Civil sacred: the nobel and the laureate position in cultural space

This essay situates the Nobel's institutional charisma within the “laureate position,” an older but still relevant socio-institutional formation that frames literature as a “higher good” (as distinct, say, from “mere” entertainment). The first three sections place the Nobel within the landscape...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Leypoldt, Günter (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: December 2023
In: Poetics
Year: 2023, Volume: 101, Pages: 1-12
ISSN:1872-7514
DOI:10.1016/j.poetic.2023.101826
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2023.101826
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X23000669
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Author Notes:Günter Leypoldt
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Summary:This essay situates the Nobel's institutional charisma within the “laureate position,” an older but still relevant socio-institutional formation that frames literature as a “higher good” (as distinct, say, from “mere” entertainment). The first three sections place the Nobel within the landscape of literary prizes, discussing its particular currency of value (strong rather than weak), its relation to different frames of value (consumerist, democratic, charismatic) and sites of consecration (the literary field vs. the civil-sphere). The next three sections sketch the Nobel's historical background - the laureate position - from the early modern period through the present, looking at how differing regimes (vocation, trade, singularity, communality) can form a “good match” depending on time and place. The final two sections explore how the Nobel deals with the prize system's internal tensions between “respect” and “esteem” (when identitarian expressivism clashes with notions of craft or intellectual mastery), as well as with tensions between competing agents of consecration (exploring how Handke's Nobel crystallizes a conflict between the more scholastic curation cultures of the laureate position and the media and problem brokers of the civil sphere).
Item Description:Online verfügbar: 9. September 2023
Gesehen am 20.11.2023
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1872-7514
DOI:10.1016/j.poetic.2023.101826