The 100 Most-Cited Authors of 20th Century Literature. Can Citation Data Forecast the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Number4 Januarv 28,1980
William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Stockholm. The Swedish Academy prize in literature in 1923 for “his always closely resembles the French and inspiring poetry, which in a highly ar- Spanish Academies. Affred Nobel, the tistic form, gives expression to the spirit inventor of dynamite, was a prolific of a whole nation. ”1 Thomas Mann, in reader as well as an aspiring author. So 1929, was awarded the prize “principally it is not surprising that he established an for his great novel, Buddersbrooks, award for literature along with prizes in which has won steadily increased physics, chemistry, and medicine. He recognition as one of the classic works also established the well-known Nobel of contemporary Literature.”1 Samuel peace prize. The first prizes were Beckett received the prize in 1969 for awarded in 1901. z his new forms of the novel and of Today, the members of the Swedish drama.2 Academy—18 writers, elected for These three authors, along with four life—judge literature nominations sub- other Nobel prize winners for literature, mitted by government leaders, promi- appeared on the list of most-cited arts nent scholars, former prize winners, and and humanities authors w? published fellow Academy members. I Any person last year.j That list was based on cita- who nominates himself or herself is tion data for 1977 and 1978, compiled automatically eliminated from con- from the data base we use to create the sideration. For purposes of the award, Arts & Humanities Citation Index ‘u the Swedish Academy defines literature {A&HCI ‘M). The list contained authors as not only “belles lettres, but also other from other areas of the arts and humani- writings, which, by virtue of their con- ties. However, authors of literature tents and form, possess literary value. ”h seemed disproportionately represented. This sweeping definition has allowed the Most of you are familiar with my fre- Academy to choose philosophers and quent assertions about the value of cita- historians as winners of the award along tion analysis in measuring the impact of with novelists, poets, and playwrights. scientific work.q There is little doubt The Nobel prize in literature has often that unusual citedness is often found been surrounded by criticism and among the winners of the Nobel prizes debate. Part of the reason for this stems in sciences But what may be true for from the wording of Alfred Nobel’s will. science is not necessarily the case in the In it, he specifically stated that the arts. Are the winners of the Nobel prize award was to be given “to the person in literature also heavily cited? Put who shall have produced in the field of another way—do the selections of the literature the most outstanding work of Nobel committees correspond to the an idealistic tendency. ”z (p. 9) Most people who are most often cited in the literary critics would agree that not all scholarly literature about literature? great literature is of “an idealistic The Nobel prize in literature is award- tendency.” Nevertheless, the judges of ed annually by the Swedish Academy in the awards, especially during the early
363 years, felt constrained by Nobel’s direc- autttors, most ot tnem were cteservmg, tive. Thus, in 1903 (the third year of the even in the opinion of literary scholars, prize) playwright Hennk Ibsen was Figure 1 shows the list of Nobel prize nominated but passed over for the prize winners in literature, along with the by the Academy because the members number of articles that cited them in the felt his works lacked idealism. That year A &HCI, 1977-78. Bjgfrnstjerne Bj@nson of Norway, a At this point I must note that the data favorite of Nobel’s while he lived, won base on which this study was based has a the prize for poetry. I distinct Anglo-American bias. We ex- Controversy surrounds the awards for pect that bias to change somewhat in other reasons as well. Some critics claim the future. We are now in [he process of that the awards are sometimes political- expanding our coverage in A& HCI, We ly motivated and that authors are given will be adding more journals from many the awards more for their personal non-English speaking countries. Some ideologies than for the literary merit of of the Nobel prize winners’ citation their works. For example, when the counts in Figure 1 might be higher if we French author Remain Rolland re- covered more journals from their own ceived the prize in 1915, his detractors countries. Nevertheless, some interna- alleged that Rolland was honored more tionally known prize winners—Thomas for his pacifism than for the novels he Mann of Germany. Jean-Paul Sartre of wrote. [7 France, and Aleksandr Soly.henitsyn of Critics also charge that certain the [JSSR—are well-cited, despite our authors who should have won the award bias. Indeed, it is often the case that did not for political reasons. For exam- famous literary figures are heroes ple, the great Russian novelist Leo abroad and taken for granted at home, Tolstoi was passed over by the Swedish In order to study the relationship be- Academy in favor of less illustrious can- tween citation data and the Nobel prize, didates. The traditional anti-Russian we compiled a list of the 50 most-cited bias of the Swedish government is authors of 20th century literature. This blamed for this slight. Tolstoi’s name was derived from the larger list of was presented to the Academy for nine authors cited in the A
