This year’s literature laureate Jon Fosse writes novels heavily pared down to a style that has come to be known as ‘Fosse minimalism’, according to Nobel Prize Twitter…reports Asian Lite News
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 has been awarded to Norwegian author Jon Fosse “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”, the Royal Swedish Academy announced in Stockholm on Thursday.
The 64-year-old author and dramatist had according to the Academy produced works spanning a variety of genres including plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations.
Fosse receives 11 million Swedish krona, about USD 991,000.
“I am overwhelmed and grateful,” he said in a news release issued by his Norwegian publisher after the accolade according to the New York Times.
“I see this as an award to the literature that first and foremost aims to be literature, without other considerations,” the US daily newspaper reported.
This year’s literature laureate Jon Fosse writes novels heavily pared down to a style that has come to be known as ‘Fosse minimalism’, according to Nobel Prize Twitter.
This can be seen in his second novel ‘Stengd gitar’ (1985), when Fosse presents us with a harrowing variation on one of his major themes, the critical moment of irresolution. A young mother leaves her flat to throw rubbish down the chute but locks herself out, with her baby still inside. Needing to go and seek help, she is unable to do so since she cannot abandon her child. While she finds herself, in Kafkaesque terms, ‘before the law’, the difference is clear: Fosse presents everyday situations that are instantly recognisable from our own lives, according to the Nobel Prize Twitter.
While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly recognised for his prose, the Swedish Academy described the author born in 1959 in Haugesund in Norway’s west coast.
Fosse writes in Norwegian Nynorsk, one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmal.
According to his publisher, since his 1983 fiction debut, Fosse has written prose, poetry, essays, short stories, children’s books, and over 40 plays, with more than a thousand productions performed and translations into 50 languages. Fosse, according to the official Twitter feed of The Nobel Prize has much in common with his great precursor in Norwegian Nynorsk literature Tarjei Vesaas.
The author, it said, combines strong local ties, both linguistic and geographic, with modernist artistic techniques. He includes in his Wahlverwandschaften such names as Samuel Beckett, Thomas Bernhard and Georg Trakl.
“While Fosse shares the negative outlook of his predecessors, his particular gnostic vision cannot be said to result in a nihilistic contempt of the world. Indeed, there is great warmth and humour in his work, and a naive vulnerability to his stark images of human experience,” it said. (ANI)
In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionised the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be utilised in applications…reports Asian Lite News
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the year 2023 has been awarded to three scientists – Moungi G Bawendi, Louis E Brus, and Alexei I Ekimov – for their discovery and synthesis of ‘quantum dots’.
Quantum dots are tiny nanoparticles whose properties are determined by their size. Their discovery has significantly contributed to the technology of QLED televisions and LED lamps, where these nanoparticles are instrumental in creating vibrant colours.
“The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 rewards the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties. These smallest components of nanotechnology now spread their light from televisions and LED lamps, and can also guide surgeons when they remove tumour tissue, among many other things,” the official website of the Nobel Prize stated in their press release.
In the field of chemistry, an element’s property is governed by the number of electrons, to matter as small as nano-dimensions, the property is governed by the size of the matter. The three Nobel Laureates have successfully produced so tiny particles that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena. The particles, which are called quantum dots, today hold great importance in the field of nanotechnology.
Initially, few scientists believed that the concept of nano dimensions would be put to practical use. However, in the early 1980s, Alexei Ekimov succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. The colour came from nanoparticles of copper chloride and Ekimov demonstrated that the particle size affected the colour of the glass via quantum effects.
A few years later, Louis Brus was the first scientist in the world to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid.
In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionised the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be utilised in applications.
Today, the quantum dots illuminate computer monitors and television screens based on QLED technology. It adds nuance to the light of some LED lamps, and biochemists and doctors use them to map biological tissue.
Researchers believe that in the future the concept of Quantum dots could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and encrypted quantum communication.
Earlier on Tuesday, scientists Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.”
