&a&le* L0 donLt a'ree that the facts as presented support $our assertions,L he said* As we were lea"in' the <m&ass$ a R9 aide told me that he enIo$ed m$ pla$s* 0 did not repl$* 0 should remind $ou that at the time resident Rea'an made the followin' statement: L7he ,ontras are the moral eFui"alent of our Foundin' Fathers*L 7he Rnited 9tates supported the &rutal 9omo!a dictatorship in Nicara'ua for o"er 40 $ears* 7he Nicara'uan people, led &$ the 9andinistas, o"erthrew this re'ime in 19C9, a &reathta@in' popular re"olution* 7he 9andinistas werenLt perfect* 7he$ possessed their fair share of arro'ance and their political philosoph$ contained a num&er of contradictor$ elements* But the$ were intelli'ent, rational and ci"ilised* 7he$ set out to esta&lish a sta&le, decent, pluralistic societ$* 7he death penalt$ was a&olished* .undreds of thousands of po"ert$5stric@en peasants were &rou'ht &ac@ from the dead* G"er 100,000 families were 'i"en title to land* 7wo thousand schools were &uilt* A Fuite remar@a&le literac$ campai'n reduced illiterac$ in the countr$ to less than one se"enth* Free education was esta&lished and a free health ser"ice* 0nfant mortalit$ was reduced &$ a third* olio was eradicated* 7he Rnited 9tates denounced these achie"ements as Mar%istA(eninist su&"ersion* 0n the "iew of
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the R9 'o"ernment, a dan'erous e%ample was &ein' set* 0f Nicara'ua was allowed to esta&lish &asic norms of social and economic Iustice, if it was allowed to raise the standards of health care and education and achie"e social unit$ and national self respect, nei'h&ourin' countries would as@ the same Fuestions and do the same thin's* 7here was of course at the time fierce resistance to the status Fuo in <l 9al"ador* 0 spo@e earlier a&out La tapestr$ of liesL which surrounds us* resident Rea'an commonl$ descri&ed Nicara'ua as a Ltotalitarian dun'eonL* 7his was ta@en 'enerall$ &$ the media, and certainl$ &$ the British 'o"ernment, as accurate and fair comment* But there was in fact no record of death sFuads under the 9andinista 'o"ernment* 7here was no record of torture* 7here was no record of s$stematic or official militar$ &rutalit$* No priests were e"er murdered in Nicara'ua* 7here were in fact three priests in the 'o"ernment, two )esuits and a Mar$@noll missionar$* 7he totalitarian dun'eons were actuall$ ne%t door, in <l 9al"ador and +uatemala* 7he Rnited 9tates had &rou'ht down the democraticall$ elected 'o"ernment of +uatemala in 19Y4 and it is estimated that o"er ;00,000 people had &een "ictims of successi"e militar$ dictatorships* 9i% of the most distin'uished )esuits in the world were "iciousl$ murdered at the ,entral American Rni"ersit$ in 9an 9al"ador in 19/9 &$ a &attalion of the Alcatl re'iment trained at Fort Bennin', +eor'ia, R9A* 7hat e%tremel$ &ra"e man Arch&ishop Romero was assassinated while sa$in' mass* 0t is estimated that CY,000 people died* Dh$ were the$ @illedE 7he$ were @illed &ecause the$ &elie"ed a &etter life was possi&le and should &e achie"ed* 7hat &elief immediatel$ Fualified them as communists* 7he$ died &ecause the$ dared to Fuestion the status Fuo, the endless plateau of po"ert$, disease, de'radation and oppression, which had &een their &irthri'ht* 7he Rnited 9tates finall$ &rou'ht down the 9andinista 'o"ernment* 0t too@ some $ears and considera&le resistance &ut relentless economic persecution and 30,000 dead finall$ undermined the spirit of the Nicara'uan people* 7he$ were e%hausted and po"ert$ stric@en once a'ain* 7he casinos mo"ed &ac@ into the countr$* Free health and free education were o"er* Bi' &usiness returned with a "en'eance* L3emocrac$L had pre"ailed* But this Lpolic$L was &$ no means restricted to ,entral America* 0t was conducted throu'hout the world* 0t was ne"er5endin'* And it is as if it ne"er happened* 7he Rnited 9tates supported and in man$ cases en'endered e"er$ ri'ht win' militar$ dictatorship in the world after the end of the 9econd Dorld Dar* 0 refer to 0ndonesia, +reece, Rru'ua$, Bra!il, ara'ua$, .aiti, 7ur@e$, the hilippines, +uatemala, <l 9al"ador, and, of course, ,hile* 7he horror the Rnited 9tates inflicted upon ,hile in 19C3 can ne"er &e pur'ed and can ne"er &e for'i"en* .undreds of thousands of deaths too@ place throu'hout these countries* 3id the$ ta@e placeE And are the$ in all cases attri&uta&le to R9 forei'n polic$E 7he answer is $es the$ did ta@e place and the$ are attri&uta&le to American forei'n polic$* But $ou wouldnLt @now it* 0t ne"er happened* Nothin' e"er happened* <"en while it was happenin' it wasnLt happenin'* 0t didnLt matter* 0t was of no interest* 7he crimes of the Rnited 9tates ha"e &een s$stematic, constant, "icious, remorseless, &ut "er$ few people ha"e actuall$ tal@ed a&out them* Zou ha"e to hand it to America* 0t has e%ercised a Fuite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masFueradin' as a force for uni"ersal 'ood* 0tLs a &rilliant, e"en witt$, hi'hl$ successful act of h$pnosis* 0 put to $ou that the Rnited 9tates is without dou&t the 'reatest show on the road* Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it ma$ &e &ut it is also "er$ cle"er* As a salesman it is out on its own and its most salea&le commodit$ is self lo"e* 0tLs a winner* (isten to all American presidents on tele"ision sa$ the words, Lthe American peopleL, as in the sentence, L0 sa$ to the American people it is time to pra$ and to defend the ri'hts of the American people and 0 as@ the American people to trust their president in the action he is a&out to ta@e on &ehalf of the American people*L
1YY

0tLs a scintillatin' strata'em* (an'ua'e is actuall$ emplo$ed to @eep thou'ht at &a$* 7he words Lthe American peopleL pro"ide a trul$ "oluptuous cushion of reassurance* Zou donLt need to thin@* )ust lie &ac@ on the cushion* 7he cushion ma$ &e suffocatin' $our intelli'ence and $our critical faculties &ut itLs "er$ comforta&le* 7his does not appl$ of course to the 40 million people li"in' &elow the po"ert$ line and the ; million men and women imprisoned in the "ast 'ula' of prisons, which e%tends across the R9* 7he Rnited 9tates no lon'er &others a&out low intensit$ conflict* 0t no lon'er sees an$ point in &ein' reticent or e"en de"ious* 0t puts its cards on the ta&le without fear or fa"our* 0t Fuite simpl$ doesnLt 'i"e a damn a&out the Rnited Nations, international law or critical dissent, which it re'ards as impotent and irrele"ant* 0t also has its own &leatin' little lam& ta''in' &ehind it on a lead, the pathetic and supine +reat Britain* Dhat has happened to our moral sensi&ilit$E 3id we e"er ha"e an$E Dhat do these words meanE 3o the$ refer to a term "er$ rarel$ emplo$ed these da$s 5 conscienceE A conscience to do not onl$ with our own acts &ut to do with our shared responsi&ilit$ in the acts of othersE 0s all this deadE (oo@ at +uantanamo Ba$* .undreds of people detained without char'e for o"er three $ears, with no le'al representation or due process, technicall$ detained fore"er* 7his totall$ ille'itimate structure is maintained in defiance of the +ene"a ,on"ention* 0t is not onl$ tolerated &ut hardl$ thou'ht a&out &$ whatLs called the Linternational communit$L* 7his criminal outra'e is &ein' committed &$ a countr$, which declares itself to &e Lthe leader of the free worldL* 3o we thin@ a&out the inha&itants of +uantanamo Ba$E Dhat does the media sa$ a&out themE 7he$ pop up occasionall$ 5 a small item on pa'e si%* 7he$ ha"e &een consi'ned to a no manLs land from which indeed the$ ma$ ne"er return* At present man$ are on hun'er stri@e, &ein' force5fed, includin' British residents* No niceties in these force5feedin' procedures* No sedati"e or anaesthetic* )ust a tu&e stuc@ up $our nose and into $our throat* Zou "omit &lood* 7his is torture* Dhat has the British Forei'n 9ecretar$ said a&out thisE Nothin'* Dhat has the British rime Minister said a&out thisE Nothin'* Dh$ notE Because the Rnited 9tates has said: to criticise our conduct in +uantanamo Ba$ constitutes an unfriendl$ act* ZouLre either with us or a'ainst us* 9o Blair shuts up* 7he in"asion of 0raF was a &andit act, an act of &latant state terrorism, demonstratin' a&solute contempt for the concept of international law* 7he in"asion was an ar&itrar$ militar$ action inspired &$ a series of lies upon lies and 'ross manipulation of the media and therefore of the pu&licP an act intended to consolidate American militar$ and economic control of the Middle <ast masFueradin' 5 as a last resort 5 all other Iustifications ha"in' failed to Iustif$ themsel"es 5 as li&eration* A formida&le assertion of militar$ force responsi&le for the death and mutilation of thousands and thousands of innocent people* De ha"e &rou'ht torture, cluster &om&s, depleted uranium, innumera&le acts of random murder, miser$, de'radation and death to the 0raFi people and call it L&rin'in' freedom and democrac$ to the Middle <astL* .ow man$ people do $ou ha"e to @ill &efore $ou Fualif$ to &e descri&ed as a mass murderer and a war criminalE Gne hundred thousandE More than enou'h, 0 would ha"e thou'ht* 7herefore it is Iust that Bush and Blair &e arrai'ned &efore the 0nternational ,riminal ,ourt of )ustice* But Bush has &een cle"er* .e has not ratified the 0nternational ,riminal ,ourt of )ustice* 7herefore if an$ American soldier or for that matter politician finds himself in the doc@ Bush has warned that he will send in the marines* But 7on$ Blair has ratified the ,ourt and is therefore a"aila&le for prosecution* De can let the ,ourt ha"e his address if the$Lre interested* 0t is Num&er 10, 3ownin' 9treet, (ondon* 3eath in this conte%t is irrele"ant* Both Bush and Blair place death well awa$ on the &ac@ &urner* At least 100,000 0raFis were @illed &$ American &om&s and missiles &efore the 0raF insur'enc$
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&e'an* 7hese people are of no moment* 7heir deaths donLt e%ist* 7he$ are &lan@* 7he$ are not e"en recorded as &ein' dead* LDe donLt do &od$ counts,L said the American 'eneral 7omm$ Fran@s* <arl$ in the in"asion there was a photo'raph pu&lished on the front pa'e of British newspapers of 7on$ Blair @issin' the chee@ of a little 0raFi &o$* LA 'rateful child,L said the caption* A few da$s later there was a stor$ and photo'raph, on an inside pa'e, of another four5$ear5old &o$ with no arms* .is famil$ had &een &lown up &$ a missile* .e was the onl$ sur"i"or* LDhen do 0 'et m$ arms &ac@EL he as@ed* 7he stor$ was dropped* Dell, 7on$ Blair wasnLt holdin' him in his arms, nor the &od$ of an$ other mutilated child, nor the &od$ of an$ &lood$ corpse* Blood is dirt$* 0t dirties $our shirt and tie when $ouLre ma@in' a sincere speech on tele"ision* 7he ;,000 American dead are an em&arrassment* 7he$ are transported to their 'ra"es in the dar@* Funerals are uno&trusi"e, out of harmLs wa$* 7he mutilated rot in their &eds, some for the rest of their li"es* 9o the dead and the mutilated &oth rot, in different @inds of 'ra"es* .ere is an e%tract from a poem &$ a&lo Neruda, L0Lm <%plainin' a Few 7hin'sL: And one mornin' all that was &urnin', one mornin' the &onfires leapt out of the earth de"ourin' human &ein's and from then on fire, 'unpowder from then on, and from then on &lood* Bandits with planes and Moors, &andits with fin'er5rin's and duchesses, &andits with &lac@ friars spatterin' &lessin's came throu'h the s@$ to @ill children and the &lood of children ran throu'h the streets without fuss, li@e childrenLs &lood* )ac@als that the Iac@als would despise stones that the dr$ thistle would &ite on and spit out, "ipers that the "ipers would a&ominate* Face to face with $ou 0 ha"e seen the &lood of 9pain tower li@e a tide to drown $ou in one wa"e of pride and @ni"es* 7reacherous 'enerals: see m$ dead house, loo@ at &ro@en 9pain: from e"er$ house &urnin' metal flows instead of flowers from e"er$ soc@et of 9pain 9pain emer'es and from e"er$ dead child a rifle with e$es and from e"er$ crime &ullets are &orn which will one da$ find the &ullLs e$e of $our hearts* And $ou will as@: wh$ doesnLt his poetr$
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spea@ of dreams and lea"es and the 'reat "olcanoes of his nati"e land* ,ome and see the &lood in the streets* ,ome and see the &lood in the streets* ,ome and see the &lood in the streets_o (et me ma@e it Fuite clear that in Fuotin' from NerudaLs poem 0 am in no wa$ comparin' Repu&lican 9pain to 9addam .usseinLs 0raF* 0 Fuote Neruda &ecause nowhere in contemporar$ poetr$ ha"e 0 read such a powerful "isceral description of the &om&in' of ci"ilians* 0 ha"e said earlier that the Rnited 9tates is now totall$ fran@ a&out puttin' its cards on the ta&le* 7hat is the case* 0ts official declared polic$ is now defined as Lfull spectrum dominanceL* 7hat is not m$ term, it is theirs* LFull spectrum dominanceL means control of land, sea, air and space and all attendant resources* 7he Rnited 9tates now occupies C0; militar$ installations throu'hout the world in 13; countries, with the honoura&le e%ception of 9weden, of course* De donLt Fuite @now how the$ 'ot there &ut the$ are there all ri'ht* 7he Rnited 9tates possesses /,000 acti"e and operational nuclear warheads* 7wo thousand are on hair tri''er alert, read$ to &e launched with 1Y minutes warnin'* 0t is de"elopin' new s$stems of nuclear force, @nown as &un@er &usters* 7he British, e"er cooperati"e, are intendin' to replace their own nuclear missile, 7rident* Dho, 0 wonder, are the$ aimin' atE Gsama &in (adenE ZouE MeE )oe 3o@esE ,hinaE arisE Dho @nowsE Dhat we do @now is that this infantile insanit$ 5 the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons 5 is at the heart of present American political philosoph$* De must remind oursel"es that the Rnited 9tates is on a permanent militar$ footin' and shows no si'n of rela%in' it* Man$ thousands, if not millions, of people in the Rnited 9tates itself are demonstra&l$ sic@ened, shamed and an'ered &$ their 'o"ernmentLs actions, &ut as thin's stand the$ are not a coherent political force 5 $et* But the an%iet$, uncertaint$ and fear which we can see 'rowin' dail$ in the Rnited 9tates is unli@el$ to diminish* 0 @now that resident Bush has man$ e%tremel$ competent speech writers &ut 0 would li@e to "olunteer for the Io& m$self* 0 propose the followin' short address which he can ma@e on tele"ision to the nation* 0 see him 'ra"e, hair carefull$ com&ed, serious, winnin', sincere, often &e'uilin', sometimes emplo$in' a wr$ smile, curiousl$ attracti"e, a manLs man* L+od is 'ood* +od is 'reat* +od is 'ood* M$ +od is 'ood* Bin (adenLs +od is &ad* .is is a &ad +od* 9addamLs +od was &ad, e%cept he didnLt ha"e one* .e was a &ar&arian* De are not &ar&arians* De donLt chop peopleLs heads off* De &elie"e in freedom* 9o does +od* 0 am not a &ar&arian* 0 am the democraticall$ elected leader of a freedom5lo"in' democrac$* De are a compassionate societ$* De 'i"e compassionate electrocution and compassionate lethal inIection* De are a 'reat nation* 0 am not a dictator* .e is* 0 am not a &ar&arian* .e is* And he is* 7he$ all are* 0 possess moral authorit$* Zou see this fistE 7his is m$ moral authorit$* And donLt $ou for'et it*L A writerLs life is a hi'hl$ "ulnera&le, almost na@ed acti"it$* De donLt ha"e to weep a&out that* 7he writer ma@es his choice and is stuc@ with it* But it is true to sa$ that $ou are open to all the winds, some of them ic$ indeed* Zou are out on $our own, out on a lim&* Zou find no shelter, no protection 5 unless $ou lie 5 in which case of course $ou ha"e constructed $our own protection and, it could &e ar'ued, &ecome a politician*
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0 ha"e referred to death Fuite a few times this e"enin'* 0 shall now Fuote a poem of m$ own called L3eathL* Dhere was the dead &od$ foundE Dho found the dead &od$E Das the dead &od$ dead when foundE .ow was the dead &od$ foundE Dho was the dead &od$E Dho was the father or dau'hter or &rother Gr uncle or sister or mother or son Gf the dead and a&andoned &od$E Das the &od$ dead when a&andonedE Das the &od$ a&andonedE B$ whom had it &een a&andonedE Das the dead &od$ na@ed or dressed for a Iourne$E Dhat made $ou declare the dead &od$ deadE 3id $ou declare the dead &od$ deadE .ow well did $ou @now the dead &od$E .ow did $ou @now the dead &od$ was deadE 3id $ou wash the dead &od$ 3id $ou close &oth its e$es 3id $ou &ur$ the &od$ 3id $ou lea"e it a&andoned 3id $ou @iss the dead &od$ Dhen we loo@ into a mirror we thin@ the ima'e that confronts us is accurate* But mo"e a millimetre and the ima'e chan'es* De are actuall$ loo@in' at a ne"er5endin' ran'e of reflections* But sometimes a writer has to smash the mirror 5 for it is on the other side of that mirror that the truth stares at us* 0 &elie"e that despite the enormous odds which e%ist, unflinchin', unswer"in', fierce intellectual determination, as citi!ens, to define the real truth of our li"es and our societies is a crucial o&li'ation which de"ol"es upon us all* 0t is in fact mandator$* 0f such a determination is not em&odied in our political "ision we ha"e no hope of restorin' what is so nearl$ lost to us 5 the di'nit$ of man* o <%tract from #0Lm <%plainin' a Few 7hin's# translated &$ Nathaniel 7arn, from a&lo Neruda: 9elected oems, pu&lished &$ )onathan ,ape, (ondon 19C0* Rsed &$ permission of 7he Random .ouse +roup (imited* 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #No&el (ecture 5 (iterature ;00Y#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00YApinter5lecture5e*html ^^^^^^^^^^

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0enzaburo %e 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 1994 was awarded to =en!a&uro Ge #who with poetic force creates an ima'ined world, where life and m$th condense to form a disconcertin' picture of the human predicament toda$#* Born: 31 )anuar$ 193Y, Rchi@o, )apan Residence at the time of the award: )apan ri!e moti"ation: #who with poetic force creates an ima'ined world, where life and m$th condense to form a disconcertin' picture of the human predicament toda$# (an'ua'e: )apanese Biography =en!a&uro Ge was &orn in 193Y, in a "illa'e hemmed in &$ the forests of 9hi@o@u, one of the four main islands of )apan* .is famil$ had li"ed in the "illa'e tradition for se"eral hundred $ears, and no one in the Ge clan had e"er left the "illa'e in the "alle$* <"en after )apan em&ar@ed on moderni!ation soon after the MeiIi Restoration, and it &ecame customar$ for $oun' people in the pro"inces to lea"e their nati"e place for 7o@$o or the other lar'e cities, the Ges remained in Gse5 mura* Maps no lon'er show the small hamlet &$ name &ecause it was anne%ed &$ a nei'h&ourin' town* 7he women of the Ge clan had lon' assumed the role of stor$tellers and had related the historical e"ents of the re'ion, includin' the two uprisin's that occurred there &efore and after the MeiIi Restoration* 7he$ also told of e"ents closer in nature to le'end than to histor$* 7hese stories, of a uniFue cosmolo'$ and of the human condition therein, which Ge heard told since his infanc$, left him with an indeli&le mar@* 7he 9econd Dorld Dar &ro@e out when Ge was si%* Militaristic education e%tended to e"er$ noo@ and crann$ of the countr$, the <mperor as &oth monarch and deit$ rei'nin' o"er its politics and its culture* Zoun' Ge, therefore, e%perienced the nationLs m$th and histor$ as well as those of the "illa'e tradition, and these dual e%periences were often in conflict* GeLs 'randmother was a critical stor$teller who defended the culture of the "illa'e, narratin' to him humourousl$, &ut e"er defiantl$, anti5national stories* After his fatherLs death durin' the war, his mother too@ o"er his fatherLs role as educator* 7he &oo@s she &ou'ht him 5 7he Ad"entures of .uc@le&err$ Finn and 7he 9tran'e Ad"entures of Nils .ol'ersson 5 ha"e left him with an impression he sa$s Lhe will carr$ to the 'ra"eL* )apanLs defeat in the war in 194Y &rou'ht enormous chan'e, e"en to the remote forest "illa'e* 0n schools, children were tau'ht democratic principles, replacin' those of the a&solutist <mperor s$stem, and this education was all the more thorou'h, for the nation was then under the administration of American and other forces* Zoun' Ge too@ democrac$ strai'ht to his heart* 9o stron' was his desire for democrac$ that he decided to lea"e for 7o@$oP lea"e the "illa'e of his forefathers, the life the$ had li"ed and preser"ed, out of sheer &elief that the cit$ offered him an opportunit$ to @noc@ on the door of democrac$, the door that would lead him to a future of freedom on paths that stretched out to the world* .ad it not &een for the drastic chan'e the nation underwent at this time, Ge, whose lo"e of trees is one of his innate Fualities, would ha"e remained in his "illa'e as his forefathers had done, and tended to the forest as one of its 'uardians* At the a'e of ei'hteen, Ge made his first lon' train trip to 7o@$o, and in the followin' $ear enrolled in the 3epartment of French (iterature at 7o@$o Rni"ersit$ where he recei"ed instruction under the tutela'e of rofessor =a!uo Datana&e, a specialist on Francois Ra&elais* Ra&elaisL ima'e s$stem of 'rotesFue realism, to use Mi@hail Ba@htinLs terminolo'$, pro"ided him with a methodolo'$ to positi"el$ and thorou'hl$ reassess the m$ths and histor$ of his nati"e "illa'e in the "alle$*