364 Ffgrrre 1: Winners of the Nobel prize in literature, by year of prize. Their nationalities and the number of articles that cited them in the .4 rts & Humanities Ctfaf ion Index ‘“ (Ac4 HCI ‘u/ 1977-78 are indica ied. As a point of reference, the most-cited author in the A& HCI 1977-78, Karl Marx, was ci!ed in 704 articles. Wilfiam Shakespeare. the most-cited literary figure. was cited in 594 articles. (A = Year of prize: B = Name; C = Nationality: D = Number nf citing articles 197~-78)
A B c D A 8 c D
1901 Sully Prudhomme (F) 3 I944 Johannes V. Jensen (D) 1 I902 Theodor Mommsen (G] 45 1945 Gabriela Mistral (CHILE) 2 I%3 Bjtstnstjeme Bj$mson (N) 1 1946 Hermann Hesse (sWI) 2- 1904 Fr
CURRENT CONTENTS@ 019S0 by ISI @ 365 Figure 2: Fifty mosl-cit$? aut,hcms of literature who are or were eligible for the Nobel prize. Birthdate, de- scription of work. natmnahty of each authnr, and the number of articles ci(ing the author arc listed. Nobel prim winners are indicated. Authors still eligible t<, win [he prize are indicated by an asterisk. (A = Name; B = Descrip[i{m of work: C = Number of citing ar(icles: D = Year of Nobel)
A B I Sarlre, Jean-f’au] (b. 190S) French novelist. playwright!, critw, & philcxopher -.? Elm. Thomas Stearns ( INN+ 1%S) British poet & critic, fx)rn m [IS 3. Joyce, James ( 1882- 1941) Irish no, elist 4. James, Henry (1843-1916) British noveli~t. born m [IS 5 Russell, Bcr[rand (1872-1970) British mathematician & pbdosophm 6. Lawrence. Da>id Herberi British no,elist & Poe! (1835-1930) 7, Yeats, William Bu[ler (1865-1939) frish poet & playwright 8. B(mges, Jorge Lui\ (b. 1899) Argentine \hort ficti “Stall eligible CURRENT CONTENTS@ 366 @)19SOby lSl@ the Argentine Writers’ Association in authors who have “proven” themselves 1946. Borges was a prolific writer during rather than younger, newer talent, his younger years but now he asserts Three of the living authors on the list that his greatest work is behind him. Iz (who have not yet won the Nobel)— (p. 186-9) Miller, Graves, and Borges — are in Another writer who appears on our their 80s. Warren is 75 and Paz is 66. list and is still eligible for the prize is Oc- Robbe-Grillet and Gardner are the tavio Paz of Mexico. Pazis known as a youngest at 58 and 47, respectively. poet, critic, and essayist. His collected Scholarly conservatism has its parallel in essays, Alternating Current, cover a the conservative views of the Swedish wide range of topics from Oriental Academy. The majority of the recip- thought to third world politics. Paz’s ients of the Nobel to date have been most famous poem, “Piedra de Sol, ” older than 50 years of age. 1 was described by at least one critic as In Figure 3 we have compiled a list of “one of the most important poems to be the next 50 most-cited authors of published in the Western world.”lz (p. literature. Eight of these authors have 1112-4) won Nobel prizes. Generally speaking, The French novelist, screenwriter, the writers on this list are younger than and essayist Alain Robbe-Grillet is also the writers listed in Figure 2. Peter on the list. Robbe-Grillet is known as an Handke (The Left-Handed Woman) is advocate of the nouveau reman (new the youngest at 38. Seven more are in novel), a literary form described as their 40s: Mario Vargas Llosa (Con rer-- “what is left when the writer has swept sation in the Cathedral); Margaret At- away all of the delusions and dishones- wood ( The Edible Woman); Joyce Carol ties which encumber the traditional Oates (Them); John Updike (Rabbit, novel. ”lz (p. 1219-21) His best known Run); Thomas Pynchon (Gravity’s Rain- works include The Erasers, The bow); and Jerzy Kosinski (The Painted Voyeur, Jealousy, and In the Labyrinth, Bird). all “new novels. ” The majority of the authors in Figure Henry Miller, the American novelist, 3 who are living are 50 years old or over. provoked much controversy with Ted Hughes (Luperca/); Carlos Fuentes Tropic Of Cancer and Tropic of (Terra No.wra); Gabriel Garc(a M&quez Capricorn. These books are known to (One Hundred Years of Solitude); the public because of the use of explicit Harold Pinter ( The Homecoming); John sexual language. Not surprisingly, his Barth (End of the Road); James Baldwin work is highly cited.ls (p. 410-12) (Go Tell It on the Mountain); Italo Another author on the list is Robert Calvino (Cosmicomics); and Norman Penn Warren, who was once poetry Mailer (The Naked and the Dead) are all consultant to the Library of Congress. in their 50s. Ins Murd~ch (An A cciden - Warren has won the Pulitzer prize in tal Man); Julio Cortazar (Hopscotch); both fiction and poetry. Most critics Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork consider All the King > Men to be his Orange); Ralph Ellison (The Invisib/e masterpiece. 