On Monday, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. (ANI)
The Laureates’ experiments have produced pulses of light so short that they are measured in attoseconds, thus demonstrating that these pulses can be used to provide images of processes inside atoms and molecules…reports Asian Lite News
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 for exploring the world of electrons with extremely short pulses of light.
The award went to Pierre Agostini from the the Ohio State University; Ferenc Krausz from Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Germany; and Anne L’Huillier from Lund University, Sweden “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter”.
In the world of electrons, changes occur in a few tenths of an attosecond — an attosecond is so short that there are as many in one second as there have been seconds since the birth of the universe.
The Laureates’ experiments have produced pulses of light so short that they are measured in attoseconds, thus demonstrating that these pulses can be used to provide images of processes inside atoms and molecules.
“The three Nobel Laureates in Physics 2023 are being recognised for their experiments, which have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules,” the Academy said in a statement.
“Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier have demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy”.
A prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor will be shared equally between the Laureates. In 1987, L’Huillier discovered that many different overtones of light arose when she transmitted infrared laser light through a noble gas.
Each overtone is a light wave with a given number of cycles for each cycle in the laser light. They are caused by the laser light interacting with atoms in the gas; it gives some electrons extra energy that is then emitted as light.
L’Huillier has continued to explore this phenomenon, laying the ground for subsequent breakthroughs. In 2001, Agostini succeeded in producing and investigating a series of consecutive light pulses, in which each pulse lasted just 250 attoseconds.
At the same time, Krausz was working with another type of experiment, one that made it possible to isolate a single light pulse that lasted 650 attoseconds. The Laureates’ contributions have enabled the investigation of processes that are so rapid they were previously impossible to follow.
“We can now open the door to the world of electrons. Attosecond physics gives us the opportunity to understand mechanisms that are governed by electrons. The next step will be utilising them,” said Eva Olsson, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
There are potential applications in many different areas. In electronics, for example, it is important to understand and control how electrons behave in a material. Attosecond pulses can also be used to identify different molecules, such as in medical diagnostics.
Dr Renil Mannar with Dr Morten Meldal , winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The Indian-born scientist speaks highly of Meldal and said that the Nobel Prize winner has been a major support base for him ever since he landed in Copenhagen….reports Asian Lite News
Dr. Renil Manat is on the top of the world as his long-time associate and family friend, Dr. Morten Meldal has won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Manat has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala under Dr. V.N. Rajashekaran Pillai, a former Chairman of University Grants Commission.
The Keralite who has roots in Kozhikode and Thalassery, while speaking from Copenhagen, Denmark over the telephone, said, “It’s really a happy moment of Dr. Morten Meldal winning the Nobel prize for Chemistry with two others. I am associated with Dr. Morten Meldal for several years and it was in fact his invitation that brought me to Denmark.”
Manat said that he and his family were at Meldal’s home for breakfast on Sunday.
He said that Copenhagen is a hub of research in Biotechnology and Chemistry, adding that several Indian IT companies have also now set foot in Denmark.
Manat did his Chemistry graduation from Malabar Christian College, Kozhikode, and his Post Graduation from S.N. College, Kollam followed by Ph.D. from Mahatma Gandhi University under the guidance of Prof V.N. Rajashekhara Pillai.
Manat is now with Carlsberg Research Laboratory (CRL) and is associated with Meldal being invited by him to join his team in CRL along with a few other scientists.
The Indian-born scientist speaks highly of Meldal and said that the Nobel Prize winner has been a major support base for him ever since he landed in Copenhagen.
Manat’s wife Chandini Renil is a pedagogue at European School in Copenhagen while Meldal’s wife Phaedria is an entrepreneur and the family enjoys a warm relationship.
Meldal had in between opened a biotech company where Manat was also associating. However, due to some licensing issues, it has to be shut down and Manat joined back in CRL while Meldel joined the University of Copenhagen.
