The 2021 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to the novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, for his “compassionate insight of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee”.
Gurah is a Tanzanian writer who writes in English and lives and works in the United Kingdom. He was born in Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous island off the east African coast. Zanzibar underwent a revolution in 1964 in which citizens of Arab origin were persecuted. Gurnah was forced to flee the country when he was 18. He began to write in English as a 21-year-old refugee in England. He has written numerous works that pose questions around ideas of belonging, colonialism, displacement, memory and migration.
He is one of the most important contemporary postcolonial novelists writing in Britain today and is the first black African writer to win the prize since Wole Soyinka in 1986. Gurnah is also the first Tanzanian writer to win.
Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel committee, said that Gurnah’s novels abandon conventional descriptions and turn our eyes to a culturally diverse East Africa unfamiliar to many in other parts of the world.
Gurnah, who was in the kitchen when he was informed of his win, said that he believed it was a wind-up.
“I thought it was a prank,” he said. “These things are usually floated for weeks in advance, or sometimes months beforehand, about who are the winners, so it was not something that was in my mind at all. I was just thinking, I wonder who’ll get it?”
“I am honored to be awarded this prize and to join the writers who have been superior to me on this list. It is overwhelming and I am so proud.”
His longtime editor, Alexandra Pringle at Bloomsburg, said Gurnah’s win was “most deserved” for a writer who has not previously received due recognition.
4. What helped Gurnah win the Nobel Prize in literature?
A.His popularity among readers. | B.His life experience as a refugee. |
C.His exploration of the suffering caused by colonialism. | D.His productivity in literary. |
5. Which of the following about Gurnah is True?
A.He has an American origin. |
B.He adopts English as his literary language. |
C.He was made to flee England when he was 18. |
D.He is the first black African writer to win the Nobel Prize. |
6. What was Gurnah’s first reaction to his award?
A.Thrilled. | B.Honored. | C.Astonished. | D.Proud. |
7. What did Alexandra Pringle think of Gurnah’s win?
A.It was an overdue recognition. | B.It was an unreasonable decision. |
C.It depended on good luck. | D.It made East Africa famous. |