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Datana&eLs thou'hts on humanism, which he arri"ed at from his stud$ of the French Renaissance, helped shape GeLs fundamental "iew of societ$ and the human condition* An a"id reader of contemporar$ French and American literature, Ge "iewed the social condition of the metropolis in li'ht of the wor@s he read* Zet, he also endea"ored to reor'ani!e, under the li'ht of Ra&elais and humanism, his thou'hts on what the women of the "illa'e had handed down to him, those stories that constituted his &ac@'round* 0n this sense, he was a'ain li"in' another dualit$* Ge started writin' in 19YC, while still a French literature student at the uni"ersit$* .is wor@s from 19YC throu'h 19Y/ 5 from the short stor$, 7he ,atch, which won him the A@uta'awa Award, to his first no"el, Bud5Nippin', (am& 9hootin'o 619Y/8 5 depict the tra'ed$ of war tearin' asunder the id$llic life of a rural $outh* 0n (a"ish are the 3ead 619YC8, a short stor$, and in 7he Zouth Dho ,ame (ateo 619:18, a no"el, Ge portra$ed student life in 7o@$o, a cit$ where the dar@ shadows of the R*9* occupation still remained* Apparent in these wor@s are stron' influences of )ean5 aul 9artre and other modern French writers* ,risis struc@ GeLs life and literature with the &irth of his first son, .i@ari* .i@ari was &orn with a cranial deformit$ resultin' in his &ecomin' a mentall$5 handicapped person* 7raumatic as the e%perience was for Ge, the crisis 'ranted him a new lease on &oth his life and his literature* G"ercomin' the a'on$ and determined to coe%ist with the child, Ge wrote A ersonal Matter 619:48, his pennin' of his pain in acceptin' the &rain5dama'ed child into his life, and of how he arri"ed at his resol"e to li"e with him* 7hrou'h the catal$tic medium of humanism, he conIoined his own fate of ha"in' to accept a handicapped child into the famil$ with that of the stance one ou'ht to ta@e in contemporar$ societ$, and wrote .iroshima Notes 619:Y8, a lon' essa$ which descri&es the realities and thou'hts of the A5&om& "ictims* Followin' this, Ge deepened his interest in G@inawa, the southernmost 'roup of islands in )apan* Before the MeiIi Restoration, G@inawa was an independent countr$ with its own culture* 3urin' Dorld Dar 00, the islands &ecame the site of the onl$ &attle )apan fou'ht on its own soil* After the war, the people of G@inawa were left to suffer a lon' R*9* militar$ occupation* GeLs interest in G@inawa was oriented, politicall$, toward the li"es of the G@inawans li"in' on what &ecame a R*9* militar$ &ase, and, culturall$, to what G@inawa meant to him in terms of its traditions* 7he latter opened out to a &roadened interest in the culture of 9outh =oreans, ena&lin' him to further appreciate the importance of )apanLs peripheral cultures, which differed from 7o@$o5centered culture* 7his pursuit pro"ided realistic su&stance to his stud$ of Mi@hail Ba@htinLs theor$ re'ardin' a peopleLs culture which led him to write 7he 9ilent ,r$ 619:C8, a wor@ that ties in the m$ths and histor$ of the forest "illa'e with the contemporar$ a'e* After 7he 9ilent ,r$, two streams of thou'ht, which at times flow as one, are apparent and consistent in GeLs literar$ world* 9tartin' with A ersonal Matter is one 'roup of wor@s that depicts his life of coe%istence with his mentall$5handicapped son, .i@ari* 7each Rs to Gut'row our Madness 619:98, a two5"olume wor@, painfull$ portra$s &oth the a'on$5laden trials and errors he e%periences in his life with his $et unspea@in' infant child, and his pursuit of his father he lost durin' the war* M$ 3elu'ed 9oulo 619C38 depicts a father who relates to his infant child who, throu'h the medium of the son's of the wild &irds, has started to communicate with the famil$, and who empathi!es with $ouths that &elon' to a &elli'erent and radical political part$* Rouse Rp, G, Zoun' Men of the New A'e_o 619/38, a wor@ in which Ge draws upon ima'es from Dilliam Bla@eLs rophecies, depicts his son .i@ariLs de"elopment from a child to a $oun' man, and thus crowns the wor@s he wrote a&out his handicapped child* 7he second 'roup are stories in which Ge relates characters who he esta&lishes in the theater of the m$ths and histor$ of his nati"e forest "illa'e, &ut who interact closel$ with life in toda$Ls cities* 7his world of GeLs fiction, startin' with Bud5 Nippin', (am&59hootin' and followed &$ 7he 9ilent ,r$, came to shape the core of his entire literature* Ma@in' full use of new ideas of cultural anthropolo'$, these wor@s represent the totalit$ of GeLs world of fiction, as e"idenced in (etters to
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M$ 9weet B$'one Zears 619/C8, a wor@ a&out a $oun' man who, &an@in' on his cosmolo'$ and world5"iew of 3ante, stri"es &ut fails to esta&lish a politico5 cultural &ase in the forest* ,ontemporar$ +ames is a stor$ that alternates &etween m$th and histor$, which Ge supports with the matriarch and tric@ster principles he draws from cultural anthropolo'$* .e rewrote this wor@ in narrati"e form as MA7 and the Donders of the Foresto 619/:8* Dith the aid of D*B* ZeatLs poetic metaphors, Ge em&ar@ed on writin' 7he Flamin' +reen 7reeo, a trilo'$ comprised of Rntil the L9a"iorL +ets 9oc@edo 619938, Jacillatin'o 619948, and Gn 7he +reat 3a$o 6199Y8* Ge has announced that with the completion of this trilo'$, he will enter into his lifeLs final sta'e of stud$, in which he will attempt a new form of literature* 7he implication of this proIect is that Ge deems his effort at presentin' his cosmolo'$, histor$ and fol@ le'end as ha"in' &een &rou'ht to full circle, and that he has succeeded in creatin', throu'h his portra$al of that place in the "alle$ and its people, a model for this contemporar$ a'e* 0t also implies that he considers .i@ariLs &ecomin' a composer, in actualit$, surpasses the importance of his own literature a&out him* GeLs winnin' the No&el ri!e for 1994 has thus encoura'ed him to em&ar@ on his pursuit of a new form of literature and a new life for himself* o7entati"e <n'lish titles* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es 1994, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, 199Y 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1994 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #=en!a&uro Ge 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1994Aoe*html Nobel Lecture> 3ecem&er C, 1994 Japan> ,he ')biguous> an! Mysel 3urin' the last catastrophic Dorld Dar 0 was a little &o$ and li"ed in a remote, wooded "alle$ on 9hi@o@u 0sland in the )apanese Archipela'o, thousands of miles awa$ from here* At that time there were two &oo@s &$ which 0 was reall$ fascinated: 7he Ad"entures of .uc@le&err$ Finn and 7he Donderful Ad"entures of Nils* 7he whole world was then en'ulfed &$ wa"es of horror* B$ readin' .uc@le&err$ Finn 0 felt 0 was a&le to Iustif$ m$ act of 'oin' into the mountain forest at ni'ht and sleepin' amon' the trees with a sense of securit$ which 0 could ne"er find indoors* 7he prota'onist of 7he Ad"entures of Nils is transformed into a little creature, understands &irdsL lan'ua'e and ma@es an ad"enturous Iourne$* 0 deri"ed from the stor$ sensuous pleasures of "arious @inds* Firstl$, li"in' as 0 was in a deep wood on the 0sland of 9hi@o@u Iust as m$ ancestors had done lon' a'o, 0 had a re"elation that this world and this wa$ of life there were trul$ li&eratin'* 9econdl$, 0 felt s$mpathetic and identified m$self with Nils, a nau'ht$ little &o$, who while tra"ersin' 9weden, colla&oratin' with and fi'htin' for the wild 'eese, transforms himself into a &o$, still innocent, $et full of confidence as well as modest$* Gn comin' home at last, Nils spea@s to his parents* 0 thin@ that the pleasure 0 deri"ed from the stor$ at its hi'hest le"el lies in the lan'ua'e, &ecause 0 felt purified and uplifted &$ spea@in' alon' with Nils* .is worlds run as follows 6in French and <n'lish translation8: #Maman, apa_ )e suis 'rand, Ie suis de nou"eau un homme_# cria5t5il*

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#Mother and father_# he cried* #0Lm a &i' &o$* 0Lm a human &ein' a'ain_# 0 was fascinated &$ the phrase LIe suis de nou"eau un homme_L in particular* As 0 'rew up, 0 was continuall$ to suffer hardships in different realms of life 5 in m$ famil$, in m$ relationship to )apanese societ$ and in m$ wa$ of li"in' at lar'e in the latter half of the twentieth centur$* 0 ha"e sur"i"ed &$ representin' these sufferin's of mine in the form of the no"el* 0n that process 0 ha"e found m$self repeatin', almost si'hin', LIe suis de nou"eau un homme_L 9pea@in' li@e this as re'ards m$self is perhaps inappropriate to this place and to this occasion* .owe"er, please allow me to sa$ that the fundamental st$le of m$ writin' has &een to start from m$ personal matters and then to lin@ it up with societ$, the state and the world* 0 hope $ou will for'i"e me for tal@in' a&out m$ personal matters a little further* .alf a centur$ a'o, while li"in' in the depth of that forest, 0 read 7he Ad"entures of Nils and felt within it two prophecies* Gne was that 0 mi'ht one da$ &ecome a&le to understand the lan'ua'e of &irds* 7he other was that 0 mi'ht one da$ fl$ off with m$ &elo"ed wild 'eese 5 prefera&l$ to 9candina"ia* After 0 'ot married, the first child &orn to us was mentall$ handicapped* De named him .i@ari, meanin' L(i'htL in )apanese* As a &a&$ he responded onl$ to the chirps of wild &irds and ne"er to human "oices* Gne summer when he was si% $ears old we were sta$in' at our countr$ cotta'e* .e heard a pair of water rails 6Rallus aFuaticus8 war&lin' from the la@e &e$ond a 'ro"e, and he said with the "oice of a commentator on a recordin' of wild &irds: #7he$ are water rails#* 7his was the first moment m$ son e"er uttered human words* 0t was from then on that m$ wife and 0 &e'an ha"in' "er&al communication with our son* .i@ari now wor@s at a "ocational trainin' centre for the handicapped, an institution &ased on ideas we learnt from 9weden* 0n the meantime he has &een composin' wor@s of music* Birds were the ori'inators that occasioned and mediated his composition of human music* Gn m$ &ehalf .i@ari has thus accomplished the prophec$ that 0 mi'ht one da$ understand the lan'ua'e of &irds* 0 must sa$ also that m$ life would ha"e &een impossi&le &ut for m$ wife with her a&undant female force and wisdom* 9he has &een the "er$ incarnation of A@@a, the leader of NilsLs wild 'eese* 7o'ether with her 0 ha"e flown to 9toc@holm and the second of the prophecies has also, to m$ utmost deli'ht, now &een realised* =awa&ata Zasunari, the first )apanese writer who stood on this platform as a winner of the No&el ri!e for (iterature, deli"ered a lecture entitled )apan, the Beautiful, and M$self* 0t was at once "er$ &eautiful and "a'ue* 0 ha"e used the <n'lish word "a'ue as an eFui"alent of that word in )apanese aimaina* 7his )apanese adIecti"e could ha"e se"eral alternati"es for its <n'lish translation* 7he @ind of "a'ueness that =awa&ata adopted deli&eratel$ is implied in the title itself of his lecture* 0t can &e transliterated as Lm$self of &eautiful )apanL* 7he "a'ueness of the whole title deri"es from the )apanese particle LnoL 6literall$ LofL8 lin@in' LM$selfL and LBeautiful )apanL* 7he "a'ueness of the title lea"es room for "arious interpretations of its implications* 0t can impl$ Lm$self as a part of &eautiful )apanL, the particle LnoL indicatin' the relationship of the noun followin' it to the noun precedin' it as one of possession, &elon'in' or attachment* 0t can also impl$ L&eautiful )apan and m$selfL, the particle in this case lin@in' the two nouns in apposition, as indeed the$ are in the <n'lish title of =awa&ataLs lecture translated &$ one of the most eminent American specialists of )apanese literature* .e translates L)apan, the &eautiful and m$selfL* 0n this e%pert translation the traduttore 6translator8 is not in the least a traditore 6&etra$er8* Rnder that title =awa&ata tal@ed a&out a uniFue @ind of m$sticism which is found not onl$ in )apanese thou'ht &ut also more widel$ Griental thou'ht* B$ LuniFueL 0 mean here a tendenc$ towards Wen Buddhism* <"en as a twentieth5centur$ writer =awa&ata depicts his state of mind in terms of the poems written &$ medie"al Wen mon@s* Most of these poems are concerned with the
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lin'uistic impossi&ilit$ of tellin' truth* Accordin' to such poems words are confined within their closed shells* 7he readers can not e%pect that words will e"er come out of these poems and 'et throu'h to us* Gne can ne"er understand or feel s$mpathetic towards these Wen poems e%cept &$ 'i"in' oneself up and willin'l$ penetratin' into the closed shells of those words* Dh$ did =awa&ata &oldl$ decide to read those e%tremel$ esoteric poems in )apanese &efore the audience in 9toc@holmE 0 loo@ &ac@ almost with nostal'ia upon the strai'htforward &ra"er$ which he attained towards the end of his distin'uished career and with which he made such a confession of his faith* =awa&ata had &een an artistic pil'rim for decades durin' which he produced a host of masterpieces* After those $ears of his pil'rima'e, onl$ &$ ma@in' a confession as to how he was fascinated &$ such inaccessi&le )apanese poems that &affle an$ attempt full$ to understand them, was he a&le to tal@ a&out L)apan, the Beautiful, and M$selfL, that is, a&out the world in which he li"ed and the literature which he created* 0t is noteworth$, furthermore, that =awa&ata concluded his lecture as follows: M$ wor@s ha"e &een descri&ed as wor@s of emptiness, &ut it is not to &e ta@en for the nihilism of the Dest* 7he spiritual foundation would seem to &e Fuite different* 3o'en entitled his poem a&out the seasons L0nnate Realit$L, and e"en as he san' of the &eaut$ of the seasons he was deepl$ immersed in Wen* 67ranslation &$ <dward 9eidenstic@er8 .ere also 0 detect a &ra"e and strai'htforward self5assertion* Gn the one hand =awa&ata identifies himself as &elon'in' essentiall$ to the tradition of Wen philosoph$ and aesthetic sensi&ilities per"adin' the classical literature of the Grient* Zet on the other he 'oes out of his wa$ to differentiate emptiness as an attri&ute of his wor@s from the nihilism of the Dest* B$ doin' so he was whole5heartedl$ addressin' the comin' 'enerations of man@ind with whom Alfred No&el entrusted his hope and faith* 7o tell $ou the truth, rather than with =awa&ata m$ compatriot who stood here twent$5si% $ears a'o, 0 feel more spiritual affinit$ with the 0rish poet Dilliam Butler Zeats, who was awarded a No&el ri!e for (iterature se"ent$ one $ears a'o when he was at a&out the same a'e as me* Gf course 0 would not presume to ran@ m$self with the poetic 'enius Zeats* 0 am merel$ a hum&le follower li"in' in a countr$ far remo"ed from his* As Dilliam Bla@e, whose wor@ Zeats re"alued and restored to the hi'h place it holds in this centur$, once wrote: LAcross <urope j Asia to ,hina j )apan li@e li'htnin'sL* 3urin' the last few $ears 0 ha"e &een en'a'ed in writin' a trilo'$ which 0 wish to &e the culmination of m$ literar$ acti"ities* 9o far the first two parts ha"e &een pu&lished and 0 ha"e recentl$ finished writin' the third and final part* 0t is entitled in )apanese A Flamin' +reen 7ree* 0 am inde&ted for this title to a stan!a from ZeatsLs poem Jacillation: A tree there is that from its topmost &ou'h 0s half all 'litterin' flame and half all 'reen A&oundin' folia'e moistened with the dew *** 6LJacillationL, 115138 0n fact m$ trilo'$ is so soa@ed in the o"erflowin' influence of ZeatsLs poems as a whole* Gn the occasion of ZeatLs winnin' the No&el ri!e the 0rish 9enate proposed a motion to con'ratulate him, which contained the followin' sentences: *** the reco'nition which the nation has 'ained, as a prominent contri&utor to the worldLs culture, throu'h his success*# *** a race that hitherto had not &een accepted into the comit$ of nations*
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*** Gur ci"ili!ation will &e assesed on the name of 9enator Zeats* *** there will alwa$s &e the dan'er that there ma$ &e a stampedin' of people who are sufficientl$ remo"ed from insanit$ in enthusiasm for destruction* 67he No&el ri!e: ,on'ratulations to 9enator Zeats8 Zeats is the writer in whose wa@e 0 would li@e to follow* 0 would li@e to do so for the sa@e of another nation that has now &een Laccepted into the comit$ of nationsL &ut rather on account of the technolo'$ in electrical en'ineerin' and its manufacture of automo&iles* Also 0 would li@e to do so as a citi!en of such a nation which was stamped into Linsanit$ in enthusiasm of destructionL &oth on its own soil and on that of the nei'h&ourin' nations* As someone li"in' in the present would such as this one and sharin' &itter memories of the past imprinted on m$ mind, 0 cannot utter in unison with =awa&ata the phrase L)apan, the Beautiful and M$selfL* A moment a'o 0 touched upon the L"a'uenessL of the title and content of =awa&ataLs lecture* 0n the rest of m$ lecture 0 would li@e to use the word Lam&i'uousL in accordance with the distinction made &$ the eminent British poet =athleen RaineP she once said of Dilliam Bla@e that he was not so much "a'ue as am&i'uous* 0 cannot tal@ a&out m$self otherwise than &$ sa$in' L)apan, the Am&i'uous, and M$selfL* M$ o&ser"ation is that after one hundred and twent$ $ears of modernisation since the openin' of the countr$, present5da$ )apan is split &etween two opposite poles of am&i'uit$* 0 too am li"in' as a writer with this polarisation imprinted on me li@e a deep scar* 7his am&i'uit$ which is so powerful and penetratin' that it splits &oth the state and its people is e"ident in "arious wa$s* 7he modernisation of )apan has &een orientated toward learnin' from and imitatin' the Dest* Zet )apan is situated in Asia and has firml$ maintained its traditional culture* 7he am&i'uous orientation of )apan dro"e the countr$ into the position of an in"ader in Asia* Gn the other hand, the culture of modern )apan, which implied &ein' thorou'hl$ open to the Dest or at least that impeded understandin' &$ the Dest* Dhat was more, )apan was dri"en into isolation from other Asian countries, not onl$ politicall$ &ut also sociall$ and culturall$* 0n the histor$ of modern )apan literature the writers most sincere and aware of their mission were those Lpost5war writersL who came onto the literar$ scene immediatel$ after the last Dar, deepl$ wounded &$ the catastrophe $et full of hope for a re&irth* 7he$ tried with 'reat pains to ma@e up for the inhuman atrocities committed &$ )apanese militar$ forces in Asian countries, as well as to &rid'e the profound 'aps that e%isted not onl$ &etween the de"eloped countries of the Dest and )apan &ut also &etween African and (atin American countries and )apan* Gnl$ &$ doin' so did the$ thin@ that the$ could see@ with some humilit$ reconciliation with the rest of the world* 0t has alwa$s &een m$ aspiration to clin' to the "er$ end of the line of that literar$ tradition inherited from those writers* 7he contemporar$ state of )apan and its people in their post 5 modern phase cannot &ut &e am&i"alent* Ri'ht in the middle of the histor$ of )apanLs modernisation came the 9econd Dorld Dar, a war which was &rou'ht a&out &$ the "er$ a&erration of the modernisation itself* 7he defeat in this Dar fift$ $ears a'o occasioned an opportunit$ for )apan and the )apanese as the "er$ a'ent of the Dar to attempt a re&irth out of the 'reat miser$ and sufferin's that were depicted &$ the L ost5war 9choolL of )apanese writers* 7he moral props for )apanese aspirin' to such a re&irth were the idea of democrac$ and their determination ne"er to wa'e a war a'ain* arado%icall$, the people and state of )apan li"in' on such moral props were not innocent &ut had &een stained &$ their own past histor$ of in"adin' other Asian countries* 7hose moral props mattered also to the deceased "ictims of the nuclear weapons that were used for the first time in .iroshima and Na'asa@i, and for the sur"i"ors and their off5sprin' affected &$ radioacti"it$ 6includin' tens of thousands of those whose mother ton'ue is =orean8*

