The 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded jointly to Swedish authors Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) "for a narrative art, farseeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom" and Harry Martinson (1904–1978) "for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1974 nobelprize.org The winners were announced in October 1974 by Karl Ragnar Gierow, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, and later sparked heavy criticisms from the literary world.
At the award ceremony on 10 December 1974, Karl Ragnar Gierow of the Swedish Academy said that Johnson and Martinson
It is the fourth (after 1904, 1917, and 1966), and as of yet last, occasion when the Nobel Prize in Literature has been shared between two individuals.Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature nobelprize.org
Laureates
Eyvind Johnson
Individual, moral, societal, and political issues are the recurring themes in Eyvind Johnson's literary works. De fyra främlingarna ("The Four Strangers"), a collection of short stories, served as his literary debut in 1924. Romanen om Olof ("The Novel about Olof"), his four autobiographical novels that appeared between 1934 and 1937, is regarded as one of his most important works. In the trilogy about Krilon (1941–1943), in which the world is represented allegorically, he took a strong stand against fascism and nazism of his day.Eyvind Johnson – Facts nobelprize.org His other famous works include Strändernas svall ("Return to Ithaca", 1946), Drömmar om rosor och eld ("Dreams of Roses and Fire", 1949), and Hans nådes tid ("The Days of His Grace", 1960).Eyvind Johnson britannica.com
Harry Martinson
The poetry and prose by Harry Martinson are both written in a unique and passionate style. His experiences as a young seaman and hobo, as well as his difficult and unloving childhood, are among the themes. He cares much about nature and is interested in science, which is reflected in his philosophical views and depictions of the natural world. Martinson's most well-known composition, the Aniara poetry collection from 1956, tells the story of a spaceship that departs from Earth following a horrific nuclear war but subsequently deviates from its intended path.Harry Martinson – Facts nobelprize.org His other notable works include Kap Farväl ("Cape Farewell", 1933), Nässlorna blomma ("Flowering Nettle", 1935), and Vägen till Klockrike ("The Road", 1948).Harry Martinson britannica.com
Deliberations Nominations Eyvind Johnson was first nominated for the prize in 1962 and then every year until 1971. During this period Johnson declined to be considered for the prize as he himself was a member of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee (he resigned from the committee in 1972). Harry Martinson was first nominated in 1964, and had by 1973 been nominated twelve times by six different nominators. In 1965, Nobel committee member Erik Lindegren suggested the idea of a shared prize to the two authors: "They are really the opposite of everything provinsional."
In the early 1970s Johnson and Martinson were nominated individually for the prize by their colleague in the Swedish Academy, the 1951 Nobel Prize laureate Pär Lagerkvist, and Nobel committee member Henry Olsson nominated them for a shared prize in 1970. In 1974 Johnson and Martinson were nominated by Academy members Johannes Edfelt and Pär Lagerkvist, and Johnson also by three other external nominators. Nobel committee member Artur Lundkvist however strongly opposed that the Academy should award the Nobel prize to its own members and had in 1972 stated that the Academy should "think very carefully" before awarding a Swedish author. In his memoirs, committee member Lars Gyllensten claimed that Johnson and Martinson had been proposed from outside the Academy and justified the decision to award them, arguing that "The consequence of principally excluding members of the Academy as prize candidates would mean that the Academy could only elect second rate authors."
In total, the Nobel Committee received nominations for 101 writers, same amount of nominees as the preceding year. Twenty-two authors were first-time nominees, among them Rafael Alberti, Gwen Bristow, Kamala Surayya-Das, Ralph Ellison, Armand Gatti, Uwe Johnson, Herbert Marcuse, Czesław Miłosz (awarded in 1980), R. K. Narayan, Octavio Paz (awarded in 1990), Francis Ponge, Kenzaburō Ōe (awarded in 1994), Harold Pinter (awarded in 2005), Stephen Spender, Antonio Buero Vallejo and Louise Weiss. The highest number of nominations was for Jewish author Elie Wiesel (awarded the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize). The oldest nominee was Estonian poet Marie Under (aged 91). Ten of the nominees were women namely Gwen Bristow, Chen Min-hwa, Kamala Surayya-Das, Argentina Diaz Lozano, Nadine Gordimer (awarded in 1991), Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007), Astrid Lindgren, Victoria Ocampo, Marie Under and Louise Weiss – the highest number of female contenders in a year.
The authors Martin Armstrong, Herbert Ernest Bates, Buddhadeva Bose, Emma L. Brock, Carl Jacob Burckhardt, Arthur J. Burks, Rosario Castellanos, Cyril Connolly, Julius Evola, Marieluise Fleißer, Georgette Heyer, David Jones, Margaret Leech, María de la O Lejárraga, Lois Lenski, Eric Linklater, Walter Lippmann, Sigurður Nordal, Howard Pease, Olive Higgins Prouty, Maria Ossowska, Anne Sexton, Jacqueline Susann, Jan Tschichold, Herman Van Breda and Victor E. van Vriesland died in 1974 without having been nominated for the prize.