Meldel and Manat had developed a biodegradable packing material in 2008 and the patent for this is with the CLR. Manat is now working on innovative beer flavours and some of them are based on ayurvedic herbs.
The Kerala-based scientist also said that there are chances of Meldel would come to Kerala to attend the Kerala Science Congress which is to be held in January 2023.
The event comes at a critical juncture of the Covid-19 crisis and the UN climate summit, and will address how the pandemic has deepened longstanding social and economic inequalities…reports Asian Lite News
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa and Zahra Joya, an Afghan reporter who fled the Taliban, will join a distinguished line-up of speakers that also includes world-renowned Professor of Economics Jeffrey Sachs, Executive Director of Aspen Digital Vivian Schiller and founder of craigslist, philanthropist Craig Newmark at the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s flagship annual forum Trust Conference on November 17-18.
They will join human rights defenders, innovators, media experts, policymakers and business leaders at the online forum, which brings together thousands of delegates from around the world.
The event comes at a critical juncture of the Covid-19 crisis and the UN climate summit, and will address how the pandemic has deepened longstanding social and economic inequalities, has revitalised the drive for a sustainable future and has triggered an alarming spike in media freedom and human rights violations.
With 18 hours of live-streamed talks, plenaries and insight sessions, leading experts from a variety of disciplines will share new insights on shifting the post-pandemic economy onto a more inclusive and sustainable path, one built on the principles of human rights, media freedom and climate justice.
They will weigh in on cutting-edge solutions to tackle the world’s most consequential challenges, including the business case for economic inclusion, the path to zero emissions, the human cost of internet shutdowns and a legal network for journalists at risk.
This year’s diverse speakers are at the forefront of their respective fields, and also include Dr Hilda C. Heine, Senator and former President of the Marshall Islands; Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE, Mayor of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown; Zahra Joya, Journalist and founder of Rukhshana Media in Afghanistan; Javier Pallero, Policy Director at Access Now; Shamina Singh, Executive VP for Sustainability at Mastercard; Jorge Rubio Nava, Global Head of Social Finance at Citi; Danielle Belton, Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post; Lina Attalah, Co-founder of independent Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr; Alessandra Galloni, Editor-in-Chief of Reuters; Kanbar Hossein Bor, UK Coordinator Media Freedom Campaign & Deputy Director Democratic Governance, FCDO; Ma Jun, Founding Director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, specialising in human rights and civil liberties.
“The converging economic, health and climate crises are putting our democracies, people and planet under an existential threat,” said Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO Antonio Zappulla.
“But there is also a great opportunity for a coordinated global response — the success of which depends on how well we work with and learn from each other.
In response to the ongoing, drastic deterioration of media freedoms, the Foundation will also be launching a new Legal Network for Journalists at Risk (LNJAR) at Trust Conference, an initiative in partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Media Defence.
The LNJAR comprises 15 organisations, and strategically coordinates different types of legal support to enable journalists and independent media outlets to continue to cover public interest stories and hold power to account without fear of retribution.
Additionally, the Foundation will unveil its partnership with UNESCO, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the International News Safety Institute (INSI) through which it has developed practical and legal tools for journalists, media managers and newsrooms to counter harassment.
Now in its ninth year, Trust Conference reflects the Thomson Reuters Foundationa¿s work in tackling the world’s most complex societal issues, with a focus on socio-economic inclusion, sustainability, media freedom and human rights.
Ressa now is filling in the blanks around Zuckerberg (and Sandberg and Facebook). And the atom bomb part is part of Silicon Valley commentator Kara Swisher’s New York Times op-ed headline this weekend…reports Nikhila Natarajan.
A Nobel Peace Prize spotlight isn’t what Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is used to. But he’s getting it. Big time.
The timing couldn’t be harsher. It comes amidst pushback from whistleblower Frances Haugen, Wall Street Journal investigations, and long-time nemesis Tim Cook of Apple splicing at the foundations of Facebook’s $84-billion advertising revenue model.
