2002 Nobel Prize in Literature
{{Infobox award
| name = 20px 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature
| subheader = Imre Kertész
| awarded_for =
| presenter = Swedish Academy
| year = 1901
| website = {{oweb|https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2002/summary/}}
| holder_label = 2002 laureate
| holder =
| image = Oliver Mark - Imre Kertész, Berlin 2005.jpg
| caption = "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history."
| host =
| date = {{plainlist|
- {{Start date|2002|10|10|df=yes}} (announcement)
- 10 December 2002
(ceremony)
}}
| location = Stockholm, Sweden
| previous = 2001
| main = Nobel Prize in Literature
| next = 2003
}}
The 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Hungarian novelist Imre Kertész (1929–2016) "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history."[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2002/summary/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 2002] nobelprize.org He is the only Nobel Prize recipient from Hungary.[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Imre-Kertesz Imre Kertész] britannica.com{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/10/arts/hungarian-novelist-wins-nobel-prize-in-literature.html|title=Hungarian Novelist Wins Nobel Prize in Literature|author=Alan Riding|date=10 October 2002|access-date=21 May 2021|website=New York Times}}
Laureate
{{main|Imre Kertész}}
Before its release in 1975, Imre Kertész worked on his first book, Sorstalanság ("Fatelessness"), for a long time. The novel is about a young György Köves, who is detained and sent to concentration camps but ultimately survives. Kertész wrote about what it means to live with an intellectual death sentence and how to cope with living in a world where so many people have perished. With his books, he identifies with the literary genre known as "witness fiction," in which a trauma is described from personal experience by the author.[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2002/kertesz/facts/ Imre Kertész – Facts] nobelprize.org His other celebrated prose include A nyomkereső ("The Pathseeker", 1977) and Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért ("Kaddish for an Unborn Child", 1990).
Reactions
Kertész was a controversial figure within Hungary, especially since being Hungary's first and only Nobel Laureate in Literature, he still lived in Germany. This tension was exacerbated by a 2009 interview with Die Welt, in which Kertész vowed himself a "Berliner" and called Budapest "completely balkanized."{{cite web |title=Kertészkedés |url=http://hangorienidiocc.blog.hu/2009/11/08/kerteszkedes_5 |access-date=11 May 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Krause |first1=Tilman |title=Ich schreibe keine Holocaust-Literatur, ich schreibe Romane |url=https://www.welt.de/welt_print/kultur/literatur/article5116030/Ich-schreibe-keine-Holocaust-Literatur-ich-schreibe-Romane.html |newspaper=Die Welt|access-date=31 March 2016 |language=de |date=7 November 2009}} Many Hungarian newspapers reacted negatively to this statement, claiming it to be hypocritical. Other critics viewed the Budapest comment ironically, saying it represented "a grudge policy that is painfully and unmistakably, characteristically Hungarian."{{cite web |title=Kertész birthday interview causes controversy |url=http://www.hlo.hu/news/kertesz_birthday_interview_causes_controversy |publisher=Hungarian Literature Online |access-date=11 May 2014}} Kertész later clarified in a Duna TV interview that he had intended his comment to be "constructive" and called Hungary "his homeland".
References
{{Reflist}}