Discovered a compelling essay today from writer Lyn Marven about this year's Nobel Prize for Literature winner (written in October shortly after the announcement).
You can read it here.
Herta Müller in Oslo
Meanwhile, the Prize has indeed been handed to Herta Müller
She was born on August 17, 1953 in the German-speaking town of Nitzkydorf in Banat, Romania. Her parents were members of the German-speaking minority in Romania. Her father had served in the Waffen SS during World War II. Many German Romanians were deported to the Soviet Union in 1945, including Müller's mother who spent five years in a work camp (gulag) in present-day Ukraine.
Many years later, in Atemschaukel (2009), Müller was to depict the exile of the German Romanians in the Soviet Union. From 1973 to 1976, Müller studied German and Romanian literature at the university in Timişoara (Temeswar). During this period, she was associated with Aktionsgruppe Banat, a circle of young German-speaking authors who, in opposition to Ceauşescu’s dictatorship, sought freedom of speech.
After completing her studies, she worked as a translator at a machine factory from 1977 to 1979. She was dismissed when she refused to be an informant for the secret police. After her dismissal, she was harassed by Securitate. Müller made her debut with the collection of short stories Niederungen (1982), which was censored in Romania. Two years later, she published the uncensored version in Germany and, in the same year, Drückender Tango in Romania.
As Ms.Müller shared in remarks surrounded by nobles, notables and the "undeserving" in Oslo, yesterday (December 10th), "Romania remains dominated by the henchmen of Nicolae Ceausescu" more than 20 years after that infamous public execution.
Known to be a "reticent speaker," Ms.Müller noted piercingly (condensed version):
Müller pulls no punches.
"Books have great potential to liberate."
As these are times yet demanding (great) change, may such change be of "great potential."
And may great books be our guides within our own "unfinished journeys" toward greater, fuller and even total liberation.
Herta Müller's Nobel Lecture, "Every word knows something of a vicious circle" can be read here.
You can read it here.
Herta Müller in Oslo
Meanwhile, the Prize has indeed been handed to Herta Müller
She was born on August 17, 1953 in the German-speaking town of Nitzkydorf in Banat, Romania. Her parents were members of the German-speaking minority in Romania. Her father had served in the Waffen SS during World War II. Many German Romanians were deported to the Soviet Union in 1945, including Müller's mother who spent five years in a work camp (gulag) in present-day Ukraine.
Many years later, in Atemschaukel (2009), Müller was to depict the exile of the German Romanians in the Soviet Union. From 1973 to 1976, Müller studied German and Romanian literature at the university in Timişoara (Temeswar). During this period, she was associated with Aktionsgruppe Banat, a circle of young German-speaking authors who, in opposition to Ceauşescu’s dictatorship, sought freedom of speech.
After completing her studies, she worked as a translator at a machine factory from 1977 to 1979. She was dismissed when she refused to be an informant for the secret police. After her dismissal, she was harassed by Securitate. Müller made her debut with the collection of short stories Niederungen (1982), which was censored in Romania. Two years later, she published the uncensored version in Germany and, in the same year, Drückender Tango in Romania.
As Ms.Müller shared in remarks surrounded by nobles, notables and the "undeserving" in Oslo, yesterday (December 10th), "Romania remains dominated by the henchmen of Nicolae Ceausescu" more than 20 years after that infamous public execution.
Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu December 25, 1989
Known to be a "reticent speaker," Ms.Müller noted piercingly (condensed version):
"There is a legacy in Romania, a legacy of dictatorship. The former Securitate and the former party nomenclature are very closely networked in Romania and through privatization they have managed to occupy almost all the key positions in society. What Romania needs is a civil society, but a civil society has to evolve and to do that it needs the right conditions. Romania does not have those conditions.And what of other regimes?
“The new secret service … took on 40 percent of the old secret service. The people in that apparatus have acquired a second life. [In Romania], “you can’t see who did what. No responsibility has been taken."
Müller pulls no punches.
"There is this great discrepancy as far as China is concerned. It claims to be to be on the road to democracy, but it is not even a half, not even a quarter, not even a tenth true. It has got nothing to do with democracy. Human rights have been cast aside. If there were less acceptance in the West then the rulers in China would have to think a little bit about how to change."Coincidentally, and perhaps presciently, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, said at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair (where China just happened to be the guest of honor):
"Books have great potential to liberate."
As these are times yet demanding (great) change, may such change be of "great potential."
And may great books be our guides within our own "unfinished journeys" toward greater, fuller and even total liberation.
Herta Müller's Nobel Lecture, "Every word knows something of a vicious circle" can be read here.
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