2005 Nobel Prize in Literature

20px 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature Harold Pinter Swedish Academy 1901 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2005/summary/ 2005 laureate Pinterfoto_cropped2.jpg "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms." 2005 10 13 yes (announcement) 10 December 2005 (ceremony) Stockholm, Sweden 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature 2006 The 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the British playwright Harold Pinter (1930–2008) "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms."The Nobel Prize in Literature 2005 nobelprize.org He is the 11th British writer to become a recipient of the prize after William Golding in 1983 and was followed later by Doris Lessing in 2007 and Kazuo Ishiguro in 2017. Laureate Harold Pinter Harold Pinter's writing consists primarily of dramas. A recurring theme in his plays is an inability to communicate in relationships, while the dialogue is often clear-cut, the expressions of relationships—balances of power, class and gender divisions—lie beneath the words. His plays sometimes include dark humor and violence that is combined with their unpredictability, making them frightening. Pinter's writing also has a political dimension, inciting revolt against ruling power. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Caretaker (1959), The Homecoming (1964), No Man's Land (1975), Betrayal (1978), and Family Voices (1980).Harold Pinter – Facts nobelprize.orgHarold Pinter britannica.com Ladbrokes favourites On Ladbrokes, favourites to win the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature were Turkish author Orhan Pamuk (awarded in 2006) and Syrian poet Adonis.https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/oct/13/nobelprize.awardsandprizes2 Nobel prize goes to Pinter Crown, Sarah 13 October 2005 The Guardian Other strong contenders believed to be considered by the Swedish Academy included American novelists Joyce Carol Oates and Philip Roth, Canadian author Margaret Atwood, Czech author Milan Kundera, South Korean poet Ko Un, Peruvian-born novelist Mario Vargas Llosa (awarded in 2010) and Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer (awarded in 2011).https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9568207 Nobel Prize short list is long on guesswork 2 October 2005 NBC News Reactions When Horace Engdahl, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, announced Harold Pinter as the recipient of the 2005 Nobel prize, it instigated some public controversy and criticism relating both to characteristics of Pinter's work and to his politics.See, e.g., http://www.johannhari.com/2005/12/05/harold-pinter-does-not-deserve-the-nobel-prize Harold Pinter does not deserve the Nobel Prize : Johann Hari Johann Hari johannhari.com 5 December 2005 27 June 2011 https://www.webcitation.org/5zu9LmhTL?url=http://www.johannhari.com/2005/12/05/harold-pinter-does-not-deserve-the-nobel-prize 3 July 2011 dead ; https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB112950379731670200#articleTabs%3Darticle The Sinister Mediocrity of Harold Pinter - WSJ.com Christopher Hitchens The Wall Street Journal subscription 17 October 2005 Dow Jones New York 0099-9660 27 June 2011 https://www.webcitation.org/5zu9P9hXJ?url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112950379731670200.html 3 July 2011 dead ; and http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/215795/harold-pinters-special-triteness/david-pryce-jones Harold Pinter's Special Triteness David Pryce-Jones National Review Online subscription 28 October 2005 27 June 2011 https://www.webcitation.org/5zu9UAqOB?url=http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/215795/harold-pinters-special-triteness/david-pryce-jones 3 July 2011 dead When interviewed that day about his reaction to the announcement, Pinter said: "I was told today that one of the Sky channels said this morning that 'Harold Pinter is dead.' Then they changed their mind and said, 'No, he's won the Nobel prize.' So I've risen from the dead."https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/oct/14/books.nobelprize 'They said you've a call from the Nobel committee. I said, why?' Michael Billington The Guardian 14 October 2005 GMG London 0261-3077 60623878 29 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20081007101851/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/oct/14/books.nobelprize 7 October 2008 dead Nobel lecture Art, Truth and Politics The Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony and related events throughout Scandinavia took place in December 2005. After the Academy notified Pinter of his award, he had planned to travel to Stockholm to deliver his Nobel lecture in person.https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/nov/24/books.nobelprize Publisher to stand in for Pinter at Nobel ceremony Mark Honigsbaum The Guardian 24 November 2005 GMG London 0261-3077 60623878 29 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20081007060329/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/nov/24/books.nobelprize 7 October 2008 dead In