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0n the recent $ears there ha"e &een criticisms le"elled a'ainst )apan su''estin' that she should offer more militar$ forces to the Rnited Nations forces and there&$ pla$ a more acti"e role in the @eepin' and restoration of peace in "arious parts of the world* Gur heart sin@s whene"er we hear these criticisms* After the end of the 9econd Dorld Dar it was a cate'orical imperati"e for us to declare that we renounced war fore"er in a central article of the new ,onstitution* 7he )apanese chose the principle of eternal peace as the &asis of moralit$ for our re&irth after the Dar* 0 trust that the principle can &est &e understood in the Dest with its lon' tradition of tolerance for conscientious reIection of militar$ ser"ice* 0n )apan itself there ha"e all alon' &een attempts &$ some to o&literate the article a&out renunciation of war from the ,onstitution and for this purpose the$ ha"e ta@en e"er$ opportunit$ to ma@e use of pressures from a&road* But to o&literate from the ,onstitution the principle of eternal peace will &e nothin' &ut an act of &etra$al a'ainst the peoples of Asia and the "ictims of the Atom Bom&s in .iroshima and Na'asa@i* 0t is not difficult for me as a writer to ima'ine what would &e the outcome of that &etra$al* 7he pre5war )apanese ,onstitution that posited an a&solute power transcendin' the principle of democrac$ had sustained some support from the populace* <"en thou'h we now ha"e the half5 centur$5old new ,onstitution, there is a popular sentiment of support for the old one that li"es on in realit$ in some Fuarters* 0f )apan were to institutionalise a principle other than the one to which we ha"e adhered for the last fift$ $ears, the determination we made in the post5war ruins of our collapsed effort at modernisation 5 that determination of ours to esta&lish the concept of uni"ersal humanit$ would come to nothin'* 7his is the spectre that rises &efore me, spea@in' as an ordinar$ indi"idual* Dhat 0 call )apanLs Lam&i'uit$L in m$ lecture is a @ind of chronic disease that has &een pre"alent throu'hout the modern a'e* )apanLs economic prosperit$ is not free from it either, accompanied as it is &$ all @inds of potential dan'ers in the li'ht of the structure of world econom$ and en"ironmental conser"ation* 7he Lam&i'uit$L in this respect seems to &e acceleratin'* 0t ma$ &e more o&"ious to the critical e$es of the world at lar'e than to us within the countr$* At the nadir of the post5war economic po"ert$ we found a resilience to endure it, ne"er losin' our hope for reco"er$* 0t ma$ sound curious to sa$ so, &ut we seem to ha"e no less resilience to endure our an%iet$ a&out the ominous conseFuence emer'in' out of the present prosperit$* From another point of "iew, a new situation now seems to &e arisin' in which )apanLs prosperit$ is 'oin' to &e incorporated into the e%pandin' potential power of &oth production and consumption in Asia at lar'e* 0 am one of the writers who wish to create serious wor@s of literature which dissociate themsel"es from those no"els which are mere reflections of the "ast consumer cultures of 7o@$o and the su&cultures of the world at lar'e* Dhat @ind of identit$ as a )apanese should 0 see@E D*.* Auden once defined the no"elist as follows: ***, amon' the dust Be Iust, amon' the Filth$ filth$ too, And in his own wea@ person, if he can, Must suffer dull$ all the wron's of Man* 6L7he No"elistL, 115148 7his is what has &ecome m$ Lha&it of lifeL 6in Flanner$ GL,onnorLs words8 throu'h &ein' a writer as m$ profession* 7o define a desira&le )apanese identit$ 0 would li@e to pic@ out the word LdecentL which is amon' the adIecti"es that +eor'e Grwell often used, alon' with words li@e LhumaneL, LsaneL and Lcomel$L, for the character t$pes that he fa"oured* 7his decepti"el$ simple epithet ma$ star@l$ set off and contrast with the word Lam&i'uousL used for m$ identification in L)apan, the Am&i'uous, and
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M$selfL* 7here is a wide and ironical discrepanc$ &etween what the )apanese seem li@e when "iewed from outside and what the$ wish to loo@ li@e* 0 hope Grwell would not raise an o&Iection if 0 used the word LdecentL as a s$non$m of LhumanistL or LhumanisteL in French, &ecause &oth words share in common Fualities such as tolerance and humanit$* Amon' our ancestors were some pioneers who made painsta@in' efforts to &uild up the )apanese identit$ as LdecentL or LhumanistL* Gne such person was the late rofessor =a!uo Datana&e, a scholar of French Renaissance literature and thou'ht* 9urrounded &$ the insane ardour of patriotism on the e"e and in the middle of the 9econd Dorld Dar, Datana&e had a lonel$ dream of 'raftin' the humanist "iew of man on to the traditional )apanese sense of &eaut$ and sensiti"it$ to Nature, which fortunatel$ had not &een entirel$ eradicated* 0 must hasten to add that rofessor Datana&e had a conception of &eaut$ and Nature different from that concei"ed of &$ =awa&ata in his L)apan, the Beautiful, and M$self* L 7he wa$ )apan had tried to &uild up a modern state modelled on the Dest was catacl$smic* 0n wa$s different from, $et partl$ correspondin' to, that process )apanese intellectuals had tried to &rid'e the 'ap &etween the Dest and their own countr$ at its deepest le"el* 0t must ha"e &een a la&orious tas@ or tra"ail &ut it was also one that &rimmed with Io$* rofessor Datana&eLs stud$ of FranKois Ra&elais was thus one of the most distin'uished and rewardin' scholarl$ achie"ements of the )apanese intellectual world* Datana&e studied in aris &efore the 9econd Dorld Dar* Dhen he told his academic super"isor a&out his am&ition to translate Ra&elais into )apanese, the eminent elderl$ French scholar answered the aspirin' $oun' )apanese student with the phrase: #(Lentreprise inouie de la traduction de lLintraduisi&le Ra&elais# 6the unprecedented enterprise of translatin' into )apanese untranslata&le Ra&elais8* Another French scholar answered with &lunt astonishment: #Belle entreprise anta'ru-liFue# 6an admira&l$ anta'ruel5li@e enterprise8* 0n spite of all this not onl$ did Datana&e accomplish his 'reat enterprise in a po"ert$5stric@en en"ironment durin' the Dar and the American Gccupation, &ut he also did his &est to transplant into the confused and disorientated )apan of that time the life and thou'ht of those French humanists who were the forerunners, contemporaries and followers of FranKois Ra&elais* 0n &oth m$ life and writin' 0 ha"e &een a pupil of rofessor Datana&eLs* 0 was influenced &$ him in two crucial wa$s* Gne was in m$ method of writin' no"els* 0 learnt concretel$ from his translation of Ra&elais what Mi@hail Ba@htin formulated as Lthe ima'e s$stem of 'rotesFue realism or the culture of popular lau'hterLP the importance of material and ph$sical principlesP the correspondence &etween the cosmic, social and ph$sical elementsP the o"erlappin' of death and passions for re&irthP and the lau'hter that su&"erts hierarchical relationships* 7he ima'e s$stem made it possi&le to see@ literar$ methods of attainin' the uni"ersal for someone li@e me &orn and &rou'ht up in a peripheral, mar'inal, off5centre re'ion of the peripheral, mar'inal, off5centre countr$, )apan* 9tartin' from such a &ac@'round 0 do not represent Asia as a new economic power &ut an Asia impre'nated with e"er5lastin' po"ert$ and a mi%ed5up fertilit$* B$ sharin' old, familiar $et li"in' metaphors 0 ali'n m$self with writers li@e =im )i5ha of =orea, ,hon 0 and Mu )en, &oth of ,hina* For me the &rotherhood of world literature consists in such relationships in concrete terms* 0 once too@ part in a hun'er stri@e for the political freedom of a 'ifted =orean poet* 0 am now deepl$ worried a&out the destin$ of those 'ifted ,hinese no"elists who ha"e &een depri"ed of their freedom since the 7ienanmen 9Fuare incident* Another wa$ in which rofessor Datana&e has influenced me is in his idea of humanism* 0 ta@e it to &e the Fuintessence of <urope as a li"in' totalit$* 0t is an idea which is also percepti&le in Milan =underaLs definition of the spirit of the no"el* Based on his accurate readin' of historical sources Datana&e wrote critical &io'raphies, with Ra&elais at their centre, of people from <rasmus to
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9-&astien ,astellion, and of women connected with .enri 0J from Oueen Mar'uerite to +a&rielle 3estr-* B$ doin' so Datana&e intended to teach the )apanese a&out humanism, a&out the importance of tolerance, a&out manLs "ulnera&ilit$ to his preconceptions or machines of his own ma@in'* .is sincerit$ led him to Fuote the remar@ &$ the 3anish philolo'ist =ristoffer N$rop: #7hose who do not protest a'ainst war are accomplices of war*# 0n his attempt to transplant into )apan humanism as the "er$ &asis of Destern thou'ht Datana&e was &ra"el$ "enturin' on &oth #lLentreprise inouTe# and the #&elle entreprise anta'ru-liFue#* As someone influenced &$ Datana&eLs humanism 0 wish m$ tas@ as a no"elist to ena&le &oth those who e%press themsel"es with words and their readers to reco"er from their own sufferin's and the sufferin's of their time, and to cure their souls of the wounds* 0 ha"e said 0 am split &etween the opposite poles of am&i'uit$ characteristic of the )apanese* 0 ha"e &een ma@in' efforts to &e cured of and restored from those pains and wounds &$ means of literature* 0 ha"e made m$ efforts also to pra$ for the cure and reco"er$ off m$ fellow )apanese* 0f $ou will allow me to mention him a'ain, m$ mentall$ handicapped son .i@ari was awa@ened &$ the "oices of &irds to the music of Bach and Mo!art, e"entuall$ composin' his own wor@s* 7he little pieces that he first composed were full of fresh splendour and deli'ht* 7he$ seemed li@e dew 'litterin' on 'rass lea"es* 7he word innocence is composed of in 5 LnotL and nocere 5 LhurtL, that is, Lnot to hurtL* .i@ariLs music was in this sense a natural effusion of the composerLs own innocence* As .i@ari went on to compose more wor@s, 0 could not &ut hear in his music also Lthe "oice of a cr$in' and dar@ soulL* Mentall$ handicapped as he was, his strenuous effort furnished his act of composin' or his Lha&it of lifeL with the 'rowth of compositional techniFues and a deepenin' of his conception* 7hat in turn ena&led him to disco"er in the depth of his heart a mass of dar@ sorrow which he had hitherto &een una&le to identif$ with words* L7he "oice of a cr$in' and dar@ soulL is &eautiful, and his act of e%pressin' it in music cures him of his dar@ sorrow in an act of reco"er$* Furthermore, his music has &een accepted as one that cures and restores his contemporar$ listeners as well* .erein 0 find the 'rounds for &elie"in' in the e%Fuisite healin' power of art* 7his &elief of mine has not &een full$ pro"ed* LDea@ personL thou'h 0 am, with the aid of this un"erifia&le &elief, 0 would li@e to Lsuffer dull$ all the wron'sL accumulated throu'hout the twentieth centur$ as a result of the monstrous de"elopment of technolo'$ and transport* As one with a peripheral, mar'inal and off5centre e%istence in the world 0 would li@e to see@ how 5 with what 0 hope is a modest decent and humanist contri&ution 5 0 can &e of some use in a cure and reconciliation of man@ind* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es 1994, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, 199Y o 3isclaimer <"er$ effort has &een made &$ the pu&lisher to credit or'ani!ations and indi"iduals with re'ard to the suppl$ of audio files* lease notif$ the pu&lishers re'ardin' corrections* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 1994 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #=en!a&uro Ge 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 1C 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA1994Aoe5lecture*html ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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#oris Lessing 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;00C 7he No&el (ecture in (iterature was deli"ered on Frida$ C 3ecem&er at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm, &$ Nicholas earson, 3oris (essin'Ls pu&lisher in the R=* .e was introduced &$ .orace <n'dahl, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* 3oris (essin' Born: ;; Gcto&er 1919, =ermanshah, ersia 6now 0ran8 Residence at the time of the award: Rnited =in'dom ri!e moti"ation: #that epicist of the female e%perience, who with scepticism, fire and "isionar$ power has su&Iected a di"ided ci"ilisation to scrutin$# (an'ua'e: <n'lish 'utobiography From the old stone house where 0 was &orn were "iews of the mountains with snow on them, and of the dust$ plains that surround the little town* A hi'h dr$ place* M$ mother said that the washin', put out to dr$ at ei'ht in the mornin' was dr$ lon' &efore lunchtime* 7he outside world was present inside the house itself, in the person of a $oun' American sharin' the house with us* .e was an oil man* #7here were a lot of oil men around then#* 7hus did the future announce itself* 0t was his "oice 0 remem&er &ut o"erlaid &$ pro&a&l$ a hundred American "oices since* 0t was 1919 when 0 was &orn* Man$ decades later a &oo@ came into m$ hands of the @ind $ou see on #remaindered# &o%es, or H once H second hand &oo@shops* 0t was written &$ a British #&usinessman#, o&"iousl$ an a'ent, or sp$ of some @ind* .e was am&lin' throu'h ersia, throu'h tri&es and "illa'es, sheep and shepherds* (on' a'o did this ersia disappear* .e thorou'hl$ enIo$ed it all, and the$ were fascinated &$ him, this e%otic from the outside world, and he was so interested in them, as@in' so man$ Fuestions* .e wrote a&out =ermanshah, where he said, the 191/}1919 flu epidemic too@ its toll* And the war had &lown throu'h there too* M$ parents had plentiful reminisces a&out those two $ears in =ermanshah, &ut nothin' was said a&out the flu or the refu'ees from war* 7here is one memor$, indu&ita&l$ from that time* M$ father rode to wor@ at the &an@, 67he 0mperial Ban@ of ersia8 on a horse* <"er$ mornin' 0 was lifted up, 'rasped &$ m$ fatherLs hands on m$ ri&s, to &e put &efore him* 0 rode with him a short wa$, &efore he turned off onto a &i' road* Now, all that 0 remem&er is stron', e"en "iolent* First of all, the smell of horse, and then the slipper$ heat of the horseLs hide under m$ palms* 7he heat of the horse on m$ le's* M$ father had his arm around me, and 0 leaned &ac@ into him* 7he smell of his Iac@et, the faintl$ smo@$ smell of tweed* And inside the tweed, the straps that went across his &od$ and o"er his shoulder, to hold the wooden le' in position* 7he le', responded with a hollow @noc@ if $ou @ic@ed it, was a le'ac$ from the war H the 7renches* Dhen $ou see some little sprite of a 'irl or a little &o$ a&sor&ed in his to$, $ou are seein' &ein's assaulted &$ storms of sensor$ inputs* 0n front of m$ father, 0 held ti'ht H #.old her ti'ht, donLt let her fall# H "arious female "oices, irritants in this storm of smells, noises, sounds* De were 'oin' slowl$ towards the &i' 'ates, the horse mo"in' aw@wardl$ under me, m$ fatherLs wooden le' straps po@in' into m$ &ac@* 7he moment 0 was set down from the horse, 0 @new m$ father would set off on a trot and then a 'allop* .ow 0 lon'ed to &e there still* But no* 0t was a slow wal@, and m$ fatherLs "oice, Iust &ehind me, caIoled the horse, #+entl$ there, slow there***#
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And as for what the little child $ou see there eats*** Rnless some late re"ersal of $our taste &uds allows $ou, e"er$ adult for'ets what it is a small child tastes, what it has in its mouth H e%plosions of taste* 0f 0 want to @now what some small child is e%periencin', 0 ma@e m$self remem&er that slow ride on m$ fatherLs horse, 'ripped ti'ht &$ m$ father* 7he smell of horse in itself is a 'idd$in' into%icant* 9ome memories ha"e to &e cherished, held ti'ht, @ept as reminders* 7hat was m$ &est memor$ of m$ first two $ears, that and the smell that comes &ac@ at the words mar@et, &a!aar, a warm spic$ smell, and the cries and commands in the other lan'ua'e* And then there was 7ehran, and 0 ha"e so man$ memories, &ut one chief one, which is the &irth of m$ &rother* No dou&t this is a real memor$, &ecause e"er$thin' is hi'h around me, the loo handle miles a&o"e m$ head, m$ father who is ill, in a "ersion of cou"ade, is on a hi'h &ed and 0 can scarcel$ see him* 0 am touchin' the frills of a cot, &$ reachin' up m$ hand to them* M$ mother, tall and powerful, is standin' &$ the cot with a &a&$, and ur'in' me, sa$in' #And this is $our &a&$# and #Now $ou must lo"e it*# Dell, it was not m$ &a&$, &ut 0 did indeed lo"e it* 7his little scene was a moti"ator for the rest of m$ emotional life* Not till 0 wrote, late in m$ life, Mara and 3ann, a&out how a small 'irl lo"es and 'uards her small &rother, did 0 remem&er Iust how powerful was that inIunction* #And now $ou must lo"e him*# But the lie there, #7his is $our &a&$,# well, 0 ne"er for'ot that* Mistrust of &ad faith, 7rust once lost is not easil$ re'ained* 7he three $ears in 7ehran are a 'aller$ of memories, &ut 0 will use three* 7he little children are carried out to see the full moon, the stars* 0 lisped out the words for moon, stars, dou&tless a dear little thin', &ut later when 0 was a horri&le teena'er, under another s@$, other moons and stars, m$ father &ar@ed at me, #Zou were such lo"el$ little thin's, with $our Lmun, mun,L $our Lstars,L &ut loo@ at $ou now, who would &elie"e $ou were e"er such a prett$ little thin'*# 0 did see his point, $es, and 0 did lea"e home a&out then, fifteen or so, 0 was* 0f the moon and the stars were what e"er$ proud parent wants to show his little children, the ne%t memor$ is fit for a treatise on nurser$ ps$cholo'$* De are in the nurser$ in 7ehran, 0 and m$ &rother, undressin' for &ed, and 0 sa$ to him, #DhatLs that $ouL"e 'ot there*# And 0 point at his male eFuipment* Zet 0 ha"e &een familiar with m$ &rotherLs se%ual endowment for $ears, since he was &orn in fact* Zet, it seems, 0 onl$ now notice it* #DhatLs that $ouL"e 'ot thereE# And m$ &rother, a'ed three, perhaps, four, pushes out his front, and points it at me* #Mine# he sa$s, #itLs mine*# #M$ pee place is &etter that $our pee place,# 0 claim, "ainl$ tr$in' to ma@e somethin' impressi"e of m$ cleft* #0tLs mine, mine# said .arr$, ma@in' of his penis a little &ow, which he releases, at me* #Zou ha"enLt 'ot an$thin',# he asserts* 7his scene 0 put into m$ no"el 7he ,left, as a @e$ moment in the li"es of those two little children* And of course we ha"e all witnessed somethin' similar if we ha"e had an$ connection at all with nurser$ life* 9urel$ a scene that must recur a'ain and a'ain, an e%emplar$ 9cene* 7hen, from man$ memories one that is fit for the educationalists* 0t is winter, m$ mother has made a cat in snow, much more than life5si!e* 0t sits on its &ase of a &o%, draped in cloth, where snow is ma@in' patterns* 7he cat is sittin' with its fore paws down, and it is loo@in' out from 'reen shin$ e$es, a potent fi'ure in the fallin' snow* 0 am entranced, &ewitched &$ this white cat* .is e$es follow me, 0 cr$ #(oo@ he is loo@in' at me*#