Enter Maria Ressa, a journalist, the first winner in her tribe – alongside Russian Dmitry Muratov – since German Carl von Ossietzky in 1936, spitting fire, calling out Zuckerberg (and his deputy Sheryl Sandberg) by name, even linking Facebook to the atom bomb.
As context, in the press announcement on October 8, the Nobel committee lauded the Filipina’s work against her country’s President, Rodrigo Duterte, but fell tactfully short of naming Zuckerberg or Facebook.
Ressa, they said, “uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines (and) uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines… has shown herself to be a fearless defender of freedom of expression. Rappler (her platform) has focused critical attention on the Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign. The number of deaths is so high that the campaign resembles a war waged against the country’s own population….(Rappler) also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.”
Ressa now is filling in the blanks around Zuckerberg (and Sandberg and Facebook). And the atom bomb part is part of Silicon Valley commentator Kara Swisher’s New York Times op-ed headline this weekend.
In their 45-minute Sway podcast on which the NYT indictment rests, Swisher asked Ressa: “Do you think your Nobel Prize will be a wake-up call for people like Mark Zuckerberg to listen to you? I think it should be. Or the Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen’s testimony before Senate. Will that be a wake-up call for them? Do you think that’s the case?”
The Nobel laureate launched thus: “I think it was a bad week, the week of the Nobel Prize because what Frances Haugen did was the tipping point in terms of – well, first politics. The bipartisan – both Democrats and Republicans finally coming together. But I thought it was great that they came together on Facebook’s own reports about the impact on teenagers. But I thought it was really bad that they didn’t extend that to what that means for the people on the front lines, for the human rights defenders, for journalists, that what this means is that insidious manipulation. It’s not because the teenagers are weak mentally. It’s that the weaknesses of human beings’ biologies are being exploited by these platforms.”
“So again, do you think it’s a wake-up call for them? I don’t. I think they’ve moved into defence mode, very significantly,” Swisher, who has 1.4 million Twitter follows, asked.
“I got to remain optimistic. I think you’re probably right because of the money involved. And that’s something that also took me a few years because I believed – and maybe, I know I wrongly believed – that like news organisations, they would take the responsibility of the public sphere seriously. They certainly hired a lot of journalists at a certain point. I do think they exploded an atom bomb in the information ecosystem. And it cannot happen again. And it keeps happening again, every day. So I hope they listen,” Ressa replied.
Maria Ressa
“Let’s talk about Facebook as a weapon. About 70 million Facebook users in the Philippines out of a population just north of 100 million. It’s a huge megaphone. What are the main strands of misinformation and disinformation that Facebook helped spread in the region?,” Swisher continued.
“All the meta-narratives that you have, right, like Duterte is the best leader in the world. The Pope said Duterte is, and then all the congratulations. I think the first step was to take out the DDS. It used to be the Davao Death Squad. And within a few weeks of him taking office, DDS began to stand for Duterte Diehard Supporters. How you can watch in plain view while words that were negative were turned positive. So it started by spinning the narrative propaganda, but propaganda on steroids. And then after that, they went after potential critics,” Ressa replied.
“Like me and Leila de Lima, who’s a Senator now, who’s serving her fifth year in prison. It’s almost like that was the fertiliser before the government took actions. It’s always bottom up on social media and then top down. The weaponisation of the law was always preceded by the weaponisation of social media. And Facebook was that. And I think the other part is now that as we walk into our May elections, this is the greatest danger. We will not have integrity of elections if we don’t have integrity of facts. And that’s why I continue to appeal to these American companies to put guardrails, voluntarily do it, turn up the dial on news, which we now know is possible. They did it, and then they realized, oh, no, there’s less engagement, meaning we make less money. So let me turn it back down and let the lies proliferate, right?”
At this point of time, Swisher names Zuckerberg. “So you personally warned Mark Zuckerberg about the dangers of Facebook in the Philippines, and you asked him to come see what was happening for himself. Can you talk about that encounter?”
