I am a literary giant in Japan

Stockholm, Sweden, Swedish Academy.

Knut and Göran Malmqvist, walking in the warm early spring breeze, took off their hats and stood at the gate for three minutes as usual.

On the open space in front of them, there was originally a stone tablet that symbolized the motto pursued by everyone in the Faculty of Arts throughout their lives.

The inscription on the stone tablet, "Genius and Appreciation," was once the most revered motto of these lifetime judges of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

However, after the shameful Arnault Club incident and Arnault's harassment of the Crown Princess last year, this motto stone suddenly became the biggest joke of the Swedish Academy.

The Arnaults wielded immense power in the Swedish literary world, and their Arnault Club gradually infiltrated the entire Western literary scene. If they hadn't been caught red-handed by the Swedish Ministry of Defense this time, who knows what other disgusting things they might have done.

With the arrest of the Arnaults, the Nobel Prize committee's punishment of Hideki Kitagawa and its deliberate smear campaign were also exposed.

This makes the motto "Genius and Connoisseurship" on the stone tablet seem even more ridiculous.

Earlier this year, the Swedish Royal Family commissioned the Ministry of Defense to move this motto stone to Stockholm University.

They will return it to the family after the awards are reinstated next year and the Arnault-Madame Arnaud affair is completely settled.

This behavior is similar to how a certain ancient Eastern country made weaker countries provide hostages in ancient times, which is simply a slap in the face to the Swedish Academy!
Ironically, after the Arnault couple's scandal, the first organization to choose to remain silent was the Nobel Prize committee.

The Nobel Prize committee and council simply shifted the blame to the Swedish Academy, then ordered a reform of the Nobel Prize committee, subsequently lifted the ban on Hideaki Kitagawa, and stopped standing up for them.

So no matter how hard Knut and his colleagues tried, Stockholm University refused to return the motto stone, and deliberately left it exposed to the elements in the middle of the school square, watching it be despised by thousands.

There are many fans of Hideaki Kitagawa at Stockholm University, especially in the literature department, which has produced several Nobel laureates in literature. From professors to students, they are very dissatisfied with the Nobel Prize officials' deliberate smear campaign against Kitagawa.

They're now venting all their anger on the motto stone!

Left with no other option, Knut and the others, who arrived at work on time every day, could only stare at the empty meadow.

“When it was around, I was angry that the college treated Teacher Kitagawa unfairly, and I also despised and looked down on it.”

But when it was moved away and became the object of ridicule by countless people, I felt extremely sad.

Knut put his felt hat back on, looked sadly at the empty lawn, and whispered to Göran Malmqvist,

"It is true that people only realize the value of something when they lose it."

"Therefore we must not allow the Nobel Prize in Literature to become a laughing stock in other people's mouths."

Göran Malmqvist gave a heavy snort, the English edition of "Literature and Art" in his hand suddenly appearing particularly striking.
"Among the three major world literary awards, the Nobel Prize has always been far ahead, and it is more well-known than the Goncourt Prize and the Booker Prize. If it is ruined in our generation, we will not be able to face the older generation of writers when we go to heaven."

Hopefully, the one-year suspension will alleviate their negative perception of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Knut didn't want the Nobel Prize to become just another "side dish," especially since the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism and Literature, which the American literary world had poured all its efforts into creating, was eyeing the status of the world's three major literary awards.

But this isn't something he can decide, nor is it something his colleagues in the School of Literature can decide.

“That’s unrealistic,” Ma Yue Ran shook his head. “There’s a well-known saying on the internet: ‘The internet has a memory,’ and the same goes for the literary world.”

People won't forget this dark history just because the award was suspended for a year.

On the contrary, when the Academy begins soliciting nominees from around the world this September, this matter will surely be brought up again by those with ulterior motives.

At that time, we may have to endure an even more terrifying wave of public opinion than we are now!

"The speed of technological development far exceeds our imagination," Ma Yue Ran added.

He was very fond of Eastern culture, and because of this, he learned a lot about the social conditions of several Eastern countries.

Japan's internet development is extremely rapid. In the past, it would take at least half a month for a message to travel from Tokyo to Shikoku.

With the advent of telephones and televisions, the speed of information dissemination increased, but it was still limited to wealthy families who could afford these technological products.

Television became widespread in Japan during the 1960s and 70s, and newspapers and magazines reached their peak subscription period, but control of these traditional media remained in the hands of conglomerates and the government.