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And the cat does loo@, throu'h the fallin' snow, which 'litters* #3onLt &e sill$# sa$s m$ mother, #0tLs onl$ &its of 'reen stone*# And she whis@s out the cats e$es, one, two, shows me the &ri'ht 'reen pe&&les H and puts them &ac@ in* 9omewhere in a 7ehran 'arden are l$in' two 'reen pe&&les, that were once a white catLs e$es, shinin' throu'h fallin' snow* Gther memories H oh man$, &ut then 0 am 'ettin' on for fi"e, and the famil$ is lea"in' 7ehran, and we are 'oin' to 'et to <n'land "ia Moscow* 7here is a train from the ,aspian to Moscow* For those <dwardians, m$ parents, a train means dinin' cars and conductors, somethin' safe and re'ulated, not dan'erous, for m$ mother wasnLt 'oin' to ta@e her precious little children throu'h the Red 9ea in all that heat* And now the memories are a ri"er, a flood* First that train Iourne$ throu'h Russia, on a train recentl$ a troop train, dirt$, with torn seats, needin' applications of insect powder* No food on the train* M$ mother leaped down at the stations to &u$ hard&oiled e''s and pies from the peasant women* 9he was left &ehind on a station, and then, without a word of Russian, she stopped the ne%t train, commandeered it and cau'ht up with our train the ne%t da$: panic, e"en terror* Ne"er will 0 for'et those stations, each crowded with ra''ed$ hun'r$ children, who had lost parents in the ,i"il Dar* 0t was possi&le for children not to ha"e a mother, a fatherE More panic* And each station crowded with people and children who saw our dilapidated train as a promise of food and safet$* 7hen Moscow, a real hotel and then a &oat throu'h the Baltic 9tates* Zears later 0 was in Ri'a, saw the little par@ where 0 pla$ed with m$ &rother &ut it had &een war dama'ed 6li@e =ermanshah in the 0ran war, li@e Wim&a&we $ears later8* And the hotel was there &ut are those memories reall$ mine or clips from a Ber'man film* .is films lo"e wide hotel corridors, not li@e nowada$s, into which ma$ come a dwarf, strollin' pla$ers, a @ind of old man &ec@onin' one into ama!in' secrets*** <n'land* 0 loathed it* Not a false memor$* 0 had come from hi'h, dr$ sunlit ersia where there was snow on the mountains* And now H one memor$ sums it all up* A fishmon'erLs sla&, with its dead starin' fish, and o"er them wea@l$ clam&ers a &lac@ lo&ster, #loo@in' for the sea# someone sa$s, #Zes, itLs not 'oin' to find the sea a'ain,# and the 're$ rain fallin' H si% months of <n'land* 7he &oat, the sea "o$a'e* M$ mother li@ed the captain, and the$ had Ioll$ times, while poor father, "er$ sea sic@, la$ on his &un@* At e"enin' the$ danced and dined, and 0 wantin' to Ioin in was told that 0 wouldnLt enIo$ it* Gf course 0 would enIo$ it* 0 &eha"ed &adl$ to punish m$ mother for her lie* 0 tried to cut up her e"enin' dresses with a little pair of nail scissors* 0 went on &eha"in' &adl$ durin' a Iourne$ lit with mar"els*** #(oo@ at that, loo@ at the ostriches_# 7here the$ were, hi'hsteppin' it across some sand$ flat, and then after so much wic@ed &eha"iour on m$ part, and 0 was on the wa'on 6a co"ered wa'on, li@e on the films8 where 0 la$ at ni'ht and watched the hurricane lamp swa$in' where it hun' from the can"as, and &e$ond that the &ush and the noises of the ni'ht* Dhat a&out that house, the &uildin' of it*** 0t was "er$ Fuic@, &uildin' that house* Zou di' a trench, insert poles cut from the &ush, tie them with the wonderfull$ smellin' apricot coloured #&ush rope,# the flesh$ under&ar@ of the Mususa tree, $ou slap handfuls of mud on to the poles, co"er it all with shea"es of fra'rant new cut 'rass, doors and windows appear, and there is the house, which soon we occupied* Gf course there were minor set&ac@s, li@e all the famil$ 'ettin' married, not once, &ut twice* 0 could rhapsodise, which 0 tend to do, secretl$, remem&erin' pri!e moments, a&out the warm 'low of the oil lamps on the white shed walls, and the 'leamin' thatch*
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But now 0 suppose must &e'in that ad"enture which was m$ life, shall 0 dwell on the horrors of the con"ent school, where 0 was so unhapp$, nothin' in m$ life could e"er &e as &ad* Much &etter the times in the &ush, where 0 was so often, &$ m$self or with m$ &rother* 7he point of these memories is that the$ are &e$ond reach, now for as far awa$ as #9cenes from the Boer Dar# mi'ht &e for m$ parents* 0t was "ir'in &ush, our farm, full of the animals &orn to &e there* 7he elephants had 'one, and the lions, &ut all the rest were there, and wanderin' out in the earl$ mornin' Iust down the hill a few paces, 0 mi'ht see =udu, the eland, the little dui@er, a porcupine, sna@es, the little &ush mon@e$s some people made into pets and which mi'ht flit across the rafters of our house at ni'ht* 0 would stand outside m$ room and loo@ down on the &ac@s of huntin' haw@s, as the$ soared o"er the mai!e fields* 7hese animals are in 'ame par@s now* 7he &irds are alwa$s fewer and fewer* Dhites and &lac@s, are too much for the animals and &irds who once said #7his &ush is ours***# 7here were a hundred ad"entures and pleasures in the &ush* And now 0 must record that m$ &rother and 0 &ecame friends late in life and 0 would reminisce a&out m$ da$s in the &ush, &ut noticed he was often silent* .e said he did not remem&er an$thin' at all &efore he was ele"en* #Dhat, nothin'E# Nothin'* #Zou donLt remem&er how we were in the &ush and some wild pi' chased us and we went up a tree and $ou were lau'hin' so hard $ou nearl$ fell strai'ht down in front of herE# #No 0 donLt remem&er*# #Zou donLt remem&er how we wal@ed to the ri"er and sat and watched the troop of &a&oons feedin' and drin@in' until the &i' &a&oon 'esticulated and threatened us, until we 'a"e in and went awa$E# #No# #Zou donLt remem&er how we***# #No, nothin'# 7here sat m$ &rother across from me at the ta&le, and m$ mind was full of memories, &ut his mind, he said was a &lan@* .ow was that possi&leE Dhen he was se"en, he said, he would ta@e the coo@&o$Ls son with him, with a 'un, and some &read, and 'o off into the &ush for da$s* #De had all @inds of Ioll$ 'ood chinwa's, 0 can tell $ou*#
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7hen 0 was in the cit$, for a $ear 0 was one of the 'irls* A small num&er of the cit$Ls eli'i&le $oun' men, and the 'irls H we went to the &ioscope e"er$ ni'ht 6the films8 and wore e"enin' dresses* 7he pro"inces tend to ma@e 'reat occasions out of the ordinar$* De danced too* Dhen 0 sa$ #De# 0 mean the $oun' whites* And then there was the war, and 0 'ot married, &ecause that is what happens in a war and for three $ears 0 was the most con"entional white madam, doin' e"er$thin' Iust ri'ht, coo@in', ma@in' clothes and there were two &a&es* .ow infinitel$ adapta&le we all are* 0 hated the life, the societ$ H one hundred thousand whites commanded half a million &lac@s in old 9outhern Rhodesia* 0 left that marria'e, married a +erman refu'ee, +ottfried (essin', had another child* .a"in' &a&ies when $ou are "er$ $oun' is reall$ "er$ eas$: it seems one must ma@e this point now, when 'ettin' children seems to &e increasin'l$ difficult* 7en $ears of the war* 7he colon$ was full of the refu'ees from <urope and then the RAF* Ama!in' that this chapter of the war should &e for'otten* 1939 to 194Y* From L4Y to L49 were the worst $ears of m$ life* 0 lon'ed to lea"e for <n'land, which is where 0 would ha"e 'one in L3/, L39 if 0 had had the mone$* 0 couldnLt lea"e at once then, &ecause of complications o"er +ottfried wantin' to 'et British nationalit$: a di"orce would not ha"e helped him* But 0 stuc@ it out and we 'ot amica&l$ di"orced and at last 0 did lea"e for <n'land* 0 thin@ all the rest has &een adeFuatel$ chronicled* 0 felt as if m$ real life was &e'innin' when 0 at last arri"ed in war5torn, 'ru&&$, cold <n'land* And of course, it was* 9ince then, 0 ha"e written, that has &een m$ life* Jer$ hard wor@, life is H thatLs m$ summin' up as 0 reach the end of life* #Gh such hard wor@* All of it*# For most of the time 0 had a child and we all @now that the life of a writer is &etter without small children* But that is not to sa$ 0 had e"er wished the child awa$* And 0 e"en at "arious points in m$ life added children and $oun' people when 0 didnLt ha"e to, as in 7he 9weetest 3ream, for instance* But the real stor$ of a life is in the record of the memories or dreams*** and where should 0 &e'in, or endE Gnce 0 thou'ht 0 would write m$ auto&io'raph$ in dreams* M$ failed attempt &ecame Memoirs of a 9ur"i"or* 3reams, a dream, ha"e often rescued me when stuc@ in a stor$ or a no"el* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;00C, <ditor =arl +randin, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;00/ 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;00C 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #3oris (essin' 5 Auto&io'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 1C 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00CAlessin'*html

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Nobel Lecture 3ecem&er C, ;00C %n not -inning the Nobel 9rize 0 am standin' in a doorwa$ loo@in' throu'h clouds of &lowin' dust to where 0 am told there is still uncut forest* Zesterda$ 0 dro"e throu'h miles of stumps, and charred remains of fires where, in LY:, there was the most wonderful forest 0 ha"e e"er seen, all now destro$ed* eople ha"e to eat* 7he$ ha"e to 'et fuel for fires* 7his is north5west Wim&a&we in the earl$ ei'hties, and 0 am "isitin' a friend who was a teacher in a school in (ondon* .e is here #to help Africa,# as we put it* .e is a 'entl$ idealistic soul and what he found in this school shoc@ed him into a depression, from which it was hard to reco"er* 7his school is li@e e"er$ other &uilt after 0ndependence* 0t consists of four lar'e &ric@ rooms side &$ side, put strai'ht into the dust, one two three four, with a half room at one end, which is the li&rar$* 0n these classrooms are &lac@&oards, &ut m$ friend @eeps the chal@s in his poc@et, as otherwise the$ would &e stolen* 7here is no atlas or 'lo&e in the school, no te%t&oo@s, no e%ercise &oo@s, or &iros* 0n the li&rar$ there are no &oo@s of the @ind the pupils would li@e to read, &ut onl$ tomes from American uni"ersities, hard e"en to lift, reIects from white li&raries, or no"els with titles li@e Dee@end in aris and Felicit$ Finds (o"e* 7here is a 'oat tr$in' to find sustenance in some a'ed 'rass* 7he headmaster has em&e!!led the school funds and is suspended, arousin' the Fuestion familiar to all of us &ut usuall$ in more au'ust conte%ts: .ow is it these people &eha"e li@e this when the$ must @now e"er$one is watchin' themE M$ friend doesnLt ha"e an$ mone$ &ecause e"er$one, pupils and teachers, &orrow from him when he is paid and will pro&a&l$ ne"er pa$ him &ac@* 7he pupils ran'e from si% to twent$5si%, &ecause some who did not 'et schoolin' as children are here to ma@e it up* 9ome pupils wal@ man$ miles e"er$ mornin', rain or shine and across ri"ers* 7he$ cannot do homewor@ &ecause there is no electricit$ in the "illa'es, and $ou canLt stud$ easil$ &$ the li'ht of a &urnin' lo'* 7he 'irls ha"e to fetch water and coo@ &efore the$ set off for school and when the$ 'et &ac@* As 0 sit with m$ friend in his room, people drop in sh$l$, and e"er$one &e's for &oo@s* # lease send us &oo@s when $ou 'et &ac@ to (ondon,# one man sa$s* #7he$ tau'ht us to read &ut we ha"e no &oo@s*# <"er$&od$ 0 met, e"er$one, &e''ed for &oo@s* 0 was there some da$s* 7he dust &lew* 7he pumps had &ro@en and the women were ha"in' to fetch water from the ri"er* Another idealistic teacher from <n'land was rather ill after seein' what this #school# was li@e* Gn the last da$ the$ slau'htered the 'oat* 7he$ cut it into &its and coo@ed it in a 'reat tin* 7his was the much anticipated end5of5term feast: &oiled 'oat and porrid'e* 0 dro"e awa$ while it was still 'oin' on, &ac@ throu'h the charred remains and stumps of the forest* 0 do not thin@ man$ of the pupils of this school will 'et pri!es* 7he ne%t da$ 0 am to 'i"e a tal@ at a school in North (ondon, a "er$ 'ood school, whose name we all @now* 0t is a school for &o$s, with &eautiful &uildin's and 'ardens* 7hese children here ha"e a "isit from some well @nown person e"er$ wee@, and it is in the nature of thin's that these ma$ &e fathers, relati"es, e"en mothers of the pupils* A "isit from a cele&rit$ is not unusual for them* As 0 tal@ to them, the school in the &lowin' dust of north5west Wim&a&we is in m$ mind, and 0 loo@ at the mildl$ e%pectant <n'lish faces in front of me and tr$ to tell them a&out what 0 ha"e seen in
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the last wee@* ,lassrooms without &oo@s, without te%t&oo@s, or an atlas, or e"en a map pinned to a wall* A school where the teachers &e' to &e sent &oo@s to tell them how to teach, the$ &ein' onl$ ei'hteen or nineteen themsel"es* 0 tell these <n'lish &o$s how e"er$&od$ &e's for &oo@s: # lease send us &oo@s*# 0 am sure that an$one who has e"er 'i"en a speech will @now that moment when the faces $ou are loo@in' at are &lan@* Zour listeners cannot hear what $ou are sa$in', there are no ima'es in their minds to match what $ou are tellin' them H in this case the stor$ of a school standin' in dust clouds, where water is short, and where the end of term treat is a Iust5@illed 'oat coo@ed in a 'reat pot* 0s it reall$ so impossi&le for these pri"ile'ed students to ima'ine such &are po"ert$E 0 do m$ &est* 7he$ are polite* 0Lm sure that some of them will one da$ win pri!es* 7hen, the tal@ is o"er* Afterwards 0 as@ the teachers how the li&rar$ is, and if the pupils read* 0n this pri"ile'ed school, 0 hear what 0 alwa$s hear when 0 'o to such schools and e"en uni"ersities* #Zou @now how it is,# one of the teacherLs sa$s* #A lot of the &o$s ha"e ne"er read at all, and the li&rar$ is onl$ half used*# Zes, indeed we do @now how it is* All of us* De are in a fra'mentin' culture, where our certainties of e"en a few decades a'o are Fuestioned and where it is common for $oun' men and women, who ha"e had $ears of education, to @now nothin' of the world, to ha"e read nothin', @nowin' onl$ some specialit$ or other, for instance, computers* Dhat has happened to us is an ama!in' in"ention 55 computers and the internet and 7J* 0t is a re"olution* 7his is not the first re"olution the human race has dealt with* 7he printin' re"olution, which did not ta@e place in a matter of a few decades, &ut too@ much lon'er, transformed our minds and wa$s of thin@in'* A foolhard$ lot, we accepted it all, as we alwa$s do, ne"er as@ed, Dhat is 'oin' to happen to us now, with this in"ention of printE 0n the same wa$, we ne"er thou'ht to as@, .ow will our li"es, our wa$ of thin@in', &e chan'ed &$ this internet, which has seduced a whole 'eneration with its inanities so that e"en Fuite reasona&le people will confess that once the$ are hoo@ed, it is hard to cut free, and the$ ma$ find a whole da$ has passed in &lo''in' etc* Jer$ recentl$, an$one e"en mildl$ educated would respect learnin', education, and our 'reat store of literature* Gf course, we all @now that when this happ$ state was with us, people would pretend to read, would pretend respect for learnin'* But it is on record that wor@in' men and women lon'ed for &oo@s, and this is e"idenced &$ the foundin' of wor@in' menLs li&raries and institutes, the colle'es of the 1/th and 19th centuries* Readin', &oo@s, used to &e part of a 'eneral education* Glder people, tal@in' to $oun' ones, must understand Iust how much of an education readin' was, &ecause the $oun' ones @now so much less* And if children cannot read, it is &ecause the$ ha"e not read* De all @now this sad stor$* But we do not @now the end of it* De thin@ of the old ada'e, #Readin' ma@eth a full man# 5 and for'ettin' a&out Io@es to do with
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o"er5eatin' 5 readin' ma@es a woman and a man full of information, of histor$, of all @inds of @nowled'e* But we in the Dest are not the onl$ people in the world* Not lon' a'o a friend who had &een in Wim&a&we told me a&out a "illa'e where people had not eaten for three da$s, &ut the$ were still tal@in' a&out &oo@s and how to 'et them, a&out education* 0 &elon' to an or'anisation which started out with the intention of 'ettin' &oo@s into the "illa'es* 7here was a 'roup of people who in another connection had tra"elled Wim&a&we at its 'rass roots* 7he$ told me that the "illa'es, unli@e what is reported, are full of intelli'ent people, teachers retired, teachers on lea"e, children on holida$s, old people* 0 m$self paid for a little sur"e$ to disco"er what people in Wim&a&we want to read, and found the results were the same as those of a 9wedish sur"e$ 0 had not @nown a&out* eople want to read the same @inds of &oo@s that we in <urope want to read 5 no"els of all @inds, science fiction, poetr$, detecti"e stories, pla$s, and do5it5 $ourself &oo@s, li@e how to open a &an@ account* All of 9ha@espeare too* A pro&lem with findin' &oo@s for "illa'ers is that the$ donLt @now what is a"aila&le, so a set &oo@, li@e the Ma$or of,aster&rid'e, &ecomes popular simpl$ &ecause it Iust happens to &e there* Animal Farm, for o&"ious reasons, is the most popular of all no"els* Gur or'anisation was helped from the "er$ start &$ Norwa$, and then &$ 9weden* Dithout this @ind of support our supplies of &oo@s would ha"e dried up* De 'ot &oo@s from where"er we could* Remem&er, a 'ood paper&ac@ from <n'land costs a monthLs wa'es in Wim&a&we: that was &efore Mu'a&eLs rei'n of terror* Now with inflation, it would cost se"eral $earsL wa'es* But ha"in' ta@en a &o% of &oo@s out to a "illa'e 5 and remem&er there is a terri&le shorta'e of petrol 5 0 can tell $ou that the &o% was 'reeted with tears* 7he li&rar$ ma$ &e a plan@ on &ric@s under a tree* And within a wee@ there will &e literac$ classes 5 people who can read teachin' those who canLt, citi!enship classes 5 and in one remote "illa'e, since there were no no"els written in the lan'ua'e 7on'a, a couple of lads sat down to write no"els in 7on'a* 7here are si% or so main lan'ua'es in Wim&a&we and there are no"els in all of them: "iolent, incestuous, full of crime and murder* 0t is said that a people 'ets the 'o"ernment it deser"es, &ut 0 do not thin@ it is true of Wim&a&we* And we must remem&er that this respect and hun'er for &oo@s comes, not from Mu'a&eLs re'ime, &ut from the one &efore it, the whites* 0t is an astonishin' phenomenon, this hun'er for &oo@s, and it can &e seen e"er$where from =en$a down to the ,ape of +ood .ope* 7his lin@s impro&a&l$ with a fact: 0 was &rou'ht up in what was "irtuall$ a mud hut, thatched* 7his @ind of house has &een &uilt alwa$s, e"er$where there are reeds or 'rass, suita&le mud, poles for walls* 9a%on <n'land for e%ample* 7he one 0 was &rou'ht up in had four rooms, one &eside another, and it was full of &oo@s* Not onl$ did m$ parents ta@e &oo@s from <n'land to Africa, &ut m$ mother ordered &oo@s &$ post from <n'land for her children* Boo@s arri"ed in 'reat &rown paper parcels, and the$ were the Io$ of m$ $oun' life* A mud hut, &ut full of &oo@s* <"en toda$ 0 'et letters from people li"in' in a "illa'e that mi'ht not ha"e electricit$ or runnin' water, Iust li@e our famil$ in our elon'ated mud hut* #0 shall &e a writer too,# the$ sa$, #&ecause 0L"e the same @ind of house $ou li"ed in*# But here is the difficult$, noE Dritin', writers, do not come out of houses without &oo@s* 7here is the 'ap* 7here is the difficult$* 0 ha"e &een loo@in' at the speeches &$ some of $our recent pri!ewinners* 7a@e the ma'nificent