Facebook. (File Photo: IANS)
“Yeah,” Ressa said, “this was in April of 2017 on the sidelines of the F8 Conference that they have. Before then, I had already spoken to at least 50 different officers and people working inside Facebook because by August 2017, we were under full attack. 2016 to 2018 was when we watched our information ecosystem get torn down and our world turned upside down. I came under attack. I mean, come on, Kara, 10 arrest warrants in less than two years. It’s like, I don’t even know how to react to it.”
“I see him at F8, and his smarts struck me. He’s very smart. He could understand all the different technologies that we were bringing up. But I think what made it different was I wanted him to understand how he was determining what was happening to the Philippines and what was happening to me, right? I explained how powerful Facebook was. And I said 97 per cent of Filipinos on the internet are on Facebook. And then he asked me a question. He was very quizzical. He just said, wait, wait, what are the other 3 per cent doing?”
“And we laughed. The table laughed because it was – I guess it wasn’t that it was cute, it just didn’t dawn on me what it was showing, because the halo of Facebook was still there. I was working very constructively behind the scenes and continue to be a partner, even though I continue to demand better, because I felt that that’s the only option. You must publicly demand better because we are at risk. And then I just talked a little bit more about what was happening. And I asked for help. I always ask for help, because this is not within our control. That’s the thing.”
“Oh, I also spoke to (Facebook COO) Sheryl Sandberg …and she listened – Sheryl asked me to contact her. And then I never heard back. And just trying to stay alive as a digital organisation under attack and as a person.”
Facebook F8 is a mostly-annual conference for developers and entrepreneurs who build products and services around the website. It was hosted in San Francisco, California until 2016, and moved to Silicon Valley, California in 2017.
Gurnah said Britain has become more aware of racism over the decades and had “accelerated” discussion of its imperial past. But “institutions, it seems to me, are just as mean, just as authoritarian as they were.”…reports Asian Lite News.
Nobel literature laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah has criticised the “lack of compassion” of governments, including Britain’s, that treat migrants as a problem or a threat, media reported
Tanzania-born UK-based post-colonialist novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, whose oeuvre mainly deals with the physical and mental disruptions faced by refugees, was on Thursday conferred the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2021.
Announcing the award – the first to a non-European writer since Japan-born Kazuo Ishiguro in 2017 – the Swedish Academy cited his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”.
Born in the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar in 1948, Gurnah reached the UK as a refugee at the end of the 1960s. After his PhD in 1982, he began his academic career with teaching at a Nigerian university and is currently a Professor and Director of Graduate studies at the UK’s University of Kent. His focus is on postcolonial writing and in colonial discourse, with focus on Africa, the Caribbean and India.
He said the tribulations faced by migrants hadn’t lessened in the decades since he left his homeland. “It might seem as if things have moved on, but once again you get new arrivals, same old medicine,” Gurnah told reporters a day after winning the prize. “Same old ugliness in the newspapers, the mistreatment, the lack of compassion from the government.”
Gurnah said Britain has become more aware of racism over the decades and had “accelerated” discussion of its imperial past. But “institutions, it seems to me, are just as mean, just as authoritarian as they were.”
He said Britain’s detention of asylum-seekers and the Windrush scandal, in which thousands of long-term residents of the U.K. from the Caribbean were caught up in crackdown on illegal immigration, “seem to me to be just continuations of the same ugliness.”
Beginning with “Memory of Departure” (1987), his 10 novels include the Booker and Whitbread-nominated “Paradise” (1994), with the most recent being “Afterlives” (2020).
He has also a collection of short-stories titled “My Mother Lived on a Farm in Africa” (2006) to his credit.
Gurnah, who came to the UK in the 1960s to study and eventually settled there as a refugee, obtained his PhD in 1982…reports Asian Lite News.
Amid resurgent questions over cultural identity and colonial legacies, the Nobel Prize for Literature 2021 has been awarded to the first writer since Sir V.S. Naipaul (2001) to deal with the vexed impact of colonialism and the dilemmas of travellers – forced or voluntary – among differing cultural millieus.
