The most prominent manifestation of the progress of social civilization in works of art is the rise of women’s literature. Zhang Ailing’s famous saying “I will still be a woman in my next life” is the most frank statement of the awakening of female subject consciousness. For a hundred years, there have also been 10 female writers on the authoritative Nobel Prize Ranking for Literature. Today, when men still play the leading role in society, it is particularly eye-catching that female writers can win the Nobel Prize. Whenever I open the thick Nobel Prize library, these women writers stand in front of me like goddesses, and their passion and dedication to literature are deeply respected.
In 1858, a noble officer family in the picturesque village of Mabaka, Värmland province in western Sweden gave birth to a baby girl named Lagerloff. The child suffered from lower limb diseases at the age of 3 and had difficulty walking. In the company of my grandmother who is a book and a good storyteller, I have been exposed to a large number of fairy tales and folklore. In 1891, she became famous with her first novel “Traveling on a Goose”. Since then, he has published series of works such as “Invisible Chains”, “Queens of Kungahara”, “Jerusalem” and “The Story of Belin”. In 1909, “because of her rich imagination, simple and beautiful style, and unique idealism in her works”, she became the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the second woman in the world to have an appointment with the Nobel Prize. Women (Austrian strong woman Sunart won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905 for her active promotion of world peace, and was also the first woman to win the Nobel Prize). Lagerloff died in 1940 at the age of 82. The story of her disability and determination has become a classic among Swedish tutors.
The second winner was the Italian “fiction fairy” Deleda (1875-1936). She started writing at the age of 15, and has written more than 30 novels and a large number of short stories such as “The Legend of Sardinia”, “The Road of Evil”, “Ashes”, “The Dove and the Eagle”. In 1926, it was “for her ideal-inspired writings, which portrayed life in her island homeland with clarity, and dealt with human problems in general with a profound and sympathetic attitude” that opened the door to the Nobel Prize. However, excessive mental work also damaged her health, and the industrious and prolific writer unfortunately died in Rome on August 15, 1936.
The third one was the Norwegian writer Undset (1882-1949). She has been interested in history since she was a child. She lost her father at the age of 11. In order to make a living, she worked in a commercial firm at the age of 16. She came into contact with the lives of middle and lower-class people and accumulated rich material for writing. In 1911, her famous work “Jenny” came out. The book depicts the complex psychology and tragic ending of a young girl’s dream of obtaining a father and son love. The writing is delicate and vivid, and it is known as a milestone in Norwegian literature. In 1928, the Swedish Academy awarded her the Nobel Prize in Literature for her “powerful portrayal of medieval Nordic life”.
The fourth recipient was American writer Pearl Buck (1892-1973). Her parents, both missionaries living in China, had idealistic and humanitarian concepts, which played a subtle role in Pearl Buck’s thinking. She has lived in China for a long time, received an education in Chinese classical culture, and has extensive contact with the lower and upper classes in China. She has written many novels reflecting Chinese social life. Such as “The Earth”, “The Sons”, “The Family” and so on. Pearl Buck is her Chinese pen name. Among them, the novel “The Earth” written in 1931 with the theme of the fate of Chinese peasants aroused great repercussions and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1932. She also spent 4 years translating “Water Margin”, translated as “All Brothers in the Four Seas”. In 1938, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for “her rich and truly epic depiction of Chinese peasant life, as well as her autobiographical masterpiece.”
The fifth recipient is the Chilean poet and social activist Mistral. She was born in Vicuña, northern Chile, on April 6, 1889, and died in New York, United States, in 1957. Due to her poor family background, she did not go to school to study. In 1914, in memory of his fiance who committed suicide, he wrote three poems entitled “Sonnets of Death”, expressing his sorrow for losing his lover and his longing for a happy love. The group of poems won the first prize in a poetry competition held in San Diego. Since then, her passion for creation has never stopped. In 1945, “her name became a symbol of Latin American ideals for her emotionally charged and tender poetry”. She became the first Latin American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The sixth extractor is the German poetess, playwright, and translator Sachs (1891-1970). She was born into a Jewish family in Berlin. Her childhood grew up in a privileged family, mostly dancing, music and writing. He published his debut novel “Legends and Stories” in 1921. He survived the horror of Nazi anti-Semitism for 7 years in 1933. He received the enthusiastic help of Swedish writer Nobel Prize winner Lagerloff and became a Swedish citizen after exile in Sweden. She mainly wrote lyric poems about the disaster and suffering of European Jewish nation during the dark period of fascist rule. Such as “In the House of Death”, “No One Knows Anymore”, “Escape and Transformation” and so on. In 1966, “for her remarkable lyrical poems and plays which express with moving force the fate of the Jewish nation of Israel and the spirit of forgiveness, deliverance, and yearning for peace that she reflects in her work”.