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amu@* .e said his father had Y00 &oo@s* .is talent did not come out of the air, he was connected with the 'reat tradition* 7a@e J*9* Naipaul* .e mentions that the 0ndian Jedas were close &ehind the memor$ of his famil$* .is father encoura'ed him to write, and when he 'ot to <n'land he would "isit the British (i&rar$* 9o he was close to the 'reat tradition* (et us ta@e )ohn ,oet!ee* .e was not onl$ close to the 'reat tradition, he was the tradition: he tau'ht literature in ,ape 7own* And how sorr$ 0 am that 0 was ne"er in one of his classes, tau'ht &$ that wonderfull$ &ra"e, &old mind* 0n order to write, in order to ma@e literature, there must &e a close connection with li&raries, &oo@s, with the 7radition* 0 ha"e a friend from Wim&a&we, a Blac@ writer* .e tau'ht himself to read from the la&els on Iam Iars, the la&els on preser"ed fruit cans* .e was &rou'ht up in an area 0 ha"e dri"en throu'h, an area for rural &lac@s* 7he earth is 'rit and 'ra"el, there are low sparse &ushes* 7he huts are poor, nothin' li@e the well cared5for huts of the &etter off* A school 5 &ut li@e one 0 ha"e descri&ed* .e found a discarded childrenLs enc$clopaedia on a ru&&ish heap and tau'ht himself from that* Gn 0ndependence in 19/0 there was a 'roup of 'ood writers in Wim&a&we, trul$ a nest of sin'in' &irds* 7he$ were &red in old 9outhern Rhodesia, under the whites 5 the mission schools, the &etter schools* Driters are not made in Wim&a&we* Not easil$, not under Mu'a&e* All the writers tra"elled a difficult road to literac$, let alone to &ecomin' writers* 0 would sa$ learnin' to read from the printed la&els on Iam Iars and discarded enc$clopaedias was not uncommon* And we are tal@in' a&out people hun'erin' for standards of education &e$ond them, li"in' in huts with man$ children 5 an o"erwor@ed mother, a fi'ht for food and clothin'* Zet despite these difficulties, writers came into &ein'* And we should also remem&er that this was Wim&a&we, conFuered less than a hundred $ears &efore* 7he 'randparents of these people mi'ht ha"e &een stor$tellers wor@in' in the oral tradition* 0n one or two 'enerations there was the transition from stories remem&ered and passed on, to print, to &oo@s* Dhat an achie"ement* Boo@s, literall$ wrested from ru&&ish heaps and the detritus of the white manLs world* But a sheaf of paper is one thin', a pu&lished &oo@ Fuite another* 0 ha"e had se"eral accounts sent to me of the pu&lishin' scene in Africa* <"en in more pri"ile'ed places li@e North Africa, with its different tradition, to tal@ of a pu&lishin' scene is a dream of possi&ilities* .ere 0 am tal@in' a&out &oo@s ne"er written, writers that could not ma@e it &ecause the pu&lishers are not there* Joices unheard* 0t is not possi&le to estimate this 'reat waste of talent, of potential* But e"en &efore that sta'e of a &oo@Ls creation which demands a pu&lisher, an ad"ance, encoura'ement, there is somethin' else lac@in'* Driters are often as@ed, .ow do $ou writeE Dith a wordprocessorE an electric t$pewriterE a FuillE lon'handE But the essential Fuestion is, #.a"e $ou found a space, that empt$ space, which should surround $ou when $ou writeE# 0nto that space, which is li@e a form of listenin', of attention, will come the words, the words $our characters will spea@, ideas 5 inspiration* 0f a writer cannot find this space, then poems and stories ma$ &e still&orn* Dhen writers tal@ to each other, what the$ discuss is alwa$s to do with this ima'inati"e space, this other time* #.a"e $ou found itE Are $ou holdin' it fastE#

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(et us now Iump to an apparentl$ "er$ different scene* De are in (ondon, one of the &i' cities* 7here is a new writer* De c$nicall$ enFuire, 0s she 'ood5loo@in'E 0f this is a man, charismaticE .andsomeE De Io@e &ut it is not a Io@e* 7his new find is acclaimed, possi&l$ 'i"en a lot of mone$* 7he &u!!in' of papara!!i &e'ins in their poor ears* 7he$ are feted, lauded, whis@ed a&out the world* Rs old ones, who ha"e seen it all, are sorr$ for this neoph$te, who has no idea of what is reall$ happenin'* .e, she, is flattered, pleased* But as@ in a $earLs time what he or she is thin@in' H 0L"e heard them: #7his is the worst thin' that could ha"e happened to me,# the$ sa$* 9ome much pu&licised new writers ha"enLt written a'ain, or ha"enLt written what the$ wanted to, meant to* And we, the old ones, want to whisper into those innocent ears* #.a"e $ou still 'ot $our spaceE Zour soul, $our own and necessar$ place where $our own "oices ma$ spea@ to $ou, $ou alone, where $ou ma$ dream* Gh, hold onto it, donLt let it 'o*# M$ mind is full of splendid memories of Africa which 0 can re"i"e and loo@ at whene"er 0 want* .ow a&out those sunsets, 'old and purple and oran'e, spreadin' across the s@$ at e"enin'* .ow a&out &utterflies and moths and &ees on the aromatic &ushes of the =alahariE Gr, sittin' on the pale 'rass$ &an@s of the Wam&esi, the water dar@ and 'loss$, with all the &irds of Africa dartin' a&out* Zes, elephants, 'iraffes, lions and the rest, there were plent$ of those, &ut how a&out the s@$ at ni'ht, still unpolluted, &lac@ and wonderful, full of restless stars* 7here are other memories too* A $oun' African man, ei'hteen perhaps, in tears, standin' in what he hopes will &e his #li&rar$*# A "isitin' American seein' that his li&rar$ had no &oo@s, had sent a crate of them* 7he $oun' man had ta@en each one out, re"erentl$, and wrapped them in plastic* #But,# we sa$, #these &oo@s were sent to &e read, surel$E# #No,# he replies, #the$ will 'et dirt$, and where will 0 'et an$ moreE# 7his $oun' man wants us to send him &oo@s from <n'land to use as teachin' 'uides* #0 onl$ did four $ears in senior school,# he sa$s, #&ut the$ ne"er tau'ht me to teach*# 0 ha"e seen a teacher in a school where there were no te%t&oo@s, not e"en a chal@ for the &lac@&oard* .e tau'ht his class of si% to ei'hteen $ear olds &$ mo"in' stones in the dust, chantin' #7wo times two is ***# and so on* 0 ha"e seen a 'irl, perhaps not more than twent$, also lac@in' te%t&oo@s, e%ercise &oo@s, &iros, seen her teach the A B , &$ scratchin' the letters in the dirt with a stic@, while the sun &eat down and the dust swirled* De are witnessin' here that 'reat hun'er for education in Africa, an$where in the 7hird Dorld, or whate"er we call parts of the world where parents lon' to 'et an education for their children which will ta@e them out of po"ert$* 0 would li@e $ou to ima'ine $oursel"es somewhere in 9outhern Africa, standin' in an 0ndian store, in a poor area, in a time of &ad drou'ht* 7here is a line of people, mostl$ women, with e"er$ @ind of container for water* 7his store 'ets a &owser of precious water e"er$ afternoon from the town, and here the people wait* 7he 0ndian is standin' with the heels of his hands pressed down on the counter, and he is watchin' a &lac@ woman, who is &endin' o"er a wad'e of paper that loo@s as if it has &een torn from a &oo@*
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9he is readin' Anna =arenin* 9he is readin' slowl$, mouthin' the words* 0t loo@s a difficult &oo@* 7his is a $oun' woman with two little children clutchin' at her le's* 9he is pre'nant* 7he 0ndian is distressed, &ecause the $oun' womanLs headscarf, which should &e white, is $ellow with dust* 3ust lies &etween her &reasts and on her arms* 7his man is distressed &ecause of the lines of people, all thirst$* .e doesnLt ha"e enou'h water for them* .e is an'r$ &ecause he @nows there are people d$in' out there, &e$ond the dust clouds* .is older &rother had &een here holdin' the fort, &ut he had said he needed a &rea@, had 'one into town, reall$ rather ill, &ecause of the drou'ht* 7his man is curious* .e sa$s to the $oun' woman, #Dhat are $ou readin'E# #0t is a&out Russia,# sa$s the 'irl* #3o $ou @now where Russia isE# .e hardl$ @nows himself* 7he $oun' woman loo@s strai'ht at him, full of di'nit$, thou'h her e$es are red from dust, #0 was &est in the class* M$ teacher said 0 was &est*# 7he $oun' woman resumes her readin'* 9he wants to 'et to the end of the para'raph* 7he 0ndian loo@s at the two little children and reaches for some Fanta, &ut the mother sa$s, #Fanta ma@es them thirstier*# 7he 0ndian @nows he shouldnLt do this &ut he reaches down to a 'reat plastic container &eside him, &ehind the counter, and pours out two mu's of water, which he hands to the children* .e watches while the 'irl loo@s at her children drin@in', her mouth mo"in'* .e 'i"es her a mu' of water* 0t hurts him to see her drin@in' it, so painfull$ thirst$ is she* Now she hands him her own plastic water container, which he fills* 7he $oun' woman and the children watch him closel$ so that he doesnLt spill an$* 9he is &endin' a'ain o"er the &oo@* 9he reads slowl$* 7he para'raph fascinates her and she reads it a'ain* #Jaren@a, with her white @erchief o"er her &lac@ hair, surrounded &$ the children and 'ail$ and 'ood5humouredl$ &us$ with them, and at the same "isi&l$ e%cited at the possi&ilit$ of an offer of marria'e from a man she cared for, loo@ed "er$ attracti"e* =o!n$she" wal@ed &$ her side and @ept castin' admirin' 'lances at her* (oo@in' at her, he recalled all the deli'htful thin's he had heard from her lips, all the 'ood he @new a&out her, and &ecame more and more conscious that the feelin' he had for her was somethin' rare, somethin' he had felt &ut once &efore, lon', lon' a'o, in his earl$ $outh* 7he Io$ of &ein' near her increased step &$ step, and at last reached such a point that, as he put a hu'e &irch mushroom with a slender stal@ and up5curlin' top into her &as@et, he loo@ed into her e$es and, notin' the flush of 'lad and fri'htened a'itation that suffused her face, he was confused himself, and in silence 'a"e her a smile that said too much*# 7his lump of print is l$in' on the counter, to'ether with some old copies of ma'a!ines, some pa'es of newspapers with pictures of 'irls in &i@inis* 0t is time for the woman to lea"e the ha"en of the 0ndian store, and set off &ac@ alon' the four miles to her "illa'e* Gutside, the lines of waitin' women clamour and complain* But still the 0ndian lin'ers* .e @nows what it will cost this 'irl 5 'oin' &ac@ home, with the two clin'in' children* .e would 'i"e her the piece of prose that so fascinates her, &ut he cannot reall$ &elie"e this splinter of a 'irl with her 'reat &ell$ can reall$ understand it*
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Dh$ is perhaps a third of Anna =arenin here on this counter in a remote 0ndian storeE 0t is li@e this* A certain hi'h official, from the Rnited Nations as it happens, &ou'ht a cop$ of this no"el in a &oo@shop &efore he set out on his Iourne$ to cross se"eral oceans and seas* Gn the plane, settled in his &usiness class seat, he tore the &oo@ into three parts* .e loo@ed around his fellow passen'ers as he did this, @nowin' he would see loo@s of shoc@, curiosit$, &ut some of amusement* Dhen he was settled, his seat &elt ti'ht, he said aloud to whome"er could hear, #0 alwa$s do this when 0L"e a lon' trip* Zou donLt want to ha"e to hold up some hea"$ 'reat &oo@*# 7he no"el was a paper&ac@, &ut, true, it is a lon' &oo@* 7his man is well used to people listenin' when he spo@e* #0 alwa$s do this, tra"ellin',# he confided* #7ra"ellin' at all these da$s, is hard enou'h*# And as soon as people were settlin' down, he opened his part of Anna =arenin, and read* Dhen people loo@ed his wa$, curiousl$ or not, he confided in them* #No, it reall$ is the onl$ wa$ to tra"el*# .e @new the no"el, li@ed it, and this ori'inal mode of readin' did add spice to what was after all a well @nown &oo@* Dhen he reached the end of a section of the &oo@, he called the air hostess, and sent the chapters &ac@ to his secretar$, tra"ellin' in the cheaper seats* 7his caused much interest, condemnation, certainl$ curiosit$, e"er$ time a section of the 'reat Russian no"el arri"ed, mutilated &ut reada&le, in the &ac@ part of the plane* Alto'ether, this cle"er wa$ of readin' Anna =arenin ma@es an impression, and pro&a&l$ no one there would for'et it* Meanwhile, in the 0ndian store, the $oun' woman is holdin' on to the counter, her little children clin'in' to her s@irts* 9he wears Ieans, since she is a modern woman, &ut o"er them she has put on the hea"$ woollen s@irt, part of the traditional dress of her people: her children can easil$ clin' onto its thic@ folds* 9he sends a than@ful loo@ to the 0ndian, whom she @new li@ed her and was sorr$ for her, and she steps out into the &lowin' clouds* 7he children are past cr$in', and their throats are full of dust* 7his was hard, oh $es, it was hard, this steppin', one foot after another, throu'h the dust that la$ in soft decei"in' mounds under her feet* .ard, &ut she was used to hardship, was she notE .er mind was on the stor$ she had &een readin'* 9he was thin@in', 9he is Iust li@e me, in her white headscarf, and she is loo@in' after children, too* 0 could &e her, that Russian 'irl* And the man there, he lo"es her and will as@ her to marr$ him* 9he had not finished more than that one para'raph* Zes, she thin@s, a man will come for me, and ta@e me awa$ from all this, ta@e me and the children, $es, he will lo"e me and loo@ after me* 9he steps on* 7he can of water is hea"$ on her shoulders* Gn she 'oes* 7he children can hear the water sloppin' a&out* .alf wa$ she stops, sets down the can* .er children are whimperin' and touchin' it* 9he thin@s that she cannot open it, &ecause dust would &low in* 7here is no wa$ she can open the can until she 'ets home* #Dait,# she tells her children, #wait*# 9he has to pull herself to'ether and 'o on* 9he thin@s, M$ teacher said there is a li&rar$, &i''er than the supermar@et, a &i' &uildin' and it is full of &oo@s* 7he $oun' woman is smilin' as she mo"es on, the dust &lowin' in her face* 0 am cle"er, she thin@s* 7eacher said 0 am cle"er* 7he cle"erest in the school 5 she said 0 was* M$ children will &e cle"er, li@e me* 0 will ta@e them to the li&rar$, the place full of &oo@s, and the$ will
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'o to school, and the$ will &e teachers 5 m$ teacher told me 0 could &e a teacher* M$ children will li"e far from here, earnin' mone$* 7he$ will li"e near the &i' li&rar$ and enIo$ a 'ood life* Zou ma$ as@ how that piece of the Russian no"el e"er ended up on that counter in the 0ndian storeE 0t would ma@e a prett$ stor$* erhaps someone will tell it* Gn 'oes that poor 'irl, held upri'ht &$ thou'hts of the water she will 'i"e her children once home, and drin@ a little of herself* Gn she 'oes, throu'h the dreaded dusts of an African drou'ht* De are a Iaded lot, we in our threatened world* De are 'ood for iron$ and e"en c$nicism* 9ome words and ideas we hardl$ use, so worn out ha"e the$ &ecome* But we ma$ want to restore some words that ha"e lost their potenc$* De ha"e a treasure5house of literature, 'oin' &ac@ to the <'$ptians, the +ree@s, the Romans* 0t is all there, this wealth of literature, to &e disco"ered a'ain and a'ain &$ whoe"er is luc@$ enou'h to come upon it* A treasure* 9uppose it did not e%ist* .ow impo"erished, how empt$ we would &e* De own a le'ac$ of lan'ua'es, poems, histories, and it is not one that will e"er &e e%hausted* 0t is there, alwa$s* De ha"e a &eFuest of stories, tales from the old stor$tellers, some of whose names we @now, &ut some not* 7he stor$tellers 'o &ac@ and &ac@, to a clearin' in the forest where a 'reat fire &urns, and the old shamans dance and sin', for our herita'e of stories &e'an in fire, ma'ic, the spirit world* And that is where it is held, toda$* As@ an$ modern stor$teller and the$ will sa$ there is alwa$s a moment when the$ are touched with fire, with what we li@e to call inspiration, and this 'oes &ac@ and &ac@ to the &e'innin' of our race, to the 'reat winds that shaped us and our world* 7he stor$teller is deep inside e"er$ one of us* 7he stor$5ma@er is alwa$s with us* (et us suppose our world is ra"a'ed &$ war, &$ the horrors that we all of us easil$ ima'ine* (et us suppose floods wash throu'h our cities, the seas rise* But the stor$teller will &e there, for it is our ima'inations which shape us, @eep us, create us 5for 'ood and for ill* 0t is our stories that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, e"en destro$ed* 0t is the stor$teller, the dream5ma@er, the m$th5ma@er, that is our phoeni%, that represents us at our &est, and at our most creati"e* 7hat poor 'irl trud'in' throu'h the dust, dreamin' of an education for her children, do we thin@ that we are &etter than she is 5 we, stuffed full of food, our cup&oards full of clothes, stiflin' in our superfluitiesE 0 thin@ it is that 'irl, and the women who were tal@in' a&out &oo@s and an education when the$ had not eaten for three da$s, that ma$ $et define us*

7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #3oris (essin' 5 No&el (ecture#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;00CAlessin'5lecture]en*html ^^^^^^^^^^

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7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;004 7l rie!e Jeline2 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;004 was awarded to <lfriede )eline@ #for her musical flow of "oices and counter5"oices in no"els and pla$s that with e%traordinar$ lin'uistic !eal re"eal the a&surdit$ of societ$Ls clich-s and their su&Iu'atin' power#* <lfriede )eline@Ls No&el (ecture was pre5recorded, and shown on "ideo on C 3ecem&er ;004, in Bgrssalen at the 9wedish Academ$ in 9toc@holm* <lfriede )eline@ Born: ;0 Gcto&er 194:, Mcr!!uschla', Austria Residence at the time of the award: Austria ri!e moti"ation: #for her musical flow of "oices and counter5"oices in no"els and pla$s that with e%traordinar$ lin'uistic !eal re"eal the a&surdit$ of societ$Ls clich-s and their su&Iu'atin' power# (an'ua'e: +erman 'utobiography <lfriede )eline@ has not su&mitted an auto&io'raph$* Nobel Lecture ,op$ri'ht f No&el Media AB ;004 6i!eline! 0s writin' the 'ift of curlin' up, of curlin' up with realit$E Gne would so lo"e to curl up, of course, &ut what happens to me thenE Dhat happens to those, who don1t reall$ @now realit$ at allE 0t1s so "er$ dishe"elled* No com&, that could smooth it down* 7he writers run throu'h it and despairin'l$ 'ather to'ether their hair into a st$le, which promptl$ haunts them at ni'ht* 9omethin'1s wron' with the wa$ one loo@s* 7he &eautifull$ piled up hair can &e chased out of its home of dreams a'ain, &ut can an$wa$ no lon'er &e tamed* Gr han's limp once more, a "eil &efore a face, no sooner than it could finall$ &e su&dued* Gr stands in"oluntaril$ on end in horror at what is constantl$ happenin'* 0t simpl$ won1t &e tidied up* 0t doesn1t want to* No matter how often one runs the com& with the couple of &ro@en off teeth throu'h it 5 it Iust doesn1t* 9omethin' is e"en less ri'ht than &efore* 7he writin', that deals with what happens, runs throu'h one1s fin'ers li@e the time, and not onl$ the time, durin' which it was written, durin' which life stopped* No one has missed an$thin', if life stopped* Not the one li"in' and not dead time, and the one who is dead not at all* Dhen one was still writin', time found its wa$ into the wor@ of other writers* 9ince it is time, it can do e"er$thin' at once: find its wa$ into one1s own wor@ and simultaneousl$ into the wor@ of others, &low into the tousled hairst$les of others li@e a fresh, e"en if mali'n wind, which has risen suddenl$ and une%pectedl$ from the direction of realit$* Gnce somethin' has risen, then perhaps it doesn1t lie down a'ain so Fuic@l$* 7he an'r$ wind &lows and sweeps e"er$thin' with it* And it sweeps e"er$thin' awa$, no matter where, &ut ne"er &ac@ to this realit$, which is supposed to &e represented* <"er$where, e%cept there* Realit$ is what 'ets under the hair, under the s@irts and Iust that: sweeps them awa$ and into somethin' else* .ow can the writer @now realit$, if it is that which 'ets into him and sweeps him awa$, fore"er onto the sidelines* From there, on the one hand, he can see &etter, on the other he himself cannot remain on the wa$ of realit$* 7here is no place for him there* .is place is alwa$s outside* Gnl$ what he sa$s from the outside can &e ta@en up inside, and that &ecause he spea@s am&i'uities* And then there are alread$ two who fit, two whose faces are ri'ht, who warn, that nothin' is happenin', two who construe it in different directions, reach out to the inadeFuate 'rounds, which ha"e lon' a'o &ro@en off li@e the fan's of
