On Receiving the Nobel Prize - Quietly > IDEAS & IDEALS

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 About a month ago we witnessed a rare but familiar scene created by the newspaper journalists and TV cameramen in front of Mr. Ko Un’s house, a famous poet in our country. We saw the same scene last year. It was reported or rumored that the poet would receive the Nobel Prize for literature and they assembled there to interview him. For two consecutive years they kept vigil at the poet's house on the eve of the official announcement of the winner of the most coveted and prestigious literary award in the world. They dispersed disappointed and crestfallen again this year hearing no good news from the Swedish Academy, as they had done before in the previous year. The prize went to Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist.

     Last year, to Mr. Ko's and his fans' great chagrin, the award went to Harold Pinter, the seventy-five year old English dramatist. The news was a surprise to the world including Mr. Pinter himself. His name was not even mentioned on the list of candidates for the prize. He was reported to have said that he had never dreamed of receiving the prize in his life until the moment the telephone rang announcing him to be the winner of the prize. Belatedly, the journalists and TV crews rushed to his house to congratulate and interview him.

     As far as I know, the names of the candidates for the Nobel prize in each field including literature can be guessed, discussed or predicted by the media before the award, but the winner of the award is kept secret until the final recipient's name is officially announced by the authority concerned. Until then the world is supposed to wait in silence, ignorance and humility. This is the norm _ decorum and courtesy observed by people of all civilized countries everywhere in the world, I think, but not in Korea. We are the only people on the face of the earth who make a great noise to win the Nobel prize individually as well as collectively.

     What makes me more confused in the case of Mr. Ko is the behavior of the poet himself. He did not show or express any annoyance or embarrassment at the hustle and bustle taking place before his house. Far from it. He acted as if he deserved it. He gave the strong impression that he had already been decided as the winner of the prize justly and rightfully. When the award went to another person, he seemed very dissatisfied and discontented, as if the award went to the wrong person. He even insinuated that he was a victim of racial as well as political discrimination, and many of his supporters and ignorant intellectuals in the country including some journalists seemed to endorse his attitude and temper.

     I wonder what made so many journalists rush to Mr. Ko's house. I wish to know what made Mr. Ko so sure of winning the prize, considering the number of writers in Korea and the world? What has become of the other famous writers in Korea _ so many self-advertising, self-promoting, and self-convinced best poets, best novelists, best essayists and best dramatists? Are they all dead? Have they all given up hope of winning the prize? Have they all become indifferent to the fame and big money guaranteed by the prize? Have they all become suddenly modest and humble enough to concede the prize to another person?

     Or have they all willingly decided to support Mr. Ko unanimously as a representative poet of Korea? Or, has Mr. Ko done something more positive to win the prize than other writers besides writing poems? Or has an influential person related to the Swedish Academy given him an early hint? I think there is no reason for only Mr. Ko to be so outstanding, conspicuous or confident among so many able and famous literary men in our country over the prize. Am I wrong? Am I too naive or ignorant of the maneuverings or practices going on behind the Nobel Prize for literature?

     It is a very honorable as well as profitable thing for any writer to win any literary prize, especially the Nobel Prize. To become a winner of the Noble prize is unquestionably and indisputably a dream for all the literary men in the world who toil incessantly to win fame and fortune _ the two ultimate things for all the writers to attain and achieve in their lifetime. It is quite understandable that Mr. Ko would challenge and aspire to win it.

     Although Mr. Ko failed in winning the Nobel prize twice consecutively, I expect that sooner or later the Nobel prize for literature will be awarded to one of the Korean writers, including Mr. Ko Un. Why not? The prize was created to be given. It is an annual event. However, it is not an easy job for juries to search and select a suitable winner among so many good and bad candidates every year. The biggest problem is that there are always too many good and bad candidates for one place. Inevitably luck and chance can play a more decisive role than any serious or predictable evaluation or deliberation, simply because superiority or quality of the literary works cannot be ranked as the first or the second as in a marathon race. It can miss one who is anxious for the prize, but fall on one who is utterly indifferent to it. It is not, therefore, the Nobel prize that any truly good, wise and proud writer should strive for. There is something more important for a poet to be concerned about than to be a Nobel laureate.

     It is the value of his works. No doubt the Nobel Prize will bring him instant fame and fortune, as the gold medal does to the champion of the marathon race in the Olympic games. For some period of time he will be idolized and lionized by the press, but as happens to all celebrities in the world, fame dies out gradually and is buried in oblivion. What remains and maintains his honor and name in eternity is his work. Any literary prize, the Nobel Prize included, does not and cannot increase or create literary value in his works. It remains as it is with or without, before or after the prize. The true value of his work precedes the prize. As long as his poems are truly good and enjoy a large circle of readers,  he should be satisfied and happy.
                                                                                               11-06-2006 17:51