A bit late in the week, but I do feel good – overall – about this year’s bunch of Nobel prizes. Particularly those to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore for Peace, in ‘informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change’, and to Doris Lessing, ‘whose prolific writing extends from the realistic to the fabulous’ and who is only the eleventh woman to win it for Literature (and in this case, feminist science fiction; yay!).
34 women have won Nobels across the disciplines since their inception in 1901; out of a total of 777 individuals and 20 organisations. However much people can mutter on about politics (and political correctness), all awards are inherently political and subjective (especially on artistic merit), and I’m glad when that politics and subjectivity coincide with mine. 🙂
Now my heart will be full when Ursula Le Guin wins it.
Three quotes from Doris to leave you with:
“The Golden Notebook for some reason surprised people but it was no more than you would hear women say in their kitchens every day in any country.”
“You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others, will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself – educating your own judgment. Those that stay must remember, always and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this society.”
“I’ve won all the prizes in Europe, every bloody one, so I’m delighted to win them all, the whole lot, OK? It’s a royal flush… I’m sure you’d like some uplifting remarks.” (on winning the Nobel)