The 1931 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded posthumously to the Swedish poet Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931) with the citation: "The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt." He was the third Swede to win the prize and remains the only recipient to be posthumously awarded.The Nobel Prize in Literature 1931 nobelprize.org Karlfeldt had been offered the award already in 1919 but refused to accept it, because of his position as permanent secretary to the Swedish Academy (1913–1931), which awards the prize.Gustav Källstrand Andens olympiska spel: Nobelprisets historia, Fri Tanke Förlag 2021, ISBN 9789180203715
Laureate
Karlfeldt's poetry is strongly influenced by the customs and environment of his childhood. But the area started to mirror the universal by becoming more and more of a microcosm. His art is primarily wild in character, marked by austerity and an antipathy to egotism. His alter ego, Fridolin, frequently appears in his poetry to convey his humor, sadness, longings, and mood. His poetry exhibits a superb command of words. Karlfeldt explored the potential offered by his imagination and poetry as an artistic medium, even though he had a strong bond with his home country and its customs.Erik Axel Karlfeldt – Facts nobelprize.orgErik Axel Karlfeldt britannica.com
Deliberations Nominations Karlfeldt was nominated in 10 different occasions starting in 1916. In 1931, he received a single nomination from the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nathan Söderblom, also a member of the Swedish Academy, with which he was awarded posthumously afterwards.Nomination archive – Erik Axel Karlfeldt nobelprize.org
In total, the Nobel committee received 49 nominations for 29 writers. Ten of the nominees are nominated first-time among them Hermann Hesse (awarded in 1946), Francis Jammes, Ole Edvart Rølvaag, Erich Maria Remarque, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, and Ramón Menéndez Pidal. The highest number of nominations were for the Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal with 8 nominations followed by Concha Espina de la Serna with 6 nominations. Three of the nominees were women namely Concha Espina de la Serna, Laura Mestre Hevia, and Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić.Nomination archive – 1931 nobelprize.org
The authors Arnold Bennett, Hjalmar Bergman, Rachel Bluwstein, Hall Caine, Enrico Corradini, Ernst Didring, Khalil Gibran, Frank Harris, Mary St. Leger Kingsley (known as Lucas Malet), Vachel Lindsay, George Herbert Mead, John Gambril Nicholson, Arthur Schnitzler, Hara Prasad Shastri, John Lawson Stoddard, Milan Šufflay, Ida B. Wells, Xu Zhimo, and Ieronim Yasinsky died in 1931 without having been nominated for the prize. Norwegian-American author Ole Edvart Rølvaag died weeks before the announcement.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Georg Bonne (1859–1945)essaysCarl Heldmann (1869–1943)2Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874–1938) ()novel, short storyGavro Manojlović (1856–1939)3Olaf Bull (1883–1933)poetryJens Thiis (1870–1942)4Ivan Bunin (1870–1953)short story, novel, poetry5Olav Duun (1876–1939) novel, short storyHelga Eng (1875–1966)6Paul Ernst (1866–1933)novel, short story, drama, essays7Concha Espina de la Serna (1869–1955) novel, short story8Édouard Estaunié (1862–1942)novel, essaysErik Staaff (1867–1936)9John Galsworthy (1867–1933)novel, drama, essays, short story, memoirMartin Lamm (1880–1950)10Stefan George (1868–1933)poetry, translationAndreas Hofgaard Winsnes (1889–1972)11Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947)poetry, drama, essays12Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)novel, poetry, short story, essays Thomas Mann (1875–1955)13Francis Jammes (1868–1938)poetry, songwriting, essaysAnders Österling (1884–1981)14Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950)novel, short story, poetry15Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931)poetry Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931)16Rudolf Kassner (1873–1959) philosophy, essays, translation19 professors from Austria, Germany and Switzerland17Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) philology, history18Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865–1941)novel, essays, poetry, dramaSigurd Agrell (1881–1937)19Laura Mestre Hevia (1867–1944)translationJuan Miguel Dihigo Mestre (1866–1952)20Martin Andersen Nexø (1869–1954)novel, short storyAlfred Döblin (1878–1957)21Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) poetry, essays22Ramón Pérez de Ayala (1880–1962)novel, poetry, literary criticismRamón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968)23Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970)novel, short story, essays, dramaTor Hedberg (1862–1931)24Ole Edvart Rølvaag (1876–1931)novel, short story, essaysLaurence Marcellus Larson (1868–1938)25Johann Rump (1871–1941)(pseud. Nathanael Jünger) theology, essaysFredrik Wulff (1845–1930)26Ivan Shmelyov (1873–1950)novel, short story Thomas Mann (1875–1955)27Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) novel, short story, poetryRafael Erich (1879–1946)28Paul Valéry (1871–1945)poetry, philosophy, essays, dramaDenis Saurat (1890–1958)29Anton Wildgans (1881–1932)poetry, dramaAxel Romdahl (1880–1951)