November, however, his doctor sent him to hospital and barred such travel, after a serious infection was diagnosed. Pinter's publisher, Stephen Page of Faber and Faber, accepted the Nobel Diploma and Nobel Medal at the Awards Ceremony in his place.https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/movies/07lyal.html Harold Pinter – Sleuth Sarah Lyall The New York Times 7 October 2007 New York 0362-4331 26 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20120104055337/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/movies/07lyal.html 4 January 2012 dead Billington, Harold Pinter 423–24. Although still being treated in hospital, Pinter videotaped his Nobel Lecture, "Art, Truth and Politics", at a Channel 4 studio. It was projected on three large screens at the Swedish Academy on the evening of 7 December 2005,https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/international/europe/08pinter.html Playwright Takes a Prize and a Jab at US Sarah Lyall The New York Times 8 December 2005 New York 0362-4331 29 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110731165550/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/international/europe/08pinter.html 31 July 2011 dead and transmitted on More 4 that same evening in the UK.Billington, Harold Pinter 424. The 46-minute lecture was introduced on television by David Hare. Later, the text and streaming video formats (without Hare's introduction) were posted on the Nobel Prize and Swedish Academy official websites. It has since been released as a DVD.Pinter Harold http://www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/filmstobuy/category/6/product/6/harold_pinter_art,_truth__politics.html Art, Truth & Politics Illuminations 14 November 2011 24 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924033649/http://www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/filmstobuy/category/6/product/6/harold_pinter_art,_truth__politics.html dead Der Spiegel, described Pinter's speech as a "searing attack on US foreign policy".Opinion: "The Crimes of the United States Have Been Systematic, Constant" https://www.spiegel.de/international/opinion-the-crimes-of-the-united-states-have-been-systematic-constant-a-389251.html Der Spiegel 26 May 2021 en 8 December 2005 Michael Billington, writing in The Guardian, said Pinter's speech was "highly political, especially in its clinical dissection of post-war US foreign policy", which, Pinter said, had "supported and in many cases engendered every rightwing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the second world war".Billington Michael Passionate Pinter's devastating assault on US foreign policy https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/dec/08/books.nobelprize The Guardian 26 May 2021 en 9 December 2005 Billington wrote that a highlight of Pinter's speech was his critique of media coverage of US actions abroad: "Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn't know it. It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis." Pinter quoted Father John Metcalf speaking to Raymond Seitz, then Minister at the US Embassy in London, "My parishioners [in Nicaragua] built a school, a health centre, a cultural centre. We have lived in peace. A few months ago a Contra force attacked the parish. They destroyed everything: the school, the health centre, the cultural centre. They raped nurses and teachers, slaughtered doctors, in the most brutal manner. They behaved like savages. Please demand that the US government withdraw its support from this shocking terrorist activity." Seitz responded, "Let me tell you something. In war, innocent people always suffer." Pinter called the US invasion of Iraq "an arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public", and condemned the British government for its cooperation.http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html Nobel Lecture – Literature 2005 Harold Pinter nobelprize.org 2005 29 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110702144620/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html 2 July 2011 dead Pinter's lecture has been widely distributed by print and online media and has provoked much commentary and debate,Billington, Harold Pinter 425–27. with some commentators accusing Pinter of "anti-Americanism". http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T12259220115&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=601&resultsUrlKey=29_T12259177788&cisb=22_T12259220136&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=249784&docNo=612 Harold Pinter: the last anti-American Gwynne Dyer The Guardian, archived at Lexis-Nexis Transcontinental Media Group Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 13 December 2005 29 June 2011 subscription In his Nobel Lecture, however, Pinter emphasises that he criticises policies and practices of American administrations (and those who voted for them), not all American citizens, many of whom he recognises as "demonstrably sickened, shamed and angered by their government's actions". References External links Prize announcement 2005 nobelprize.org Award ceremony speech nobelprize.org 2005 Category:Harold Pinter Nobel