Nobel Prize in Literature
诺贝尔文学奖

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Alfred Nobel, produced “in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”. The academy announces the name of the chosen laureate in early October. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
诺贝尔文学奖是瑞典学院自1901年开始颁发的诺贝尔奖之一，根据阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔的遗嘱，每年表彰“在文学领域创作出具有理想主义倾向之最佳作品”的一位作者，无论他/她来自哪个国家。每年10月初瑞典学院宣布荣誉得主。它是阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔于1895年在其遗嘱中设立的5个奖项之一。其他奖项是诺贝尔化学奖、诺贝尔物理学奖、诺贝尔和平奖和诺贝尔生物医学奖。

Nobel's choice of emphasis on idealism in his criteria for the Nobel Prize in Literature has led to recurrent controversy. In the original Swedish, the word idealisk translates as either “idealistic” or “ideal”. In the early twentieth century, the Nobel Committee interpreted the intent of the will strictly. For this reason, they did not award certain world-renowned authors of the time such as James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Marcel Proust, and Henry James. More recently, the wording has been more liberally interpreted.
诺贝尔要求文学奖获奖者必须具备理想主义，这一直引发争议。瑞典语中，原词“idealisk”翻译过来是“理想主义的”或“理想化的”。20世纪初，诺贝尔评委会严格按照遗嘱字面意思执行这一意愿，导致当时蜚声文坛的作家，如詹姆斯·乔伊斯、列夫·托尔斯泰、安东·契诃夫、马塞尔·普鲁斯特、亨利·詹姆斯等知名作家都与诺贝尔文学奖失之交臂。如今，诺贝尔奖评委对这一遗愿的解读更加自由。

The Swedish Academy has attracted significant criticism in recent years for its handling of the award. There have also been controversies involving alleged political interests relating to the nomination process and ultimate selection of some of the recent literary laureates. In 2012, Mo Yan won this prestigious prize as the first Chinese writer throughout Chinese literary history.
瑞典学院的诺贝尔奖评选结果，近年来招致不少批评。政治势力对提名过程和评选结果的渗透，也是诺贝尔奖饱受争议的地方。2012年莫言获得诺贝尔文学奖，圆了中国人的诺贝尔奖文学梦。