And new Nobel laureate – the Zanzibar-born, UK-based academician-cum-writer Abdulrazak Gurnah has, in his academic career, guided plenty of research on Sir Vidia, as well as Salman Rushdie, G.V. Desani, Anthony Burgess, and above all, Joseph Conrad, whose most powerful works dwelt on colonialism and its “civilising legacy” – in its very heyday.
Loved learning about Abdulrazak Gurnah. Growing up in Zanzibar, the Nobel committee said, “Arabic and Persian poetry, especially The Arabian Nights, were an early and significant wellspring for him.”
Gurnah is known for a relatively small but significant oeuvre dealing with the ‘clash’ between homegrown tradition and colonialism in Africa and elsewhere, the disruptions in cross-culture encounters, especially for refugees, and construction of identity and memory, leavened with autobiographical elements.
Awarded for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”, he is the second writer after Japanese-born but UK-settled Kazuo Ishiguro (2017) to be conferred the Nobel for his work in English, despite it not being his “mother” tongue, and the first writer originating from out of the “West” since China’s Mo Yan in 2012.
Gurnah, who came to the UK in the 1960s to study and eventually settled there as a refugee, obtained his PhD in 1982. After a stint at a Nigerian university, he has been teaching in the UK and his academic focus is postcolonial writing and colonial discourse, with focus on Africa, the Caribbean and India.
This is reflected in his works – 10 novels in slightly over two decades, and a collection of short stories.
Set in an unnamed East African coastal town at the end of colonial rule, his literary debut “Memory of Departure” (1987) is a coming of age novel, in first person narration, picturesquely depicting the local culture and the role of its dynamics in moulding the persona of the protagonist, who finally decides to strike out for bigger prospects.
The autobiographical elements recur in “Pilgrim’s Way” (1988), a humorous but a bit dark account of a Muslim Tanzanian student Daud’s fight for survival against marginalisation in an English provincial town, with his wit, imagination, mental mockery and letter-writing being his only weapons against the cultural philistines – unlike his Biblical namesake (David).
“Here I sit, making a meal out of asking you to dinner. I don’t really know how to do it. To have cultural integrity, I would have to send my aunt to speak, discreetly, to your aunt, who would then speak to your mother, who would speak to my mother, who would speak to my father, who would speak to me and then approach your mother, who would then approach you,” goes one letter by Daud to a prospective date.
But it was “Paradise” (1994), shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Whitebread Prize, that brought Gurnah into the centre stage. Entertwining myth, storytelling, and East African and European literary traditions, it is the rite of passage of Yusuf pawned by his father to a rich merchant he must accompany on dangerous trading expeditions from the East African coast into the interior as European rule looms. The contrasts with Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” are telling.
In “Admiring Silence” (1996), Gurnah deals with how distance affects the memory of a “perfect” homeland. The story of a Zanzibari man, who marries an English woman and writes romantic tales of the Africa he “remembers”, it goes on to depict what ensues when he returns home.
“Desertion” (2005) lives up to its name. A combination of two stories – the account of a bunch of young siblings in the period of transition for colonialism, and a half-century old story of colonial contacts, cross-cultural romance and its impact, the story brings both strands into one in the unforgiving present.
But Gurnah doesn’t always remain in the past. “Gravel Heart” (2017) is set in the Zanzibar of the 1970s, and while it reprises some elements of “Pilgrims’ Way”, it does so in a more unsentimental and harsher way.
His most recent work is “Afterlives” (2020), which deals with a different, shorter but more harsher colonial past, as the conflict in Europe spreads its shadow on Africa.
A welcome move by the Swedish Academy, which will help to dissipate its reputation for “Eurocentrism”, Gurnah’s Nobel is a welcome step recognising voices dealing with one of the most vexing and patently ambiguous historical conundrums of present times.