13(p. 489-90) Man); Eug&ne Ionesco (The Bald Also on the list are Robert Graves, of Soprano ); and Doris Lessing (The Grass I, Claudius fame and John Gardner, is Singing) are in their 60s. Three of the whose Grende/ was named one of 1971’s authors are in their 70s: Graham best fiction books by Time and News- Greene ( The Power and the Glory); week. Stephen Spender (The Edge of Being); To be taken seriously by literary and Simone de Beauvoir (Pn”me of Life). scholars, an author usually must have Fifteen of the American authors who demonstrated his ability to compile a appear in these two lists have won the corpus of worthy work. Literary Pulitzer prize, administered by Colum- scholars tend to be rather conservative bia University. They include Sinclair and more often cite the work of older Lewis, Wills Cather, John Steinbeck, 367 Figure 3: The next X) mcv.-ci!ed au(hors O( literature who are or were elig]hle ftw (he N(,hel prize. Birth- date, dmcrip(ion of work. nationality of each a“thtr, and (he number of artwle\ cili”g the au(b A B CD 51. Bellow, Saul (b. 19151 Amencxn n[l\eh\t M 19”tl S2. Mailer, Norman (h. 1923) Anlencan noveli\t 53. Rilke, Rainer Maria ( 1875-1926) Austrian p 70. ()’Cawy, Sean ( ltW+19b41 ~1. Barlh, John (b. 19.301 72. Hamfke, Peter lb. 1942) 73. Oa[e\, Joyce Carol (b, 19381 74. Fr,,s[, Roberl ( 1874- 1963) 7$. Hughe\, Langs[{m 11902- IYh” 1 76. Spcncfer, S[ephen (b. 1$091 77. White, Pa[rick lb. 19121 .39 19-,? ‘7/!. Baldwin, James (b, 1924) W . “9. Pinter, Harold lb. 1930) .lh “ N). Sdn(ayana, George ( IM.3-I 952) .3- 81. Pirandell,), Lui~l ( lXh”-f93hl .3> 1914 ti2. Verne, Jules I 1828-1905} 35 83. Calvin,,, [talo (h. 19231 1-l “ M. llpd]ke, John (b, 19321 .14 “ 8$ Ner”da, J%bk) .{3 ] y-l (Neftal[ Ricardo Reyes I ( 190+19”31 M. Cat her, Wilia I 187.3-194”) .{ I W. Ellium, Ralph (b. 19141 .31 “ 88. I[mewm Eug>ne (h. 1912) .31 “ 89. lliarc;~ Lorca, Fu.feric,) (lW&193h) .1I X). O’h’cdl, Eugene ( l&N-19531 .3 f f9.M) 91 Biill, Hei”rich (h, 191-1 .3(1 IW2 q?, C’hkkh,,\ Anl, m Pa\l{]\ich .3(1 II M(!-19041 93. c’{wIcau. Jean (1889- f9h31 .30 94. J@ch~)ll, ‘Thomas Ib. 193-1 29 . 95 Lessing, L) “\(ill eliglble 368 Robert Penn Warren, Ernest Hem- heavily and steadily long in advance of ingway, William Faulkner, and Saul the prize. 14 The prize itself, however, Bellow for fiction. Robert Penn Warren did not have a significant impact on won for poetry as well, along with citations afterwards. Only in certain Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, Wallace cases did the prize seem to provide an Stevens, W.H. Auden, William Carlos additional spur to research in the field Williams, and John Berryman. Norman represented by the winner. However, in Mailer received the Pulitzer for general the case of literary scholarship the op- non-fiction, and Eugene O’Neill for posite is often the case. Since literary drama. criticisms can never be the last word, If our experience in the sciences is the prize can stimulate a reappraisal of a repeated in literature we can expect that well-researched writer and also spur many of the eligible authors in Figures 2 new PhD dissertations and other and 3 will win Nobel prizes in the future, writings about less known writers. However, considering the proclivity of When we have more years of the the Academy for selecting relatively A&HCI to study, we can do some unknown writers, there is a high proba- chronological analyses to determine bility that the Nobel committee will only whether authors who receive the Nobel choose an author from these lists about prize are cited more frequently after 50?i0 of the time. they receive the award. One is tempted, finally, to speculate upon the possible effect of a Nobel prize ***** as a stimulus to increased scholarly in- terest in the recipient’s work. One of the My thanks to Esther Surden and characteristics of Nobel prize winners in Edward M. Sweeney for their help in science is that their work was cited the preparation of this essay. elm ‘5’ REFERENCES 1 OWerfing A. The literary prize. (Nobel Foundation, cd, ) N’ofJe/; Ihe man and hf.r prize,! Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1%2. p. 73-130. 2 Sfnha S M. Nobel laurea(es of Iitemture 1991-197.7, New Delhi: S. Chand. 1975, 397 p, 3 Garfield E. Mos\-cited authors in the arts and humanities, 197?-1978. Current Confents (32):5-10, 6 August 1979, 4, ------The 300 most-cited authors, 1%1-1976, including co-authors at last. 1. How the names were selected. Current Contents (2i):5-17, 10 July 1978. 5 ------The XX most-cited authors, 1%1- 1976. including co-authors. Part 2. The relationship between citedness. awards, and academy memberships, Currenr Contems (35):5-30, 28 August 1978. 6. Statutes of the Nobel Foundation. 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