Does the Nobel in Literature Still Matter?

Yes, and here's why

Nobel medal for literature. A young man listening to the Muse.

There are many arguments as to why the Nobel Prize in Literature for some has become less significant than ever over several decades or so.

·       It’s too white.

·       It’s too male.

·       It’s too European.

·       The recipients are too obscure.

·       It’s too undemocratic. (The 18 member Swedish Academy makes the decision.)

But in a recent New York Times opinion piece, columnist A.O. Scott writes, “The academy does not celebrate great books; it consecrates great writers, compiling not a canon but a pantheon, not a reading list but a roster of immortals.”

This is the essence of the Nobel. It’s the opposite of social media, the algorithm, the list of best-sellers. And so, despite its flaws, it remains relevant because it is in many ways the exact opposite of popularity.

Scott insists that greatness is what we are determining here, which is of far bigger importance than sales numbers or five-star reviews on Amazon. He writes, “The Swedish Academy is not here to tell you what writers you might like. Greatness is not the same as popularity. It may even be the opposite of popularity. Great books are many times not the books you read for pleasure.”

In fact, great books are sometimes the ones we hate to admit we haven’t read, books by authors we’ve near heard of. (Read my piece in Medium about the books we are a little ashamed to admit we haven’t read.) Greatness is the painting that may not be “pleasing” but has striking impact or significance; it is the independent film that becomes a legacy in cinema, but few have come to the theaters to see. Box office numbers do not determine great films or directors. Greatness is not determined by the American Choice Awards. It is not about the Academy Awards or the Grammys or the best sellers list at The New York Times or anywhere else.

Greatness is bigger and more important than any of this.

Think Bob Dylan.

He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 not because he sold a lot of records. The rough elements of his nasal and now gravelly voice—a voice many distain—had nothing to do with whether he won or was considered for the Nobel. His greatness is bigger than his voice. His voice is not the point. Never was. Never should be. The reason he won the Nobel in Literature is because he turned songwriting into an essential art form, far beyond what pop music, rock music, or any music with lyrics has ever been. And lyrics are not only poetry, but they are also literature.

When he won the Nobel, the arts newsletter The Conversation published an opinion piece on why Dylan matters. “It’s hard to imagine a more prominent living figure in American culture – perhaps even world culture – than Bob Dylan, or one whose work combines a more richly poetic and surreal artistry in its vision of the contemporary world . . .”

Greatness. Enigmatic greatness. That is what the Nobel Prize in Literature is meant to celebrate. And at the risk of sounding snobby, greatness cannot be determined by the masses. Yes, the masses should have input and that input is highly important, but greatness can never be fully understood or imagined by the mass of us. And yet, you wonder, why does a small group of Swedes get to be the ultimate determiners of greatness? Why are they the arbitrators? Why not a more fully rounded, inclusive decision-making process? In truth, the Swedish Academy makes the final decision only after many others make recommendations. It’s not meant to be democratic. Yet some “democracy” is employed. And for me, that is enough. It’s the right balance. The Academy Awards are not determined by the movie-going public, the Grammy winners are not determined by who got the most “likes” on a musical post on TikTok. Experts are experts for a reason.

And now comes the 2024 announcement.

The winner is not white. Not male. Not European. Obscure? Depends on who you ask. She won the Booker Prize. That helps. But I doubt the readers of the uber popular, terribly-written, awful book Fifty Shades of Grey know who she is. (I’m not disparaging the readers. It’s the book that’s abysmal. Out of-curiosity, I read the first ten pages and could not bear another.)

Han Kang is from South Korea. She is best known in some circles as the author of The Vegetarian. She is the first South Korean ever to receive the major award. The Swedish Academy said she was receiving the honor “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

The Vegetarian was published in Korea in 2007. The New York Times called Kang a visionary. Today the book has over 24,000 reviews on Goodreads. But only 3.57 stars. (This may be exactly to my earlier point.) One reader of a five-star review wrote, “Wow. Just wow.” But a reader who gave a one-star review wrote, “Honestly, I'm not sure what I was supposed to take from this book and I'm not going to pretend for the sake of sounding intelligent or profound that I got it.”

There are hundreds of five-star reviewed books on Amazon and Goodreads, from authors—including me—who are nowhere close to a recommendation from the “experts” at the Swedish Academy. We lack “greatness.” For some readers, including me, “greatness” may be a very appropriate description for a book from an author who never will never brush with the “greatness” bestowed by the Nobel committee. And authors and readers everywhere must be okay with that. I have been okay with that my entire career.

James Joyce, by the way, never won the Nobel Prize in Literature. And one of my MFA mentors, who I highly admired, insisted Joyce was the greatest author in modern history, one of the most influential and critically successful. Is Joyce “great?” No question. Great enough for the Nobel? Apparently not.

So, does awarding the Nobel in Literature still make sense? Is it still relevant? Certainly, for Han Kang it is. And maybe now I’ll read The Vegetarian (along with many readers) or maybe one of her other prized works: The White Book or Human Acts. Her work had been on a back shelf of mine. But now, it’s moved up.

And maybe that is the very best reason for the Nobel Prize in Literature to continue to award greatness.

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David W. Berner is the author of several books of award-winning fiction and memoir. His latest, Daylight Saving Time: The power of growing older is available now. His novella, American Moon will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2026.