1974 Nobel Prize in Literature

and Harry Martinson with author Gabriel Jönsson and his wife Annicka Jönsson, at a writers' meeting in 1958. Eyvind Johnson Individual, moral, societal, and political issues are the recurring themes in Eyvind Johnson's literary works. De fyra främlingarna ("The Four Strangers"), a collection of short stories, served as his literary debut in 1924. Romanen om Olof ("The Novel about Olof"), his four autobiographical novels that appeared between 1934 and 1937, is regarded as one of his most important works. In the trilogy about Krilon (1941–1943), in which the world is represented allegorically, he took a strong stand against fascism and nazism of his day. His other famous works include Strändernas svall ("Return to Ithaca", 1946), Drömmar om rosor och eld ("Dreams of Roses and Fire", 1949), and Hans nådes tid ("The Days of His Grace", 1960). Harry Martinson The poetry and prose by Harry Martinson are both written in a unique and passionate style. His experiences as a young seaman and hobo, as well as his difficult and unloving childhood, are among the themes. He cares much about nature and is interested in science, which is reflected in his philosophical views and depictions of the natural world. Martinson's most well-known composition, the Aniara poetry collection from 1956, tells the story of a spaceship that departs from Earth following a horrific nuclear war but subsequently deviates from its intended path. His other notable works include Kap Farväl ("Cape Farewell", 1933), Nässlorna blomma ("Flowering Nettle", 1935), and Vägen till Klockrike ("The Road", 1948). ==Deliberations==

Nominations Eyvind Johnson was first nominated for the prize in 1962 and then every year until 1971. During this period Johnson declined to be considered for the prize as he himself was a member of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee (he resigned from the committee in 1972). Harry Martinson was first nominated in 1964, and had by 1973 been nominated twelve times by six different nominators. In 1965, Nobel committee member Erik Lindegren suggested the idea of a shared prize to the two authors: "They are really the opposite of everything provinsional." In his memoirs, committee member Lars Gyllensten claimed that Johnson and Martinson had been proposed from outside the Academy and justified the decision to award them, arguing that "The consequence of principally excluding members of the Academy as prize candidates would mean that the Academy could only elect second rate authors." In total, the Nobel Committee received nominations for 101 writers, same amount of nominees as the preceding year. Twenty-two authors were first-time nominees, among them Rafael Alberti, Gwen Bristow, Kamala Surayya-Das, Ralph Ellison, Armand Gatti, Uwe Johnson, Herbert Marcuse, Czesław Miłosz (awarded in 1980), R. K. Narayan, Octavio Paz (awarded in 1990), Francis Ponge, Kenzaburō Ōe (awarded in 1994), Harold Pinter (awarded in 2005), Stephen Spender, Antonio Buero Vallejo and Louise Weiss. The highest number of nominations was for Jewish author Elie Wiesel (awarded the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize). The oldest nominee was Estonian poet Marie Under (aged 91). Ten of the nominees were women namely Gwen Bristow, Chen Min-hwa, Kamala Surayya-Das, Argentina Diaz Lozano, Nadine Gordimer (awarded in 1991), Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007), Astrid Lindgren, Victoria Ocampo, Marie Under and Louise Weiss – the highest number of female contenders in a year. In 1974, a shared prize to Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson was proposed by Johannes Edfelt, a member of the Swedish Academy. The Nobel committee proposed that the 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded jointly to Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson. The committee's second proposal was a shared prize to Nadine Gordimer (subsequently awarded in 1991) and Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007). Their third proposal was Saul Bellow (awarded in 1976), either awarded alone or shared with Norman Mailer, and their fourth proposal was Eugenio Montale (awarded in 1975). Graham Greene, who had for many years been a candidate for the prize, was again also proposed by the committee. Lundkvist advocated a shared prize to Gordimer and Lessing. No other objections against the proposal to award Johnson and Martinson the prize was noted within the Academy. ==Reactions==

The joint selection of Eyvind Johnson and Martinson for the Nobel Prize was very controversial as both were members of the Swedish Academy, the institution that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature. Graham Greene, Jorge Luis Borges, Saul Bellow (awarded in 1976) and Vladimir Nabokov were favourites to win the award that year. The choice of Johnson and Martinson was heavily criticised by the press in their home country, mainly because the Swedish Academy awarded two of their own members. The most fierce critic, Sven Delblanc in Expressen, called it "a catastrophic decision" and said that the little credibility of the Nobel Prize in Literature that was left "would be wiped out with mockery, rolling around the world". He thought awarding the two academy members was a case of corruption: “There exists no strong international opinion advocating these authors. The choice reflects a lack of judgment by the academy. And lack of judgment in a serious context like this can only too easily be interpreted as corruption through camaraderie. Mutual admiration is one thing, but this smells almost like embezzlement.” In a survey in Svenska Dagbladet, a majority of the literary professors and authors called it an excellent choice. Positive reactions were also noted in Denmark, Norway, Finland, England and the USA. A writer in Times Literary Supplement wrote "That Martinson and Johnson are worthy recipients of the prize, few acquainted with their work would deny." In the same publication, the Swedish criticism was described as driven by envy of the same kind that had beset several other successful Swedish people. ==Award ceremony==

At the award ceremony on 10 December 1974 in Stockholm Concert Hall Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson received their awards. At the ceremony Alexander Solzhenitsyn also received his 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature, after finally having been allowed to leave the Soviet Union. Solzhenitsyn's presence was much noticed in the Swedish press. ==Aftermath==

In his memoirs, published in 2000, former secretary of the Swedish Academy and Nobel committee member Lars Gyllensten justified the prize decision and claimed that it was well received by the Swedish public. The negative reactions in the Swedish press Gyllensten described as driven by envy and the Law of Jante. In the book Gyllensten claimed that Martinson's suicide in 1978 was a direct result of the heavy criticism led by Sven Delblanc in Expressen and Olof Lagercrantz in Dagens Nyheter. In his 2023 Harry Martinson biography, Svedjedal devoted over twenty pages to the 1974 Nobel Prize in literature. Svedjedal concluded: "In the longer perspective the Nobel prize helped to further bring Harry Martinson and Eyvind Johnson to the world literature. But in the short and half-long perspective the prize was rather a pain for especially Harry. Even if many reactions were positive he felt the negative so strong that nearly all happiness was ruined." ==References==