The messages they don't want the public to hear, the public will never hear in their lifetime.

But now.

With the rapid development of the internet, personal computers have also become increasingly common in Japan.

Any message can spread throughout the entire country in just one second, and it cannot be blocked!
Japan's attitude toward the Nobel Prize reflects the attitude of most countries in the world toward the Nobel Prize.

If you don't properly address their discontent after you've previously criticized their country's top literary figure, who knows if it will be replaced by someone from another country in the future?

Once public trust collapses, it's very difficult to recover.

Upon hearing this, Knut also sighed deeply, just like Göran Malmqvist.

The current predicament of the Nobel Prize in Literature is well known.

But as Göran Malmqvist said, no matter how the Nobel Prize committee and the Swedish Academy respond, they cannot properly resolve this issue under the pressure of a public opinion crisis.

That's why public credibility is said to be the most important thing for a brand.

“However, we don’t need to be so pessimistic.” Ma Yue Ran raised the book “Literature and Art” in his hand again.

On the cover, a seven or eight-year-old Russian boy is staring at them with wide eyes.

His eyes were full of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, just like they were many years ago when they were the same age.

The first book in Kitagawa Hide's autobiographical trilogy, "Childhood," became a hit in both Tsarist Russia and Japan upon its release.

The news traveled across the ocean, and by the time it reached Sweden, almost the entire literary world knew about it.

As Kitagawa Hide's number one fan at the Swedish Academy, Göran Malmqvist immediately used his connections to have a copy of the April issue of the English-language magazine *Literature* purchased from the United States.

Because of the previous ban imposed on Hideaki Kitagawa by the Swedish and Norwegian authorities, even though the ban has now been officially lifted and Kitagawa's novels are available on the market, Japan still does not agree to allow "Bungei" to be sold in Sweden.

Without access to this currently most popular pure literature magazine in the Japanese literary market, Ma Yueran and his team were unable to learn about Kitagawa Hide's recent situation in a timely manner.

Fortunately, the development of internet technology far exceeded his expectations, and he was still able to learn a little about Kitagawa Hide's deeds through the internet. At this time, the other people in the Swedish Academy probably hadn't read "Childhood" yet, and several old-fashioned people who never came into contact with the new era and new technology probably didn't even know about it.

"Once we remove the bad apples from the ranks, we will have the opportunity to restore the prestige of the Nobel Prize in Literature."

Ma Yue Ran confidently walked towards the college building with the book "Literature and Art".

Knut, who had also read "Childhood," wholeheartedly agreed.

When Kitagawa Hide wrote "The Dancing Girl of Izu," many lifetime judges could not truly appreciate the beauty of Japanese mono no aware literature due to differences in language, writing style, and local customs.

The same was true for "Snow Country," which was critically acclaimed but not commercially successful, which was the core reason why they turned it away.

Later, Hideaki Kitagawa wrote "Norwegian Wood," which, while cloaked in the guise of Japanese mono no aware literature, shifted the story from a society full of Japanese elements to a more modern Japanese society, and the novel's plot also became a more popular "love triangle."

"Norwegian Wood" has sold approximately 2500 million copies worldwide, surpassing other Japanese-style novels written by Hideaki Kitagawa, and can be considered the first milestone of Japanese literature in the history of world literature.

Then, the Nobel Prize committee and the Swedish Academy, citing reasons such as "too popular and vulgar," along with smear campaigns and expulsion, caused him to miss out on the Nobel Prize in Literature once again.

Even though Kitagawa Hide wrote "One Hundred Years of Solitude," "The Old Man and the Sea," and "In Search of Lost Time" during this period, these three famous overseas literary works were ignored and looked down upon, and were still not served on the table of the lifetime judges of the Swedish Academy.

Göran Malmqvist was really fed up with this.

Once or twice is understandable, but not more than three times!
This third time, he must throw "Childhood" hard in other people's faces!
The two of them stormed into the college office.

This year, there's no need for awards, so a bunch of lifetime judges don't have to spend time and energy processing the lists of nominees from literary circles around the world, making their work much easier.

Of course, even if the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature is temporarily put on hold, they still need to read a large number of literary works and keep abreast of the latest developments and changes in the world of literature.

Furthermore, with the new millennium approaching, the Mayan prophecy of the end of the world, and the overlap of two Nobel Prize in Literature awards, there will inevitably be an enormous workload.