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the com&* <ither or* 7rue or false* 0t had to happen sooner or later, since the 'round as &uildin' 'round was Fuite inadeFuate* And how could one &uild on a &ottomless pit an$wa$E But the inadeFuac$ that enters the writers1 field of "ision, is still adeFuate enou'h for somethin', that the$ could also ta@e or lea"e* 7he$ could ta@e or lea"e it, and the$ do lea"e it* 7he$ don1t @ill it* 7he$ merel$ loo@ at it with their &lear$ e$es, &ut it does not &ecome ar&itrar$ &ecause of this &lear$ 'a!e* 7he 'a!e is well aimed* Dhate"er is struc@ &$ this 'a!e sa$s, e"en as it sin@s down, althou'h it has hardl$ &een loo@ed at, althou'h it has not e"en &een e%posed to the sharp 'a!e of the pu&lic, whate"er has &een struc@ ne"er sa$s, that it could also ha"e &een somethin' else, &efore it fell "ictim to this one description* 0t sa$s e%actl$ what had &een &etter left unsaid 6&ecause it could ha"e &een &etter saidE8, what alwa$s had to remain unclear and 'roundless* 7oo man$ ha"e alread$ sun@ into it up to their stomachs* 0t1s Fuic@sand, &ut it doesn1t Fuic@en an$thin'* 0t is 'roundless, &ut not without 'rounds* 0t is as $ou li@e, &ut it is not li@ed* 7he sidelines are at the ser"ice of the life, that precisel$ does not ta@e place there, otherwise we would not all &e in the thic@ of it, in the fullness, the fullness of human life, and it is at the ser"ice of the o&ser"ation of the life, which is alwa$s ta@in' place somewhere else* Dhere one is not* Dh$ insult someone, &ecause he cannot find his wa$ &ac@ to the path of Iourne$in', of life, of life1s Iourne$, if he has &orne it 5 and this &earin' is no &earin' someone, &ut nor is it an$ @ind of &earin' on 5 has simpl$ fortuitousl$ &orne it, li@e the dust on a pair of shoes, which is pitilessl$ hunted down &$ the housewife, if a little less pitilessl$ than the stran'er is hunted down &$ the locals* Dhat @ind of dust is itE 0s it radioacti"e or acti"e &$ itself, Iust li@e that, 01m onl$ as@in', &ecause it lea"es this stran'e trail of li'ht on the wa$E 0s what is runnin' alon'side and ne"er meetin' up with the writer a'ain, the wa$, or is the writer the one who is runnin' alon'side, onto the sidelinesE .e has not $et passed awa$, &ut he1s alread$ passed the line ne"ertheless* From there he sees those who ha"e parted from him, &ut from one another too, in all their "ariet$, in order to represent them in all their credulit$, in order to 'et them on form, &ecause form is the most important thin', an$wa$ he sees them &etter from there* But that, too, is chal@ed up a'ainst him, so are those chal@ mar@s and not particles of luminous matter, which mar@ the wa$ of writin'E At an$ rate it1s a mar@in' out, which simultaneousl$ shows and o&scures and afterwards carefull$ co"ers up a'ain the trail he himself laid* Gne was ne"er there at all* But ne"ertheless one @nows what1s up* 7he words ha"e come down from a screen, from &lood5smeared faces distorted with pain, from lau'hin', made5up faces, with lips pumped up &eforehand Iust for the ma@e5up or from others, who 'a"e the ri'ht answer to a Fuestion in a Fui!, or &orn mouthers, women, who ha"e nothin' for and nothin' a'ainst, who stood up and too@ off a Iac@et to point their freshl$ hardened &reasts, which were once steeled and &elon'ed to men, at the camera* 0n addition an$ amount of throats, out of which sin'in' comes li@e &ad &reath, onl$ louder* 7hat is what could &e seen on the wa$, if one were still on it* Gne 'oes out of the wa$ of the wa$* erhaps one sees it from a distance, where one remains alone, and how 'ladl$, &ecause one wants to see the wa$, &ut not wal@ it* 3id this path ma@e a noise Iust nowE 3oes it want to draw attention to itself with noises now and not Iust with li'hts, loud people, loud li'htsE 0s the wa$, which one cannot wal@, afraid of not &ein' wal@ed at all, when so man$ sins are &ein' constantl$ committed after all, torture, outra'es, theft, threatenin' &eha"iour, necessar$ threat in the manufacture of si'nificant world fatesE 0t ma@es no difference to the wa$* 0t &ears e"er$thin', firml$, e"en if 'roundlessl$* Dithout 'round* Gn lost 'round* M$ hair, as alread$ mentioned, is standin' on end, and no settin' lotion there, which could force it to firm up a'ain* No firmness in m$self either* Not on me, not in me* Dhen one1s on the sidelines, one alwa$s has to &e read$ to Iump a &it and then another &it to the side, into the empt$ space, which is ri'ht ne%t to the sidelines* And the sidelines ha"e &rou'ht their sideline pitfall alon' with them, it1s read$ at an$ time, it 'apes wide, to lure one e"en further out* (urin' out is lurin' in* lease, 0 don1t want to lose si'ht now of the wa$, which 01m not on* 0 would so li@e to descri&e it honestl$ and a&o"e all trul$ and accuratel$* 0f 01m actuall$ loo@in' at it, it should also do somethin' for me* But this wa$ spares me nothin'* 0t lea"es me nothin'* Dhat else is there left for meE 0 am pre"ented from &ein' on m$ wa$, 0 can hardl$ ma@e m$ wa$ at all* 0 am out, while not 'oin' out* And there, too, 0 should certainl$ li@e to ha"e protection a'ainst m$ own uncertaint$, &ut also a'ainst the uncertaint$ of the 'round, on which 01m standin'* 0t runs to ma@e certain, not onl$ to protect me,
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m$ lan'ua'e ri'ht &eside me, and chec@s, whether 0 am doin' it properl$, descri&in' realit$ properl$ wron'l$, &ecause it alwa$s has to &e descri&ed wron'l$, there1s no other wa$, &ut so wron'l$, that an$one who reads or hears it, notices the falseness immediatel$* 7hose are lies_ And this do', lan'ua'e, which is supposed to protect me, that1s wh$ 0 ha"e him, after all, is now snappin' at m$ heels* M$ protector wants to &ite me* M$ onl$ protector a'ainst &ein' descri&ed, lan'ua'e, which, con"ersel$, e%ists to descri&e somethin' else, that 0 am not 5 that is wh$ 0 co"er so much paper 5 m$ onl$ protector is turnin' a'ainst me* erhaps 0 onl$ @eep him at all, so that he, while pretendin' to protect me, pounces on me* Because 0 sou'ht protection in writin', this &ein' on m$ wa$, lan'ua'e, which in motion, in spea@in', appeared to &e a safe shelter, turns a'ainst me* No wonder* 0 mistrusted it immediatel$, after all* Dhat @ind of camoufla'e is that, which e%ists, not to ma@e one in"isi&le, &ut e"er more distinctE 9ometimes lan'ua'e finds itself on the wa$ &$ mista@e, &ut it doesn1t 'o out of the wa$* 0t is no ar&itrar$ process, spea@in' with lan'ua'e, it is one that is in"oluntaril$ ar&itrar$, whether one li@es it or not* (an'ua'e @nows what it wants* +ood for it, &ecause 0 don1t @now, no not at all* 7al@, tal@in' in 'eneral @eeps on tal@in' o"er there now, &ecause there1s alwa$s tal@in', tal@in', without &e'innin' or end, &ut there1s no spea@in'* 9o there1s tal@in' o"er there, where"er the others are sta$in', &ecause the$ don1t want to lin'er, the$1re "er$ occupied* Gnl$ them o"er there* Not me* Gnl$ the lan'ua'e, which sometimes mo"es awa$ from me, to the people, not the other people, &ut mo"es awa$ o"er to the real, 'enuine, on the well5si'nposted wa$ 6who can 'o astra$ hereE8, followin' their e"er$ mo"ement li@e a camera, so that it at least, the lan'ua'e, finds out, how and what life is, &ecause then it is precisel$ not that, and afterwards all of it must &e descri&ed, e"en in what it precisel$ is not* (et1s tal@ a&out the fact, that we are supposed to 'o for a medical chec@5up once a'ain* Zet all at once we suddenl$ spea@, with due ri'our, li@e someone who has a choice, whether or not to spea@* Dhate"er happens, onl$ the lan'ua'e 'oes awa$ from me, 0 m$self, 0 sta$ awa$* 7he lan'ua'e 'oes* 0 sta$, &ut awa$* Not on the wa$* And 01m speechless* No, it1s still there* .as it perhaps &een there all the time, did it wei'h up, whom it could wei'h downE 0t has noticed me now and immediatel$ snaps at me, this lan'ua'e* 0t dares to adopt this tone of command to me, it raises its hand a'ainst me, it doesn1t li@e me* 0t would 'ladl$ li@e the nice people on the wa$, alon'side whom it runs, li@e the do' it is, fei'nin' o&edience* 0n realit$ it not onl$ diso&e$s me, &ut e"er$one else, too* 0t is for no5one &ut itself* 0t cries out throu'h the ni'ht, &ecause no5one has remem&ered to put up li'hts &eside this wa$, which are supplied &$ nothin' &ut the sun and no lon'er need an$ current at all from the soc@et, or to find the path a proper path name* But it has so man$ names, that it would &e impossi&le to @eep up with all the namin', if one tried* 0 shout across, in m$ loneliness, stampin' across these 'ra"es of the departed, &ecause since 0 am alread$ runnin' alon'side, 0 cannot pa$ attention as well to what 01m treadin' on, whom 01m treadin' down, 0 would onl$ somehow li@e to 'et to the place where m$ lan'ua'e alread$ is, and where it smir@s moc@in'l$ across at me* Because it @nows, that, if 0 e"er tried to li"e, it would soon trip me up, then ru& salt in m$ wounds* +ood* 9o 0 will scatter salt on the wa$ of the others, 0 throw it down, so that their ice melts, coarse salt, so that their lan'ua'e loses its firm 'round* And $et it has lon' &een 'roundless* Dhat &ottomless chee@ on its part_ 0f 0 do not ha"e solid 'round under m$ feet, then m$ lan'ua'e can1t either* 9er"e it ri'ht_ Dh$ did it not sta$ with me, on the sidelines, wh$ did it part from meE 0t wanted to see more than meE Gn the hi'hwa$ o"er there, where there are more people, a&o"e all more li@ea&le ones, chattin' nicel$ to each otherE 0t wanted to @now more than meE 0t has alwa$s @nown more than me, it1s true, &ut it has to @now e"en more than that* 0t will end up @illin' itself &$ eatin' into itself, m$ lan'ua'e* 0t will o"erindul'e on realit$* 9er"e it ri'ht_ 0 spat it out, &ut it spits nothin' out, it1s 'ood at @eepin' it down* M$ lan'ua'e calls o"er to me, o"er on the sidelines, it li@es &est of all to call o"er to the sidelines, it doesn1t ha"e to ta@e such careful aim, &ut it doesn1t ha"e to, &ecause it alwa$s hits the tar'et, not &$ sa$in' somethin' or other, &ut &$ spea@in' with the vausterit$ of lettin' &ew, as .eide''er sa$s a&out 7ra@l* 0t calls me, lan'ua'e does, toda$ an$one can do it, &ecause e"er$one alwa$s carries their lan'ua'e around with them in a small 'ad'et, so that the$ can spea@, wh$ would the$ ha"e learned itE, so it calls me where 0 am cau'ht in the trap and cr$ out and thrash
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a&out, &ut no, it1s not true, m$ lan'ua'e isn1t callin', it1s 'one, too, m$ lan'ua'e has 'one from me, that1s wh$ it has to call, it shouts in m$ ear, no matter out of which 'ad'et, a computer or a mo&ile phone, a phone &ooth, from where it roars in m$ ear, that there1s no point in sa$in' somethin' out loud, it alread$ does that an$wa$, 0 should simpl$ sa$ what it tells meP &ecause there would &e e"en less point in for once spea@in' what was on one1s mind to a dear person, who has fallen down on the case and whom one can trust, &ecause he has fallen and won1t 'et up a'ain so Fuic@l$, in order to pursue one and, $es, to chat a little* 7here1s no point* 7he words of m$ lan'ua'e o"er there on the pleasant wa$ 60 @now it1s more pleasant than mine, which is actuall$ no wa$ at all, &ut 0 can1t see it clearl$, &ut 0 @now, that 0 too would li@e to &e there8, the words of m$ lan'ua'e ha"e, therefore, in partin' from me, immediatel$ &ecome a spea@in' out* No, no tal@in' it out with someone* A spea@in' out* 0t listens to itself spea@in' out, m$ lan'ua'e, it corrects itself, &ecause spea@in' can still &e impro"ed at an$ timeP $es, it can alwa$s &e impro"ed, it is e"en entirel$ there to &e impro"ed and then to ma@e a new lin'uistic rulin', &ut then onl$ to &e a&le immediatel$ to o"erturn the rules a'ain* 7hat will then &e the new wa$ to sal"ation, of course 0 mean solution* A Fuic@ fi%* lease, dear lan'ua'e, don1t $ou for once want to listen firstE 9o that $ou learn somethin', so that $ou at last learn the rules of spea@in' *** Dhat are $ou shoutin' and 'rum&lin' a&out o"er thereE Are $ou doin' it, lan'ua'e, so that 0 'raciousl$ ta@e $ou in $ou a'ainE 0 thou'ht, $ou didn1t want to come &ac@ to me at all_ 7here was no si'n, that $ou wanted to come &ac@ to me, it would ha"e &een pointless an$wa$, 0 wouldn1t ha"e understood the si'n* Zou onl$ &ecame lan'ua'e to 'et awa$ from me and to ensure that 0 'ot onE But nothin' is ensured* And &$ $ou not at all, as well as 0 @now $ou* 0 don1t e"en reco'nise $ou a'ain* Zou want to come &ac@ to me of $our own accordE 0 won1t ta@e $ou in an$ more, what do $ou sa$ to thatE Awa$ is awa$* Awa$ is no wa$* 9o if m$ loneliness, if m$ constant a&sence, m$ uninterrupted e%istence on the sidelines came in person to fetch &ac@ lan'ua'e, so that it, well5loo@ed5after &$ me, at last came home, to a &eautiful sound, which it could utter, then it would onl$ happen, so that with this sound, this penetratin', piercin' howlin' of a siren, &lown &$ the wind, it could dri"e me further, e"er further &ac@ from the sidelines* Because of the recoil of this lan'ua'e, which 0 m$self produced and which has run awa$ from me 6or did 0 produce it for that purposeE 9o that it immediatel$ runs awa$ from me, &ecause 0 ha"e not mana'ed to run awa$ from m$self in timeE8, 0 am chased e"er deeper into this space &e$ond the sidelines* M$ lan'ua'e is alread$ wallowin' &lissfull$ in its mudd$ pool, the little pro"isional 'ra"e on the wa$, and it loo@s up at the 'ra"e in the air, it wallows on its &ac@, a friendl$ creature, which would li@e to please human &ein's li@e an$ respecta&le lan'ua'e, it wallows, opens its le's, presuma&l$ to let itself &e stro@ed, wh$ else* 0t1s 'reed$ for caresses, after all* 7hat stops it from 'a!in' after the dead, so that 0 must 'a!e after them instead, and of course in the end it1s down to me* 9o 0 had no time to cur& m$ lan'ua'e, which now shamelessl$ rolls around under the hands of the caressers* 7here are simpl$ too man$ dead, whom 0 ha"e to see to, that1s an Austrian technical term for: whom 0 ha"e to loo@ after, whom 0 ha"e to treat well, &ut then we1re famous for that, for alwa$s treatin' e"er$one well* 7he world is loo@in' to us, no need to worr$* De don1t ha"e to ta@e care of that* Zet the more clearl$ this demand, to 'a!e at the dead, sounds in me, the less am 0 a&le to pa$ attention to m$ words* 0 must 'a!e at the dead, while meanwhile the strollers are stro@in' the 'ood old lan'ua'e and chuc@in' it under the chin, which doesn1t ma@e the dead an$ more ali"e* No one is to &lame* <"en 0, dishe"elled as 0 and m$ hair are, am not to &lame for the dead sta$in' dead* 0 want the lan'ua'e o"er there to finall$ stop ma@in' itself the sla"e of stran'ers1 hands, no matter how 'ood it feels, 0 want it to &e'in &$ stoppin' ma@in' demands, &ut itself &ecome a demand, to finall$ face up to, not the caresses, &ut a demand to come &ac@ to me, &ecause lan'ua'e alwa$s has to face up, onl$ doesn1t alwa$s @now it and doesn1t listen to me* 0t has to face up, &ecause the people who want to adopt it instead of a child, it1s so lo"a&le, if one lo"es it, people therefore ne"er face up, the$ decide, the$ don1t answer calls, man$ of them e"en immediatel$ destro$ed, tore up, &urnt their call5up order to socia&ilit$, and the fla' alon' with it* 9o the more people who ta@e up the in"itation of m$ lan'ua'e to scratch its stomach, to ruffle somethin', to affectionatel$ accept its friendliness, the further 0 stum&le awa$, 0 ha"e finall$ lost m$ lan'ua'e to those who treat it &etter, 01m almost fl$in', where on earth was this wa$, that 0 need in order to hurr$ downE .ow do 0 'et where to do whatE .ow do 0 'et to the place, where 0 can unpac@ m$ tools, &ut in realit$ can ri'ht
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awa$ pac@ them up a'ainE G"er there somethin' &ri'ht is 'leamin' under the &ranches, is that the place, where m$ lan'ua'e first of all flatters the others, roc@s them into a sense of securit$, onl$ in order for itself to &e lo"in'l$ roc@ed in the end for onceE Gr does it want to snap a'ainE 0t alwa$s wants to do nothin' &ut &ite, onl$ the others don1t @now it $et, &ut 0 @now it "er$ well, it was with me for a lon' time* Beforehand there1s first of all cuddles and whisperin' sweet nothin's to this seemin'l$ tame creature, which e"er$one has at home an$wa$, wh$ should the$ &rin' a stran'e animal into the houseE 9o wh$ should this lan'ua'e &e an$ different from what the$ alread$ @nowE And if it were different, then perhaps it mi'ht &e dan'erous to ta@e it in* erhaps it won1t 'et on with the one the$ alread$ ha"e* 7he more friendl$ stran'ers there are, who @now how to li"e, &ut are ne"ertheless "er$ far from @nowin' their life, since the$ pursue their caressin' intents, &ecause the$ alwa$s ha"e to pursue somethin', the more m$ seein' no lon'er clearl$ sees the wa$ throu'h to the lan'ua'e an$ more* Miles and more* Dho else should &e a&le to see throu'h thin's, if not seein'E 9pea@in' wants to ta@e o"er seein' as wellE 0t wants to spea@, &efore it has e"en seenE 0t wallows there, is 'roped &$ hands, &uffeted &$ winds, caressed &$ storms, insulted &$ listenin', until it stops listenin' alto'ether* Dell, then: all listen here for once_ Dhoe"er doesn1t want to listen, must spea@ without &ein' listened to* Almost e"er$one is not listened to, althou'h the$ spea@* 0 am listened to, althou'h m$ lan'ua'e does not &elon' to me, althou'h 0 can hardl$ see it an$ more* Much is said a'ainst it* 9o it no lon'er has much to sa$ for itself, that1s fine* 0t1s listened to, as it slowl$ repeats, while somewhere a red &utton is pressed, which sets off a terri&le e%plosion* 7here1s nothin' left to sa$ e%cept: Gur Father, which art* 0t cannot mean me, althou'h after all 0 am father, that is: mother, of m$ lan'ua'e* 0 am the father of m$ mother ton'ue* 7he mother ton'ue was there from the &e'innin', it was in me, &ut no father was there, who mi'ht ha"e &elon'ed to it* M$ lan'ua'e was often un&ecomin', that was often made clear enou'h to me, &ut 0 didn1t want to ta@e the hint* M$ fault* 7he father left this nuclear famil$ alon' with the mother ton'ue* Ri'ht he was* 0n his place 0 would not ha"e sta$ed either* M$ mother ton'ue has followed m$ father now, it1s 'one* 0t is, as alread$ mentioned, o"er there* 0t listens to the people on the wa$* Gn the father1s wa$, who went too soon* Now the lan'ua'e @nows somethin', that $ou don1t @now, that he didn1t @now* But the more it @nows, the less it sa$s* Gf course, it1s constantl$ sa$in' somethin', &ut it1s sa$in' nothin'* And alread$ the loneliness is ta@in' its lea"e* 0t1s no lon'er needed* No one sees, that 0 am still inside, in the loneliness* 0 am not heeded* erhaps 0 am honoured, &ut 0 am not heeded* .ow do 0 ensure that all these words of mine sa$ somethin', that could sa$ somethin' to usE 0 cannot do it &$ spea@in'* 0n fact 0 cannot e"en spea@, &ecause m$ lan'ua'e is unfortunatel$ not at home Iust now* G"er there it sa$s somethin' else, which 0 didn1t as@ it to either, &ut it has alread$ for'otten m$ command from the start* 0t doesn1t tell me, althou'h it &elon's to me, after all* M$ lan'ua'e doesn1t tell me an$thin', how should it then tell others somethin'E But nor is it sa$in' nothin', $ou must admit that_ 0t sa$s all the more, the further awa$ from me it is, indeed, onl$ then does it dare sa$ somethin', that it wants to sa$ itself, then it dares to diso&e$ me, to resist me* Dhen one loo@s, one mo"es further awa$ from the o&Iect, the lon'er one loo@s at it* Dhen one spea@s, one catches hold of it a'ain, &ut one cannot hold onto it* 0t tears itself awa$ and hurries after its own namin', the man$ words 0 ha"e made and 0 ha"e lost* Dords ha"e &een e%chan'ed often enou'h, the e%chan'e rate is incredi&l$ &ad, and then it1s no more than: incredi&le* 0 sa$ somethin', and then it1s alread$ &een for'otten from the start* 7hat1s what it stro"e for, it wanted to 'et awa$ from me* 7he unspea@a&le is spo@en e"er$ da$, &ut what 0 sa$, that isn1t to &e allowed* 7hat1s mean of what has &een spo@en* 7hat is incredi&l$ mean* 7he spo@en doesn1t e"en want to &elon' to me* 0t wants to &e done, so that one can sa$: said and done* 0 would e"en &e satisfied, if it denied &elon'in' to me, m$ lan'ua'e, &ut it should &elon' to me ne"ertheless* .ow can 0 ensure, that it is at least a little attached to meE Nothin' stic@s to the others after all, so 0 offer m$self to it* ,ome &ac@_ ,ome &ac@, please_ But no* G"er there on the path it1s listenin' to secrets, that 01m not supposed to @now, m$ lan'ua'e, and it passes them on, these secrets, to others who don1t want to hear them* 0 would want to, it would &e m$ ri'ht, indeed, it would 'o down well, if $ou li@e, &ut it doesn1t stand still, and spea@ to me, it doesn1t do that either* 0t is in the empt$ space which is distin'uished and differentiates itself from me, in that there are "er$ man$ there* <mptiness is the wa$* 0 am e"en on the sidelines of emptiness* 0 ha"e left the wa$* 0 ha"e
