The Nobel Prize Committee has announced that French author Annie Ernaux has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature this year “for her courage and insight.”
French author Annie Ernaux.
In an announcement posted on Nobelprize.org on the afternoon of October 6, the committee stated that the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to French author Annie Ernaux “for her courage and insight” which she has used to explore “the roots, estrangement, and shared limitations of personal memory.”
In her writings, Annie Ernaux consistently examines her life from various perspectives, marked by strong disparities in gender, language, and class.
According to the awarding committee, her journey to becoming an author has been long and arduous.
According to AFP, Ernaux has written over 20 books, many of which have been included in school curricula in France over the decades. Her works open delicate and profound windows into the social life of modern France.
Above all, Ernaux’s literature is based on her own life, from a working-class girl to a figure in the upper literary class, providing a critical perspective on social structures and her own complex emotions.
“Her works are uncompromising and written in a simple, clear language,” stated the Swedish Academy, the organization that awards the Nobel Prize.
“And when she, with courage and insight, reveals the pain of class experience, describing shame, humiliation, jealousy, or the inability to see who she is, she achieves something admirable and enduring,” the organization added.
