15 The Nobel Academy
For the last 82 years, Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will receive
the Nobel Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated
from the great and the near great to the immortal. But today the Academy is
coming under heavy criticism both from the without and from within. Critics
contend that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true
writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and
of Sweden itself. According to Ingmar Bjorksten, the cultural editor for
one of the country's two major newspapers,the prize continues to represent
"what people call a very Swedish exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes." The
Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its
selection by asserting that its physical distance from the great literary
capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from outside
influences. This may well be true, but critics respond that this very
distance may also be responsible for the Academy's inability to perceive
accurately authentic trends in the literary world.
Regardless of concerns over the selection process, however, it seems that
the prize will continue to survive both as an indicator of the literature that we most
highly praise, and as an elusive goal that writers seek. If for no other
reason, the prize will continue to be desirable for the financial rewards
that accompany it; not only is the cash prize itself considerable, but it
also dramatically increases sales of an author's books.
諾貝爾委員會
過去的 82 年里，瑞典的諾貝爾委員會決定了誰將獲得諾貝爾文學獎，因此也就決定了 誰將從偉大或近乎偉大榮升為不朽。
但在今天，該委員會卻遭到了評選委員會內(nèi)外的猛烈 批評.批評者們爭論說："評選獲獎者時，起作用更大的不是真實的寫作能力，而是該委員會以及瑞典特有的內(nèi)部政治.按照瑞典兩家主要報紙之一的文化版編輯Ingmar Bjorksten 的說法，該文學獎仍然是"人們所說的一種非常瑞典式的做為：反映瑞典口味"。對于其評選過程中目光短淺的指責，該委員會辯護說，該委員會與世界幾大文學之都相距遙遠，實際上 使該委員會免受外來的干擾。
這也許是對的，但批評者們反駁說,也正因為相距如此遙遠,該委員會才不能準確地把握文學界的真正趨勢。盡管對評選程序存在著關注，該文學獎將繼續(xù)作為世人最為推崇的文學的標志而存在，并將繼續(xù)是作家們難以達到卻又會不斷追逐的目 標.如果不考慮其他因素，而僅僅考慮與之俱來的經(jīng)濟利益，該獎也將繼續(xù)為人所渴求：
這不僅因為該獎本身就是一筆可觀的現(xiàn)金收入，而且該獎還將極大地增加一個作家的著作的銷量。
For the last 82 years, Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will receive
the Nobel Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated
from the great and the near great to the immortal. But today the Academy is
coming under heavy criticism both from the without and from within. Critics
contend that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true
writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and
of Sweden itself. According to Ingmar Bjorksten, the cultural editor for
one of the country's two major newspapers,the prize continues to represent
"what people call a very Swedish exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes." The
Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its
selection by asserting that its physical distance from the great literary
capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from outside
influences. This may well be true, but critics respond that this very
distance may also be responsible for the Academy's inability to perceive
accurately authentic trends in the literary world.
Regardless of concerns over the selection process, however, it seems that
the prize will continue to survive both as an indicator of the literature that we most
highly praise, and as an elusive goal that writers seek. If for no other
reason, the prize will continue to be desirable for the financial rewards
that accompany it; not only is the cash prize itself considerable, but it
also dramatically increases sales of an author's books.
諾貝爾委員會
過去的 82 年里，瑞典的諾貝爾委員會決定了誰將獲得諾貝爾文學獎，因此也就決定了 誰將從偉大或近乎偉大榮升為不朽。
但在今天，該委員會卻遭到了評選委員會內(nèi)外的猛烈 批評.批評者們爭論說："評選獲獎者時，起作用更大的不是真實的寫作能力，而是該委員會以及瑞典特有的內(nèi)部政治.按照瑞典兩家主要報紙之一的文化版編輯Ingmar Bjorksten 的說法，該文學獎仍然是"人們所說的一種非常瑞典式的做為：反映瑞典口味"。對于其評選過程中目光短淺的指責，該委員會辯護說，該委員會與世界幾大文學之都相距遙遠，實際上 使該委員會免受外來的干擾。
這也許是對的，但批評者們反駁說,也正因為相距如此遙遠,該委員會才不能準確地把握文學界的真正趨勢。盡管對評選程序存在著關注，該文學獎將繼續(xù)作為世人最為推崇的文學的標志而存在，并將繼續(xù)是作家們難以達到卻又會不斷追逐的目 標.如果不考慮其他因素，而僅僅考慮與之俱來的經(jīng)濟利益，該獎也將繼續(xù)為人所渴求：
這不僅因為該獎本身就是一筆可觀的現(xiàn)金收入，而且該獎還將極大地增加一個作家的著作的銷量。