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onl$ said thin's after another* Much has &een said a&out me, &ut hardl$ an$ of it is true* 0 m$self ha"e onl$ said what others ha"e said, and 0 sa$: that is now what is reall$ said* As 0 said 5 simpl$ incredi&le_ 0t1s a lon' time since so much has &een said* Gne1s listenin' can1t @eep up an$ more, althou'h one must listen, in order to &e a&le to do somethin'* 0n this respect, which in realit$ is a loo@in' awa$, e"en a loo@in' awa$ from m$self, there1s nothin' to &e said a&out me, there1s nothin' to &e said, nothin' more to &e said* 01m alwa$s onl$ 'a!in' after life, m$ lan'ua'e turns its &ac@ on me, so that it can present its stomach to stran'ers to caress, shameless, to me it onl$ shows its &ac@, if an$thin' at all* 7oo often it doesn1t 'i"e me a si'n and doesn1t sa$ an$thin' either* 9ometimes 0 don1t e"en see it o"er there an$ more, and now 0 can1t e"en sa$ vas has alread$ &een saidw, &ecause while 01"e alread$ said it often enou'h, 0 cannot sa$ it an$ more, 01m lost for words* 9ometimes 0 see the &ac@ or the soles of the feet, on which the$ can1t reall$ wal@, the words, &ut faster than 0 ha"e &een a&le to for a lon' time and e"en now* Dhat am 0 doin' thereE 0s that wh$ m$ dear lan'ua'e has lain down some distance awa$ from meE 7hat wa$ it will, of course, alwa$s &e faster than me, Iump up and run awa$, when 0 'o across to it from m$ place of wor@, to fetch it* 0 don1t @now, wh$ 0 should fetch it* 9o that it doesn1t fetch meE erhaps it, who ran awa$ from me, @nowsE Dho doesn1t follow meE Dho now follows the loo@in' and spea@in' of others, and reall$ can1t mi% up them with me* 7he$ are other, &ecause the$ are the others* For no other reason, e%cept that the$ are the others* 7hat1s 'ood enou'h for m$ spea@in'* 7he main thin' is, 0 don1t do it: spea@in'* 7he others, alwa$s the others, so that it1s not me, who &elon's to it, sweet lan'ua'e* 0 would so much li@e to stro@e it, li@e the others o"er there, if 0 could onl$ catch hold of it* But then it1s o"er there, so that 0 can1t catch hold of it* Dhen will it silentl$ ma@e offE Dhen will somethin' ma@e off, so there1s silenceE 7he more the lan'ua'e o"er there ma@es off, the louder it can &e heard* 0t1s on e"er$one1s lips, onl$ not on m$ lips* M$ mind is clouded* 0 ha"e not passed out, &ut m$ mind is clouded* 0 am worn out from 'a!in' after m$ lan'ua'e li@e a li'hthouse &$ the sea, which is supposed to li'ht someone home and so has itself &een lit up, and which as it re"ol"es alwa$s re"eals somethin' else from the dar@ness, &ut is there an$wa$, whether it is lit up or not, it1s a li'hthouse, which doesn1t help an$one, no matter how hard that man wishes it would, so as not to ha"e to die in the water* 7he harder 0 tr$ to ma@e it out, the more o&stinatel$ it doesn1t 'o out, lan'ua'e* 0 now put out this lan'ua'e li'ht mechanicall$, 0 switch to the pilot li'ht, &ut the more 0 tr$ to clap m$self o"er it, a snuffer on the end of a lon' pole, with which in m$ childhood the candles in the church were e%tin'uished, the more 0 tr$ to snuff out this flame, the more air it seems to ha"e* And all the more loudl$ it cries out, rollin' around under thousands of hands, which do it 'ood, which unfortunatel$ 0 ha"e ne"er done, 0 don1t @now m$self, what would do me 'ood, so it1s cr$in' out now, so it can @eep awa$ from me* 0t shouts at the others, so that the$ too Ioin in and cr$ out li@e it, so that the noise 'rows louder* 0t shouts, that 0 shouldn1t come too close* No one should come too close to an$one at all* And what has &een said should also not come too close to what one wants to sa$* Gne shouldn1t 'et too close to one1s own lan'ua'e, that is an insult, it is Fuite capa&le of repeatin' somethin' after itself, piercin'l$ loud, so that no one hears, that what it sa$s, was earlier recited to it* 0t e"en ma@es me promises, so that 0 will sta$ awa$ from it* 0t promises me e"er$thin', if 0 Iust don1t come close to it* Millions are allowed to 'et close to it, e%cept me_ Zet it1s mine_ Dhat do $ou thin@ of thatE 0 Iust can1t tell $ou, what 0 thin@ of that* 7his lan'ua'e must ha"e for'otten its &e'innin's, 01"e 'ot no other e%planation* Dith me it started small* No, how &i' it1s 'rown, 0 can1t tell $ou_ (i@e this 0 don1t e"en reco'nise it* 0 @new it, when it was Iust so hi'h* Dhen it was so Fuiet, when the lan'ua'e was still m$ child* Now it has all at once &ecome 'i'antic* 7hat1s not m$ child an$ more* 7he child has not 'rown up, onl$ &i', it doesn1t @now that it has not $et out'rown me, &ut it1s wide awa@e ne"ertheless* 0t is so wide awa@e, that it drowns itself out with its cr$in', and an$one else who cries louder than it* 7hen it spirals up to an incredi&le pitch* Belie"e me, $ou reall$ don1t want to hear it_ Also, please don1t &elie"e that 01m proud of this child_ At its &e'innin' 0 wanted it to remain as Fuiet as when it was still speechless* <"en now, 0 don1t want it to sweep o"er somethin' li@e a storm, causin' others to roar e"en louder and to raise their arms and throw hard o&Iects, which m$ lan'ua'e can no lon'er e"en 'rasp and catch, it has, m$ fault, too, alwa$s &een so unathletic* 0t doesn1t catch* 0t can throw, &ut it can1t catch* 0 remain imprisoned in it, e"en
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when it1s awa$* 0 am the prisoner of m$ lan'ua'e, which is m$ prison warder* Funn$ 5 it1s not e"en @eepin' an e$e on me_ Because it is so certain of meE Because it is so certain, that 0 won1t run awa$, is that wh$ it &elie"es, it can lea"e meE .ere comes someone, who has alread$ died, and he tal@s to me, althou'h that is not planned for him* .e1s allowed to, man$ dead are spea@in' now in their cho@ed "oices, now the$ dare to, &ecause m$ own lan'ua'e is not @eepin' an$ e$e on me* Because it @nows, it isn1t necessar$* <"en if it runs awa$ from me, 0 won1t slip throu'h its hands* 0 am at hand for it, &ut it has slipped throu'h m$ hands* But 0 remain* But what remains, the writers do not ma@e* Dhat remains is 'one* 7he fli'ht of fanc$ was cut* Nothin' and no one has come* And if ne"ertheless, a'ainst all reason, somethin' that has not come at all, a little would li@e to remain, then what does remain, lan'ua'e, the most fleetin' of all, has disappeared* 0t has replied to a new situations "acant ad"ert* Dhat should remain, is alwa$s 'one* 0t is at an$ rate not there* 9o what is left to one* 7ranslation from +erman &$ Martin ,halmers 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #No&el (ecture 5 (iterature ;004#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;004AIeline@5lecture5e*html ^^^^^^^^^^ 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature 19Y4 7rnest 1e)ing-ay <rnest Miller .emin'wa$ Born: ;1 )ul$ 1/99, Ga@ ar@, 0(, R9A 3ied: ; )ul$ 19:1, =etchum, 03, R9A Residence at the time of the award: R9A ri!e moti"ation: #for his master$ of the art of narrati"e, most recentl$ demonstrated in 7he Gld Man and the 9ea, and for the influence that he has e%erted on contemporar$ st$le# (an'ua'e: <n'lish Biography <rnest .emin'wa$ 61/99519:18, &orn in Ga@ ar@, 0llinois, started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in =ansas ,it$ at the a'e of se"enteen* After the Rnited 9tates entered the First Dorld Dar, he Ioined a "olunteer am&ulance unit in the 0talian arm$* 9er"in' at the front, he was wounded, was decorated &$ the 0talian +o"ernment, and spent considera&le time in hospitals* After his return to the Rnited 9tates, he &ecame a reporter for ,anadian and American newspapers and was soon sent &ac@ to <urope to co"er such e"ents as the +ree@ Re"olution* 3urin' the twenties, .emin'wa$ &ecame a mem&er of the 'roup of e%patriate Americans in aris, which he descri&ed in his first important wor@, 7he 9un Also Rises 619;:8* <Fuall$ successful was A Farewell to Arms 619;98, the stud$ of an American am&ulance officerLs disillusionment in the war and his role as a deserter* .emin'wa$ used his e%periences as a reporter durin' the ci"il war in 9pain as the &ac@'round for his most am&itious no"el, For Dhom the Bell 7olls 619408* Amon' his later wor@s, the most outstandin' is the short no"el, 7he Gld Man and the 9ea 619Y;8, the stor$ of an old fishermanLs Iourne$, his lon' and lonel$ stru''le with a fish and the sea, and his "ictor$ in defeat* .emin'wa$ 5 himself a 'reat sportsman 5 li@ed to portra$ soldiers, hunters, &ullfi'hters 5 tou'h, at times primiti"e people whose coura'e and honest$ are set a'ainst the &rutal wa$s of modern societ$, and who in this confrontation lose hope and faith* .is strai'htforward prose, his spare
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dialo'ue, and his predilection for understatement are particularl$ effecti"e in his short stories, some of which are collected in Men Dithout Domen 619;C8 and 7he Fifth ,olumn and the First Fort$5Nine 9tories 6193/8* .emin'wa$ died in 0daho in 19:1* From No&el (ectures, (iterature 1901519:C, <ditor .orst Fren!, <lse"ier u&lishin' ,ompan$, Amsterdam, 19:9 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and first pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&el* 0t was later edited and repu&lished in No&el (ectures* 7o cite this document, alwa$s state the source as shown a&o"e* 9elected Bi&lio'raph$ Ba@er, ,arlos* .emin'wa$: 7he Driter as Artist* Fourth edition, rinceton Rni"ersit$ ress: rinceton, N), 19C;* Bruccoli, Matthew )* 6<d*8* <rnest .emin'wa$Ls apprenticeship: Ga@ ar@, 191:5191C* N,R Microcard <ditions: Dashin'ton, 3*,*, 19C1* Bruccoli, Matthew )*, and Ro&ert D* 7ro'don 6<ds*8* 7he Gnl$ 7hin' 7hat ,ounts: 7he <rnest .emin'wa$5Ma%well er@ins ,orrespondence 19;Y5194C* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 199:* ,lifford, 9tephen * Be$ond the .eroic #0#: Readin' (awrence, .emin'wa$, and #masculinit$#* Buc@nell Rni"* ress: ,ran&ur$, N), 1999* .emin'wa$, <rnest* B$5(ine: <rnest .emin'wa$* 9elected articles and dispatches of four decades* <dited &$ Dilliam Dhite, with commentaries &$ hilip Zoun'* ,ollins: (ondon, 19:/* 5 ,omplete poems* <dited with an introduction and notes &$ Nicholas +ero'iannis* Re"* ed*, Rni"ersit$ of Ne&ras@a ress: (incoln, 199;* 5 7he ,omplete 9hort 9tories* 7he Finca Ji'ka ed* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 199/* 5 3eath in the Afternoon* )onathan ,ape: (ondon, 193;* 5 <rnest .emin'wa$: 9elected (etters, 191C519:1* <d* ,arlos Ba@er* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19/1* 5 A Farewell to Arms* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19;9* 5 Fiesta* )onathan ,ape: (ondon, 19;C* 5 For Dhom the Bell 7olls* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@ 1940* 5 7he +arden of <den* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19/:* 5 +reen .ills of Africa* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@ 193Y* 5 0n Gur 7ime* Boni and (i"eri'ht: New Zor@, 19;Y* 5 0slands in the 9tream* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19C0* 5 A Mo"ea&le Feast* )onathan ,ape: (ondon, 19:4* 5 7he Nic@ Adams 9tories* reface &$ hilip Zoun'* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19C;* 5 7he Gld Man and the 9ea* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19Y;* 5 9elected (etters 191C519:1* <d* ,arlos Ba@er* anther Boo@sA+ranada u&lishin': (ondon 19/Y619/18* 5 7he 9nows of =ilimanIaro and other stories, ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19:1* 5 7he 9un also rises* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19;/619;:8* 5 7he 7orrents of 9prin': A Romantic No"el in .onor of the assin' of a +reat Race* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 19;:* 5 7hree 9tories j 7en oems: <rnest .emin'wa$Ls First Boo@* A facsimile of the ori'inal aris <dition pu&lished in 19;3* Bruccoli ,lar@ Boo@s: Bloomfield .ills, Michi'an, 19CC* 5 7rue at First (i'ht* <dited with an 0ntroduction &$ atric@ .emin'wa$* Arrow Boo@sARandom .ouse: (ondon 1999* 5 Dinner 7a@e Nothin'* ,harles 9cri&nerLs 9ons: New Zor@, 1933* )osephs, Allen* For Dhom the Bell 7olls: <rnest .emin'wa$Ls Rndisco"ered ,ountr$* 7wa$ne: New Zor@, 1994* (acasse, Rodolphe* .emin'wa$ et Malrau%: destins de lLhomme* rofilsP :, Montr-al 19C;* ($nn* =enneth 9* .emin'wa$* 9imon and 9chuster: (ondon, 19/C*
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Mandel, Miriam* Readin' .emin'wa$: 7he Facts in the Fictions* 9carecrow ress: Metuchen, N) and (ondon, 199Y* Me$ers, )effre$* .emin'wa$: A Bio'raph$* New Zor@, 19/Y 6Macmillan: (ondon, 19/: 6.arper j Row: New Zor@ 19/Y8* Nelson, +erald B* j +lor$ )ones* .emin'wa$: (ife and Dor@s* Facts Gn File u&lications: New Zor@, 19/4* alin, Michael* .emin'wa$Ls 7ra"els* Deidenfeld j Nicolson: (ondon, 1999* hillips, (arr$ D 6<d8* <rnest .emin'wa$ on Dritin'* +rafton Boo@s: (ondon, 19/: 619/48* Re$nolds, Michael 9* .emin'wa$: an Annotated ,hronolo'$: an Gutline of the AuthorLs (ife and ,areer 3etailin' 9i'nificant <"ents, Friendships, 7ra"els, and Achie"ements* Gmni chronolo'$ series, 1 Gmni'raphics, 0nc: 3etroit, M0, 1991* Re$nolds, Michael 9* .emin'wa$: 7he Final Zears* D*D* Norton: New Zor@ 1999* Re$nolds, Michael 9* .emin'wa$: the .omecomin'* D*D* Norton: New Zor@, 1999* Re$nolds, Michael 9* .emin'wa$: the aris $ears* D*D* Norton: New Zor@ 1999* Re$nolds, Michael 9* 7he Zoun' .emin'wa$* D*D* Norton: New Zor@, 199/* Re$nolds, Michael 9* .emin'wa$Ls First Dar: 7he Ma@in' of A Farewell to Arms* Basil Blac@well: New Zor@ and G%ford, 19/C 6 rinceton R* * 19C:8* 7ro'don, Ro&ert D* 6<d*8* <rnest .emin'wa$: A 3ocumentar$ Jolume* 0n: 3ictionar$ of (iterar$ Bio'raph$ 6series8 Jol* ;10* +ale Research 0nc*: 3etroit, Michi'an, 1999* Da'ner5Martin, (inda 6<d*8* A .istorical +uide to <rnest .emin'wa$* G%ford Rni"ersit$ ress: New Zor@ and G%ford, ;000 7he )ohn F* =enned$ (i&rar$ in Boston, Massachusetts, has an e%tensi"e collection of &oo@s and manuscripts, and holds more than 10,000 photos of <rnest .emin'wa$* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation 19Y4 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #<rnest .emin'wa$ 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 14 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA19Y4Ahemin'wa$*html ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ J. M. Coetzee )ohn M* ,oet!ee 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;003 was awarded to )* M* ,oet!ee #who in innumera&le 'uises portra$s the surprisin' in"ol"ement of the outsider#* )* M* ,oet!ee deli"ered his No&el (ecture at the 9wedish Academ$, 9toc@holm, C 3ecem&er ;003* .e was introduced &$ .orace <n'dahl, ermanent 9ecretar$ of the 9wedish Academ$* Born: 9 Fe&ruar$ 1940, ,ape 7own, 9outh Africa Residence at the time of the award: 9outh Africa ri!e moti"ation: #who in innumera&le 'uises portra$s the surprisin' in"ol"ement of the outsider# Biography )ohn Ma%well ,oet!ee was &orn in ,ape 7own, 9outh Africa, on 9 Fe&ruar$ 1940, the elder of two children* .is mother was a primar$ school teacher* .is father was trained as an attorne$, &ut practiced as such onl$ intermittentl$P durin' the $ears 1941H4Y he ser"ed with the 9outh African forces in North Africa and 0tal$* 7hou'h ,oet!eeLs parents were not of British descent, the lan'ua'e spo@en at home was <n'lish* ,oet!ee recei"ed his primar$ schoolin' in ,ape 7own and in the near&$ town of Dorcester* For his secondar$ education he attended a school in ,ape 7own run &$ a ,atholic order, the Marist Brothers* .e matriculated in 19Y:*
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,oet!ee entered the Rni"ersit$ of ,ape 7own in 19YC, and in 19:0 and 19:1 'raduated successi"el$ with honours de'rees in <n'lish and mathematics* .e spent the $ears 19:;H:Y in <n'land, wor@in' as a computer pro'rammer while doin' research for a thesis on the <n'lish no"elist Ford Mado% Ford* 0n 19:3 he married hilippa )u&&er 61939H19918* 7he$ had two children, Nicolas 619::H19/98 and +isela 6&* 19:/8* 0n 19:Y ,oet!ee entered the 'raduate school of the Rni"ersit$ of 7e%as at Austin, and in 19:/ 'raduated with a h3 in <n'lish, lin'uistics, and +ermanic lan'ua'es* .is doctoral dissertation was on the earl$ fiction of 9amuel Bec@ett* For three $ears 619:/HC18 ,oet!ee was assistant professor of <n'lish at the 9tate Rni"ersit$ of New Zor@ in Buffalo* After an application for permanent residence in the Rnited 9tates was denied, he returned to 9outh Africa* From 19C; until ;000 he held a series of positions at the Rni"ersit$ of ,ape 7own, the last of them as 3istin'uished rofessor of (iterature* Between 19/4 and ;003 he also tau'ht freFuentl$ in the Rnited 9tates: at the 9tate Rni"ersit$ of New Zor@, )ohns .op@ins Rni"ersit$, .ar"ard Rni"ersit$, 9tanford Rni"ersit$, and the Rni"ersit$ of ,hica'o, where for si% $ears he was a mem&er of the ,ommittee on 9ocial 7hou'ht* ,oet!ee &e'an writin' fiction in 19:9* .is first &oo@, 3us@lands, was pu&lished in 9outh Africa in 19C4* 0n the .eart of the ,ountr$ 619CC8 won 9outh AfricaLs then principal literar$ award, the ,NA ri!e, and was pu&lished in Britain and the R9A* Daitin' for the Bar&arians 619/08 recei"ed international notice* .is reputation was confirmed &$ (ife j 7imes of Michael = 619/38, which won BritainLs Boo@er ri!e* 0t was followed &$ Foe 619/:8, A'e of 0ron 619908, 7he Master of eters&ur' 619948, and 3is'race 619998, which a'ain won the Boo@er ri!e* ,oet!ee also wrote two fictionali!ed memoirs, Bo$hood 6199C8 and Zouth 6;00;8* 7he (i"es of Animals 619998 is a fictionali!ed lecture, later a&sor&ed into <li!a&eth ,ostello 6;0038* Dhite Dritin' 619//8 is a set of essa$s on 9outh African literature and culture* 3ou&lin' the oint 6199;8 consists of essa$s and inter"iews with 3a"id Attwell* +i"in' Gffense 6199:8 is a stud$ of literar$ censorship* 9tran'er 9hores 6;0018 collects his later literar$ essa$s* ,oet!ee has also &een acti"e as a translator of 3utch and Afri@aans literature* 0n ;00; ,oet!ee emi'rated to Australia* .e li"es with his partner 3oroth$ 3ri"er in Adelaide, 9outh Australia, where he holds an honorar$ position at the Rni"ersit$ of Adelaide* From (es ri% No&el* 7he No&el ri!es ;003, <ditor 7ore FrSn'sm$r, >No&el Foundation?, 9toc@holm, ;004 7his auto&io'raph$A&io'raph$ was written at the time of the award and later pu&lished in the &oo@ series (es ri% No&elANo&el (ectures* 7he information is sometimes updated with an addendum su&mitted &$ the (aureate* ,op$ri'ht f 7he No&el Foundation ;003 7G ,07< 7.09 A+<: M(A st$le: #)* M* ,oet!ee 5 Bio'raph$#* No&elpri!e*or'* 1C 9ep ;011 http:AAwww*no&elpri!e*or'Ano&el]pri!esAliteratureAlaureatesA;003Acoet!ee*html