The seventh winner was South African writer Gordimer. On November 20, 1923, she was born into a Jewish family in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was obsessed with reading and making up stories since he was a child. At the age of 13, he published the fable “The Pursuit of Visible Gold” and began to create. The previous works mainly exposed the distortion of human nature by the South African racist system in a realistic style. Representative works include novels “VIP”, “July Family” and so on. She is a leading figure in South African literature, and her name has appeared 10 times on the nomination form for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1991, “for her straightforward description of the relationship between individuals and societies in very complex circumstances”.
The eighth recipient is African-American author Tony Morrison. In 1931, she was born into an ordinary working-class family in Ohio. After graduating from college, he worked as an editor and worked hard for the publication of Muhammad Ali’s autobiography and the works of some black writers. Since 1987, he has been a professor at Princeton University, teaching literary creation. His main works include the novel “The Bluest Eye”, “Song of Solomon”, “Baby” and so on. Morrison was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature for his imaginative and poetic novels that brought vivid descriptions of black life in the United States.
The ninth winner is the Polish poet Shimborska (1923-). During World War II, she studied in a secret secondary school, and after the war she studied philosophy and sociology at Jagiewo University in Krakow, Poland. Since the 1950s she has worked as editor of the popular Polish magazine “Cultural Life”. Her poetry selections are very rich, including political allegories, social metaphors, and personal lyric works, mostly using ordinary and simple sentences to express illusion and reality, time and non-time, history and reality, and the opposition and conflict between the individual and power and coordination, showing the delicate and far-reaching insights of a distinctive woman. These characteristics make her one of the most popular Polish poets since World War II. Her main works include poetry collections “We Live For This”, “Ask Yourself”, “Calling the Snowman”, “Salt”, “One Hundred Pleasures”, “History on the Bridge”, “The End and the Beginning”, etc. In 1996, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature for “because of her subtle irony in poetry and art, she has unearthed the profound meaning of historical changes and biological evolution behind the real life of human beings.” She herself is also in the Chinese translation. The preface of the collection of poems wrote: “Poetry has only one responsibility, to communicate with others. If my poems can meet attentive readers in China, I will be happy.”
The tenth winner is the Austrian writer Jerry Neck. On October 20, 1946, she was born into a wealthy intellectual family in the town of Murzuschlak in southern Austria. She began to study piano, organ and flute at an early age and attended the prestigious Vienna Conservatory. Jelinek began writing poetry very early. Her debut work was the anthology “Lisa’s Shadow” published in 1967, and her representative work is the long autobiographical novel “Piano Teacher”. The film adapted from this novel won three awards including the Jury Prize, Best Actor Award and Best Actress Award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. In 2004, Jelinek was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for her extraordinary language and musical dynamism in her novels, showing the absurdities of societies and their bizarre power to bring people to their knees.”
The Nobel Prize for Literature is a recognized international literary award. Since the award was presented in 1901, except for 1914 and 1918 in World War I and 1940-1943 in World War II, 99 writers have won this supreme honor so far. 10 female writers are on the list, especially since the 1990s, 4 female writers have won the laurels, which shows that the influence of female writers in the literary world has become increasingly important. Among the 10 female writers, there are 6, 3, and 1 in Europe, America, and Africa, respectively. Perhaps the next lucky one will fall in Asia.
The Chinese have a strong “Nobel” complex. In the eyes of Chinese people, on the one hand, the Nobel Prize is unconsciously valued and praised; on the other hand, it is more and more unfamiliar to the winner. In today’s popular fast food culture, the Nobel Prize literature may not be able to retain the attention of busy readers. But I always believe that reading can lead. Knowing and understanding 10 female writers who have won the Nobel Prize may help us to see from one side the independence of women’s personality, the awakening of women’s subject consciousness, and the wisdom power of women that is comparable to that of men.