Therefore, this year is also the busiest year for the Swedish Academy.

"Good morning everyone."

Good morning, Knut, Göran Malmqvist.

The two groups greeted each other, and then everyone's attention fell on the "Arts" magazine in Ma Yue Ran's hands.

After all, the Russian child on the cover is so recognizable, especially his wide-eyed, inquisitive expression, that it's hard not to take a second look.

"Is this some new magazine? Our publishing industry doesn't seem to have such perfect cover design yet," asked Kjell Espmark, who was elected an academician in 1981 and has served as chairman of the review committee since 1988.

In recent years, he has been deeply influenced by Göran Malmqvist and has also begun to pay attention to the literary works of several Eastern countries. As a representative of the Swedish "Vital Poetry School", Schell has written long poems such as "Burning Books" and "Terracotta Warriors", which are popular in Sweden, with Chinese history as the core.

"This is the Japanese literary magazine 'Bungei' that I bought from the United States."

Ma Yue Ran placed it on the table, and everyone immediately gathered around, curiously examining this literary magazine they had never seen before.
"The publishing house that produces 'Literature' is called Kawade Shobo, the same publishing house where Kitagawa-sensei works."

"So that's what it was."

Sher reached for the magazine, examined the cover closely, and then his eyes widened in surprise at the few English words on the cover.

"'A poignant ode to my childhood, Alyosha, in Tsarist Russia during the 1870s and 1880s,' a new work by Kitagawa Hide, poured his heart and soul into during his trip to Tsarist Russia?"

"What?" Hearing his words, more than a dozen elderly people gathered even closer.

"Is it Kitagawa Hide from Japan?"

"Has he written a new book? I remember last time I heard he had switched to writing horror novels?"

"I think I saw this news on my grandson's computer. What's the title of the new book?"

"Childhood, the first book in Alyosha's autobiographical trilogy, is titled Childhood," Göran Malmqvist replied with a smile, pleased with their reaction.

"Heavens! Horse, why didn't you buy a few more?" Academician Xia Siting complained for a moment before wisely shutting up.

To ensure the purity and high standards of Swedish literature, and to make the origin of the Nobel Prize in Literature more mysterious, Sweden has long implemented a censorship system that prohibits the entry of foreign literary works and magazines.

Any literary products from any other country that want to enter Sweden must go through multiple screening processes. After passing the screening, they must pay a high percentage of the deposit to the Swedish government, as well as a large amount of taxes.

As for these reprinted translations, especially those "purchased" from other countries, they are considered illicit goods here and are easily seized.

Ma Yueran's behavior constitutes "knowingly breaking the law," and he certainly cannot openly prepare a whole box and then distribute one copy to each person.

After Sally shut up, she immediately followed quietly to the side and watched.

And so, the dozen or so lifetime judges who held the power to select the Nobel Prize in Literature huddled together, their eyes fixed intently on the journal "Literature and Art," not daring to relax for a moment.

"This young man is truly 'skilled and daring,' daring to choose Tsarist Russia of this period as the setting for his novel."

Sher was born on February 19, 1930. His great-grandfather lived and worked in that era.

A lover of history from various countries, he was particularly knowledgeable about the era of Tsarist Russia, and many of the old books and items in his great-grandfather's family came from that period.

Because he understood it so well, he knew better than anyone that Tsarist Russia during that period was extremely difficult to write about. Even Russian writers rarely wanted to touch on that chaotic era.

"Indeed, 'high skill breeds boldness.' There's an old Chinese saying, 'A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger,' which perfectly describes a spirited young man like Mr. Kitagawa."

Ma Yueran nodded.

"I think this novel is enough to win him the Nobel Prize in Literature next year."

“Ma! We haven’t even finished looking at this year’s entries yet, how can you be so sure about next year’s awards? That’s so unprofessional,” Xia Siting said, displeased.

She was the most traditional academic among the lifetime judges, meticulous in reading manuscripts and writing books, which is why she was also the judge who disliked the Arnaults the most.

Now that the tumor has been removed, she finds reading much easier.

Ma Yue Ran's seemingly resolute but actually irresponsible remarks stirred up some unpleasant memories for her.

Ma Yue Ran ignored her rebuttal, simply smiling as she looked at the magazine, as if to say, "You'll understand after you read it." (End of Chapter)