2022 Nobel Prize in Literature

October 7, 2022

French author Annie Ernaux recently received Nobel Peace Prize in Literature.

Key facts

Annie Ernaux, whose works are mostly autobiographical, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of her courage and clinical acuity with which she exposes her life through literature.
Her works are mostly inclined towards sociology, focusing on topics such as abortion and other social issues.
They are influenced by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, Simone de Beauvoir and the May 1968 social unrest.
Ernaux is only the 17^th female author to receive this prestigious award in the field of literature.
She is the second woman to receive the award 3 years after the American poet Louise Gluck received the 2020 award.
Her notable works include the debut “Cleaned Out” and the “A Simple Passion” – a bestseller in France depicting the author’s affair with a married foreign diplomat.
Her works feature her childhood days in a small town in Normandy, an illegal abortion she underwent in the 1960s and other such aspects.
Ernaux’s international bestseller is the “The Years”, which narrates the 70 years of her life. This work was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2019. It covers post-war France and the shift towards sexual liberation and consumerism.
Her experiences on love affairs, unlawful abortion and ambivalence about marriage and motherhood were considered to be radical by conservatives. However, they were resonated by broader reader-base.
Her literary works connect individual memory to collective experience, especially of women and working-class people.

About Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded every year to honour authors whose works focuses on idealism. The prestigious international award was conferred for the first time in 1901 to Sully Prudhomme, in recognition of his poetic works. Till 2022, it was conferred 115 times to 119 Nobel Prize Laureates.

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