Prize decision In their report to the Swedish Academy dated 12 September 1931, the Nobel committee proposed that that year's Nobel Prize in Literature should be posthumously awarded to Erik Axel Karlfeldt: "With the death of E. A. Karlfeldt, the obstacle that in 1919 made it impossible for him to be awarded the Nobel Prize has been removed: his refusal to do so, in spite of the wish of the overwhelming majority of the Academy. His response can no longer be decisive, if the present Academy shares the same opinion about his worthiness for the prize. A written discussion on this matter would seem to be incompatible with the tradition of the Academy now as then. For the Committee, it seems sufficient to refer to the attendance that once existed around his name, an attendance for which the reasons have not since lost, but rather have grown in strength through his later work. For their part, they wish to express their support with complete agreement and lively conviction for the proposal to award E. A. Karlfeldt this year's Nobel Prize in Literature."
The Nobel committee's second proposal was John Galsworthy who was awarded the following year. The candidacy of Ivan Bunin, awarded in 1933, also attracted the Nobel committee: "The committee members have considered the proposed prize with keen interest, and although they have found that a couple of others should be given priority this year, they would like to speak out in principle in favor of its justification."
Considered but rejected candidates included Spanish philologist and historian Ramón Menéndez Pidal. The Nobel committee acknowledged "a truly classical creation of its kind, a rich and great life's work, distinguished also for the perfection in language and form which is an indispensable prerequisite for the Nobel Prize", but had doubts that Menéndez Pidal's field of work was within the scope of what should be awarded with the Nobel prize. Hermann Hesse, subsequently awarded in 1946, was dismissed with the justification: "despite his rare mastery of style and language, has not produced a sufficiently rich and sufficiently complete novel in its portrayal of life, for an award of the Nobel Prize to be fully justified. In addition, his ideal orientation, unusually clear and strong in its way, ends up in a complete ethical anarchy that would be difficult to reconcile with the aims of the prize founder."
On 8 November 1931, the Swedish Academy decided that the Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to "The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt".
Award ceremony His wife, Gerda Holmberg–Karlfeldt, was the one who received the Nobel diploma, medal and monetary prize worth SEK173,206 from King Gustaf V and permanent secretary, Per Hallström.
In the award ceremony held on 10 December 1931, Anders Österling, Swedish Academy member, explained the Nobel Committee's justification of awarding the prize posthumously, by saying:
Reactions The prize was controversial not just because it was the first and only time the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded posthumously, but because the Academy had previously awarded two other Swedish writers of the same literary era, Selma Lagerlöf in 1909 and Verner von Heidenstam in 1916.Helmer Lång, 100 nobelpris i litteratur 1901–2001, Symposion 2001, page 131 The prize decision was not well received in the Swedish press. In newspapers such as Dagens Nyheter and Stockholms Dagblad the Swedish Academy's decision to posthumously award an author, particularly one who had refused to accept it before, was questioned and said to be against the purpose of the award. A positive reaction was however expressed in Svenska Dagbladet saying that while the award to Karlfeldt was surprising it "on closer deliberation prove to be not just justifiable but beautiful". Internationally, it was heavily criticized as few had heard of Karlfeldt.
Notes
References
External links Award ceremony speech by Anders Österling nobelprize.org