The Nobel Prize For Literature Goes To Jean…Who?
Posted on October 13, 2008 in Education by Shayani
He is an author of “new departures, poetic adventures and sensual ecstasy, an explorer of humanity beyond … the reigning civilization”- this is how the Nobel Prize academy announced this time’s Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio.
However, his name came as a surprise to the whole world. The world reacted with a “Jean…who?” on 9th October. This is because intellectual circles were speculating on the likes of Claudio Magris or Nuruddin Farah.
Who is Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio?
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio is a bi-lingual born in Mauritius. Though he speaks both English and French he writes in French because it was this language he had been exposed during his schooling. He was born to a British father and French mother. He has a Moroccan Wife.
Clezo travels a lot but does not settle anywhere for very long. At a given time, he might be at America or France, Canada or Mauritius. He has been to Thailand and has stayed with an Indian Tribe in Panama for some time.
His Works
At 23, he wrote his first novel, Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation) that was nominated for Prix Goncourt and was awarded the Prix Renaudot. He loves to write about other cultures. He has always supported what he had believed; like he did in Thailand when he protested against child prostitution.
He is the fourteenth of French Nobel Prize awardees. He has to his credit more than 30 works. He writes novellas, short stories and essays.
His Themes
The themes of his work more often than not criticize the European colonization and its effects that are still felt in the colonies. Jean Clezio is able to bring in his writing allhe has learnt from the diverse cultures he has experienced himself. In his interview to Adam Smith he said that his writing contains what he believes rather than any ideologies as such.
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