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No&el (ecture 7he No&el ri!e in (iterature ;003 1e an! 1is Man But to return to m$ new companion* 0 was 'reatl$ deli'hted with him, and made it m$ &usiness to teach him e"er$thin' that was proper to ma@e him useful, hand$, and helpfulP &ut especiall$ to ma@e him spea@, and understand me when 0 spo@eP and he was the aptest scholar there e"er was* 55 3aniel 3efoe, Ro&inson ,rusoe Boston, on the coast of (incolnshire, is a handsome town, writes his man* 7he tallest church steeple in all of <n'land is to &e found thereP sea5pilots use it to na"i'ate &$* Around Boston is fen countr$* Bitterns a&ound, ominous &irds who 'i"e a hea"$, 'roanin' call loud enou'h to &e heard two miles awa$, li@e the report of a 'un* 7he fens are home to man$ other @inds of &irds too, writes his man, duc@ and mallard, teal and wid'eon, to capture which the men of the fens, the fen5men, raise tame duc@s, which the$ call deco$ duc@s or duc@o$s* Fens are tracts of wetland* 7here are tracts of wetland all o"er <urope, all o"er the world, &ut the$ are not named fens, fen is an <n'lish word, it will not mi'rate* 7hese (incolnshire duc@o$s, writes his man, are &red up in deco$ ponds, and @ept tame &$ &ein' fed &$ hand* 7hen when the season comes the$ are sent a&road to .olland and +erman$* 0n .olland and +erman$ the$ meet with others of their @ind, and, seein' how misera&l$ these 3utch and +erman duc@s li"e, how their ri"ers free!e in winter and their lands are co"ered in snow, fail not to let them @now, in a form of lan'ua'e which the$ ma@e them understand, that in <n'land from where the$ come the case is Fuite otherwise: <n'lish duc@s ha"e sea shores full of nourishin' food, tides that flow freel$ up the cree@sP the$ ha"e la@es, sprin's, open ponds and sheltered pondsP also lands full of corn left &ehind &$ the 'leanersP and no frost or snow, or "er$ li'ht* B$ these representations, he writes, which are made all in duc@ lan'ua'e, the$, the deco$ duc@s or duc@o$s, draw to'ether "ast num&ers of fowl and, so to sa$, @idnap them* 7he$ 'uide them &ac@ across the seas from .olland and +erman$ and settle them down in their deco$ ponds on the fens of (incolnshire, chatterin' and 'a&&lin' to them all the time in their own lan'ua'e, tellin' them these are the ponds the$ told them of, where the$ shall li"e safel$ and securel$* And while the$ are so occupied the deco$5men, the masters of the deco$5duc@s, creep into co"ers or co"erts the$ ha"e &uilt of reeds upon the fens, and all unseen toss handfuls of corn upon the waterP and the deco$ duc@s or duc@o$s follow them, &rin'in' their forei'n 'uests &ehind* And so o"er two or three da$s the$ lead their 'uests up narrower and narrower waterwa$s, callin' to them all the time to see how well we li"e in <n'land, to a place where nets ha"e &een spanned* 7hen the deco$5men send out their deco$ do', which has &een perfectl$ trained to swim after fowl, &ar@in' as he swims* Bein' alarmed to the last de'ree &$ this terri&le creature, the duc@s ta@e to the win', &ut are forced down a'ain into the water &$ the arched nets a&o"e, and so must swim or perish, under the net* But the net 'rows narrower and narrower, li@e a purse, and at the end stand the deco$ men, who ta@e their capti"es out one &$ one* 7he deco$ duc@s are stro@ed and made much of, &ut as for their 'uests, these are clu&&ed on the spot and pluc@ed and sold &$ the hundred and &$ the thousand* All of this news of (incolnshire his man writes in a neat, Fuic@ hand, with Fuills that he sharpens with his little pen5@nife each da$ &efore a new &out with the pa'e*
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0n .alifa%, writes his man, there stood, until it was remo"ed in the rei'n of =in' )ames the First, an en'ine of e%ecution, which wor@ed thus* 7he condemned man was laid with his head on the cross5&ase or cup of the scaffoldP then the e%ecutioner @noc@ed out a pin which held up the hea"$ &lade* 7he &lade descended down a frame as tall as a church door and &eheaded the man as clean as a &utcherLs @nife* ,ustom had it in .alifa%, thou'h, that if &etween the @noc@in' out of the pin and the descent of the &lade the condemned man could leap to his feet, run down the hill, and swim across the ri"er without &ein' sei!ed a'ain &$ the e%ecutioner, he would &e let free* But in all the $ears the en'ine stood in .alifa% this ne"er happened* .e 6not his man now &ut he8 sits in his room &$ the waterside in Bristol and reads this* .e is 'ettin' on in $ears, almost it mi'ht &e said he is an old man &$ now* 7he s@in of his face, that had &een almost &lac@ened &$ the tropic sun &efore he made a parasol out of palm or palmetto lea"es to shade himself, is paler now, &ut still leather$ li@e parchmentP on his nose is a sore from the sun that will not heal* 7he parasol he has still with him in his room, standin' in a corner, &ut the parrot that came &ac@ with him has passed awa$* oor Ro&in_ the parrot would sFuaw@ from its perch on his shoulder, oor Ro&in ,rusoe_ Dho shall sa"e poor Ro&inE .is wife could not a&ide the lamentin' of the parrot, oor Ro&in da$ in, da$ out* 0 shall wrin' its nec@, said she, &ut she had not the coura'e to do so* Dhen he came &ac@ to <n'land from his island with his parrot and his parasol and his chest full of treasure, he li"ed for a while tranFuill$ enou'h with his old wife on the estate he &ou'ht in .untin'don, for he had &ecome a wealth$ man, and wealthier still after the printin' of the &oo@ of his ad"entures* But the $ears in the island, and then the $ears tra"elin' with his ser"in'5man Frida$ 6poor Frida$, he laments to himself, sFuaw@5sFuaw@, for the parrot would ne"er spea@ Frida$Ls name, onl$ his8, had made the life of a landed 'entleman dull for him* And, if the truth &e told, married life was a sore disappointment too* .e found himself retreatin' more and more to the sta&les, to his horses, which &lessedl$ did not chatter, &ut whinnied softl$ when he came, to show that the$ @new who he was, and then held their peace* 0t seemed to him, comin' from his island, where until Frida$ arri"ed he li"ed a silent life, that there was too much speech in the world* 0n &ed &eside his wife he felt as if a shower of pe&&les were &ein' poured upon his head, in an unendin' rustle and clatter, when all he desired was to sleep* 9o when his old wife 'a"e up the 'host he mourned &ut was not sorr$* .e &uried her and after a decent while too@ this room in 7he )oll$ 7ar on the Bristol waterfront, lea"in' the direction of the estate in .untin'don to his son, &rin'in' with him onl$ the parasol from the island that made him famous and the dead parrot fi%ed to its perch and a few necessaries, and has li"ed here alone e"er since, strollin' &$ da$ a&out the whar"es and Fua$s, starin' out west o"er the sea, for his si'ht is still @een, smo@in' his pipes* As to his meals, he has these &rou'ht up to his roomP for he finds no Io$ in societ$, ha"in' 'rown used to solitude on the island* .e does not read, he has lost the taste for itP &ut the writin' of his ad"entures has put him in the ha&it of writin', it is a pleasant enou'h recreation* 0n the e"enin' &$ candleli'ht he will ta@e out his papers and sharpen his Fuills and write a pa'e or two of his man, the man who sends report of the duc@o$s of (incolnshire, and of the 'reat en'ine of death in .alifa%, that one can escape if &efore the awful &lade can descend one can leap to oneLs feet and dash down the hill, and of num&ers of other thin's* <"er$ place he 'oes he sends report of, that is his first &usiness, this &us$ man of his*
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9trollin' alon' the har&our wall, reflectin' upon the en'ine from .alifa%, he, Ro&in, whom the parrot used to call poor Ro&in, drops a pe&&le and listens* A second, less than a second, &efore it stri@es the water* +odLs 'race is swift, &ut mi'ht not the 'reat &lade of tempered steel, &ein' hea"ier than a pe&&le and &ein' 'reased with tallow, &e swifterE .ow will we e"er escape itE And what species of man can it &e who will dash so &usil$ hither and thither across the @in'dom, from one spectacle of death to another 6clu&&in's, &eheadin's8, sendin' in report after reportE A man of &usiness, he thin@s to himself* (et him &e a man of &usiness, a 'rain merchant or a leather merchant, let us sa$P or a manufacturer and pur"e$or of roof tiles somewhere where cla$ is plentiful, Dappin' let us sa$, who must tra"el much in the interest of his trade* Ma@e him prosperous, 'i"e him a wife who lo"es him and does not chatter too much and &ears him children, dau'hters mainl$P 'i"e him a reasona&le happinessP then &rin' his happiness suddenl$ to an end* 7he 7hames rises one winter, the @ilns in which the tiles are &a@ed are washed awa$, or the 'rain stores, or the leather wor@sP he is ruined, this man of his, de&tors descend upon him li@e flies or li@e crows, he has to flee his home, his wife, his children, and see@ hidin' in the most wretched of Fuarters in Be''ars (ane under a false name and in dis'uise* And all of this H the wa"e of water, the ruin, the fli'ht, the pennilessness, the tatters, the solitude H let all of this &e a fi'ure of the shipwrec@ and the island where he, poor Ro&in, was secluded from the world for twent$5si% $ears, till he almost went mad 6and indeed, who is to sa$ he did not, in some measureE8* Gr else let the man &e a saddler with a home and a shop and a warehouse in Dhitechapel and a mole on his chin and a wife who lo"es him and does not chatter and &ears him children, dau'hters mainl$, and 'i"es him much happiness, until the pla'ue descends upon the cit$, it is the $ear 1::Y, the 'reat fire of (ondon has not $et come* 7he pla'ue descends upon (ondon: dail$, parish &$ parish, the count of the dead mounts, rich and poor, for the pla'ue ma@es no distinction amon' stations, all this saddlerLs worldl$ wealth will not sa"e him* .e sends his wife and dau'hters into the countr$side and ma@es plans to flee himself, &ut then does not* 7hou shalt not &e afraid for the terror at ni'ht, he reads, openin' the Bi&le at ha!ard, not for the arrow that flieth &$ da$P not for the pestilence that wal@eth in dar@nessP nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon5da$* A thousand shall fall at th$ side, and ten thousand at th$ ri'ht hand, &ut it shall not come ni'h thee* 7a@in' heart from this si'n, a si'n of safe passa'e, he remains in afflicted (ondon and sets a&out writin' reports* 0 came upon a crowd in the street, he writes, and a woman in their midst pointin' to the hea"ens* 9ee, she cries, an an'el in white &randishin' a flamin' sword_ And the crowd all nod amon' themsel"es, 0ndeed it is so, the$ sa$: an an'el with a sword_ But he, the saddler, can see no an'el, no sword* All he can see is a stran'e5shaped cloud &ri'hter on the one side than the other, from the shinin' of the sun* 0t is an alle'or$_ cries the woman in the streetP &ut he can see no alle'or$ for the life of him* 7hus in his report* Gn another da$, wal@in' &$ the ri"erside in Dappin', his man that used to &e a saddler &ut now has no occupation o&ser"es how a woman from the door of her house calls out to a man rowin' in a dor$: Ro&ert_ Ro&ert_ she callsP and how the man then rows ashore, and from the dor$ ta@es up a sac@ which he la$s upon a stone &$ the ri"erside, and rows awa$ a'ainP and how the woman comes down to the ri"erside and pic@s up the sac@ and &ears it home, "er$ sorrowful5loo@in'* .e accosts the man Ro&ert and spea@s to him* Ro&ert informs him that the woman is his wife and the sac@ holds a wee@Ls supplies for her and their children, meat and meal and &utterP &ut that he dare not approach nearer, for all of them, wife and children, ha"e the pla'ue upon themP and that it &rea@s his heart* And all of this H the man Ro&ert and wife @eepin' communion throu'h calls across the water, the sac@ left &$ the waterside H stands for itself certainl$, &ut stands also as a fi'ure of his, Ro&insonLs, solitude on his island, where in his hour of dar@est despair he called out
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across the wa"es to his lo"ed ones in <n'land to sa"e him, and at other times swam out to the wrec@ in search of supplies* Further report from that time of woe* A&le no lon'er to &ear the pain from the swellin's in the 'roin and armpit that are the si'ns of the pla'ue, a man runs out howlin', star@ na@ed, into the street, into .arrow Alle$ in Dhitechapel, where his man the saddler witnesses him as he leaps and prances and ma@es a thousand stran'e 'estures, his wife and children runnin' after him cr$in' out, callin' to him to come &ac@* And this leapin' and prancin' is alle'oric of his own leapin' and prancin' when, after the calamit$ of the shipwrec@ and after he had scoured the strand for si'n of his ship&oard companions and found none, sa"e a pair of shoes that were not mates, he had understood he was cast up all alone on a sa"a'e island, li@el$ to perish and with no hope of sal"ation* 6But of what else does he secretl$ sin', he wonders to himself, this poor afflicted man of whom he reads, &esides his desolationE Dhat is he callin', across the waters and across the $ears, out of his pri"ate fireE8 A $ear a'o he, Ro&inson, paid two 'uineas to a sailor for a parrot the sailor had &rou'ht &ac@ from, he said, Bra!il H a &ird not so ma'nificent as his own well5&elo"ed creature &ut splendid nonetheless, with 'reen feathers and a scarlet crest and a 'reat tal@er too, if the sailor was to &e &elie"ed* And indeed the &ird would sit on its perch in his room in the inn, with a little chain on its le' in case it should tr$ to fl$ awa$, and sa$ the words oor oll_ oor oll_ o"er and o"er till he was forced to hood itP &ut could not &e tau'ht to sa$ an$ other word, oor Ro&in_ for instance, &ein' perhaps too old for that* oor oll, 'a!in' out throu'h the narrow window o"er the mast5tops and, &e$ond the mast5tops, o"er the 're$ Atlantic swell: Dhat island is this, as@s oor oll, that 0 am cast up on, so cold, so drear$E Dhere were $ou, m$ 9a"iour, in m$ hour of 'reat needE A man, &ein' drun@ and it &ein' late at ni'ht 6another of his manLs reports8, falls asleep in a doorwa$ in ,ripple'ate* 7he dead5cart comes on its wa$ 6we are still in the $ear of the pla'ue8, and the nei'h&ours, thin@in' the man dead, place him on the dead5cart amon' the corpses* B$ and &$ the cart comes to the dead pit at Mountmill and the carter, his face all muffled a'ainst the efflu"ium, la$s hold of him to throw him inP and he wa@es up and stru''les in his &ewilderment* Dhere am 0E he sa$s* Zou are a&out to &e &uried amon' the dead, sa$s the carter* But am 0 dead thenE sa$s the man* And this too is a fi'ure of him on his island* 9ome (ondon5fol@ continue to 'o a&out their &usiness, thin@in' the$ are health$ and will &e passed o"er* But secretl$ the$ ha"e the pla'ue in their &lood: when the infection reaches their heart the$ fall dead upon the spot, so reports his man, as if struc@ &$ li'htnin'* And this is a fi'ure for life itself, the whole of life* 3ue preparation* De should ma@e due preparation for death, or else &e struc@ down where we stand* As he, Ro&inson, was made to see when of a sudden, on his island, he came one da$ upon the footprint of a man in the sand* 0t was a print, and therefore a si'n: of a foot, of a man* But it was a si'n of much else too* Zou are not alone, said the si'nP and also, No matter how far $ou sail, no matter where $ou hide, $ou will &e searched out* 0n the $ear of the pla'ue, writes his man, others, out of terror, a&andoned all, their homes, their wi"es and children, and fled as far from (ondon as the$ could* Dhen the pla'ue had passed, their fli'ht was condemned as cowardice on all sides* But, writes his man, we for'et what @ind of coura'e was called on to confront the pla'ue* 0t was not a mere soldierLs coura'e, li@e 'rippin' a weapon and char'in' the foe: it was li@e char'in' 3eath itself on his pale horse* <"en at his &est, his island parrot, the &etter lo"ed of the two, spo@e no word he was not tau'ht to spea@ &$ his master* .ow then has it come a&out that this man of his, who is a @ind of parrot and
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not much lo"ed, writes as well as or &etter than his masterE For he wields an a&le pen, this man of his, no dou&t of that* (i@e char'in' 3eath himself on his pale horse* .is own s@ill, learned in the countin' house, was in ma@in' tallies and accounts, not in turnin' phrases* 3eath himself on his pale horse: those are words he would not thin@ of* Gnl$ when he $ields himself up to this man of his do such words come* And deco$ duc@s, or duc@o$s: Dhat did he, Ro&inson, @now of deco$ duc@sE Nothin' at all, until this man of his &e'an sendin' in reports* 7he duc@o$s of the (incolnshire fens, the 'reat en'ine of e%ecution in .alifa%: reports from a 'reat tour this man of his seems to &e ma@in' of the island of Britain, which is a fi'ure of the tour he made of his own island in the s@iff he &uilt, the tour that showed there was a farther side to the island, cra''$ and dar@ and inhospita&le, which he e"er afterwards a"oided, thou'h if in the future colonists shall arri"e upon the island the$ will perhaps e%plore it and settle itP that too &ein' a fi'ure, of the dar@ side of the soul and the li'ht* Dhen the first &ands of pla'iarists and imitators descended upon his island histor$ and foisted on the pu&lic their own fei'ned stories of the castawa$ life, the$ seemed to him no more or less than a horde of canni&als fallin' upon his own flesh, that is to sa$, his lifeP and he did not scruple to sa$ so* Dhen 0 defended m$self a'ainst the canni&als, who sou'ht to stri@e me down and roast me and de"our me, he wrote, 0 thou'ht 0 defended m$self a'ainst the thin' itself* (ittle did 0 'uess, he wrote, that these canni&als were &ut fi'ures of a more de"ilish "oracit$, that would 'naw at the "er$ su&stance of truth* But now, reflectin' further, there &e'ins to creep into his &reast a touch of fellow5feelin' for his imitators* For it seems to him now that there are &ut a handful of stories in the worldP and if the $oun' are to &e for&idden to pre$ upon the old then the$ must sit for e"er in silence* 7hus in the narrati"e of his island ad"entures he tells of how he awo@e in terror one ni'ht con"inced the de"il la$ upon him in his &ed in the shape of a hu'e do'* 9o he leapt to his feet and 'rasped a cutlass and slashed left and ri'ht to defend himself while the poor parrot that slept &$ his &edside shrie@ed in alarm* Gnl$ man$ da$s later did he understand that neither do' nor de"il had lain upon him, &ut rather that he had suffered a pals$ of a passin' @ind, and &ein' una&le to mo"e his le' had concluded there was some creature stretched out upon it* Gf which e"ent the lesson would seem to &e that all afflictions, includin' the pals$, come from the de"il and are the "er$ de"ilP that a "isitation &$ illness ma$ &e fi'ured as a "isitation &$ the de"il, or &$ a do' fi'urin' the de"il, and "ice "ersa, the "isitation fi'ured as an illness, as in the saddlerLs histor$ of the pla'ueP and therefore that no one who writes stories of either, the de"il or the pla'ue, should forthwith &e dismissed as a for'er or a thief* Dhen, $ears a'o, he resol"ed to set down on paper the stor$ of his island, he found that the words would not come, the pen would not flow, his "er$ fin'ers were stiff and reluctant* But da$ &$ da$, step &$ step, he mastered the writin' &usiness, until &$ the time of his ad"entures with Frida$ in the fro!en north the pa'es were rollin' off easil$, e"en thou'htlessl$* 7hat old ease of composition has, alas, deserted him* Dhen he seats himself at the little writin'5 des@ &efore the window loo@in' o"er Bristol har&our, his hand feels as clums$ and the pen as forei'n an instrument as e"er &efore* 3oes he, the other one, that man of his, find the writin' &usiness easierE 7he stories he writes of duc@s and machines of death and (ondon under the pla'ue flow prettil$ enou'hP &ut then so did his own stories once* erhaps he misIud'es him, that dapper little man with the Fuic@ step and the mole upon his chin* erhaps at this "er$ moment he sits alone in a hired room somewhere in this
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wide @in'dom dippin' the pen and dippin' it a'ain, full of dou&ts and hesitations and second thou'hts* .ow are the$ to &e fi'ured, this man and heE As master and sla"eE As &rothers, twin &rothersE As comrades in armsE Gr as enemies, foesE Dhat name shall he 'i"e this nameless fellow with whom he shares his e"enin's and sometimes his ni'hts too, who is a&sent onl$ in the da$time, when he, Ro&in, wal@s the Fua$s inspectin' the new arri"als and his man 'allops a&out the @in'dom ma@in' his inspectionsE Dill this man, in the course of his tra"els, e"er come to BristolE .e $earns to meet the fellow in the flesh, sha@e his hand, ta@e a stroll with him alon' the Fua$side and hear@en as he tells of his "isit to the dar@ north of the island, or of his ad"entures in the writin' &usiness* But he fears there will &e no meetin', not in this life* 0f he must settle on a li@eness for the pair of them, his man and he, he would write that the$ are li@e two ships sailin' in contrar$ directions, one west, the other east* Gr &etter, that the$ are dec@hands toilin' in the ri''in', the one on a ship sailin' west, the other on a ship sailin' east* 7heir ships pass close, close enou'h to hail* But the seas are rou'h, the weather is storm$: their e$es lashed &$ the spra$, their hands &urned &$ the corda'e, the$ pass each other &$, too &us$ e"en to wa"e*

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