Women persist in conquering spaces in the world literary sphere

In literature, an emerging women’s movement is being consolidated on an international scale that can be seen with the winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature, as well as with their presence in the Swedish Academy, an institution that grants the highest award to literature.

The distinction began to be awarded in 1901, but it was only in 1909 when it was awarded to the Swedish Selma Lagerlöf, in recognition of the noble ideals, vivid imagination and spiritual insight that characterize his works.

Since then, women writers have gained ground little by little, although without yet reaching parity. To date, only 17 women have obtained this distinction compared to 99 men. In this year’s predictions, the outlook looks in favor of the Chinese critic and storyteller Can Xue, followed by the writers Anne Carson (Canada) and Liudmila Ulitskaya (Russia) (The Day, 3/10/24).

The Swedish Academy receives applications for nominations of candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature, proposals that must be examined by the Nobel Committee, which approves a list of five names. The next four months are dedicated to reading and reviewing the finalists’ works. In October, the members of the Academy vote, and the candidate who receives more than half of the votes is named the winner.

On Nobel committees, women represent only a quarter. In 2020, there were only two women out of seven members. These small groups do not have the final say on the final choice of the winners, but they make a prior selection, so they have an important influence.

Despite efforts to increase female representation, this process was also slowed because in most of the academies from which the committees came, members were elected for life. It was not until 2018 that King Carl XVI Gustaf modified the rules and opened the possibility that judges could resign (The Day, 20/4/18).

This important change happened because, at the end of 2017, the Academy went through a severe crisis after 18 academics reported having suffered harassment and sexual violence from French intellectual Jean-Claude Arnault, married to the Swedish writer Katarina Frostenson, a member of the Academy (The Day, 27/2/19).

Of the 18 members that the body must have, seven resigned, so there were not the necessary conditions to choose the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018, since a minimum of 12 votes is required to choose the winner. The Academy announced in May of that year that it would not award this distinction. (The Day, 5/5/18).

Sara Danius, the first woman to assume the position of permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, and collegiate Katarina Frostenson resigned from the institution after said controversy. Danius had joined the Nobel committee in 2013, and two years later she was appointed the first secretary of that jury, mostly made up of men. (The Day, 13/4/18).

Ethics above all

In his resignation, Danius said that Ethics must be placed at the highest place and strict rules for decision making, conflict and confidentiality must be observed and followed. Crimes and cheating must be prosecuted and reported to law enforcement authorityand asked that the academy continue the work she started. In response to the resignation, a large part of Swedish society rallied to support him through demonstrations in front of the headquarters of the Swedish Academy. (The Day, 18/4/18).

The scandal revealed a world stained by the use of enormous amounts of money, rivalries worthy of a court and many complaints against members of the cultural community for the silence that protected Arnault. However, it gave rise to opening a new chapter with the appointment of two new members: the novelists Ellen Mattson and Anne Swärd (The Day, 30/3/ 19).

The collegiate body that will decide the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature now includes seven women: the journalist Ingrid Carlberg (entered in 2020), the philosopher Åsa Wikforss (2019), Ellen Mattson (2019), the writer Anne Swärd (2019), the poet Jila Mossad (2018), Anna-Karin Palm (2023) and the poet Tua Forsström (2019).

The die is cast.

With information from AFP