I am a literary giant in Japan

"Don't worry, Professor Ma Yue Ran. As long as they don't go too far, I definitely won't stoop to their level."

Kitagawa Hide smiled and nodded, reassuring Ma Yue Ran while stating his attitude and position.
“I am a very easy-going person. The literary environment in Japan is even worse, but I rarely get into conflicts with people unless they really annoy me.”

I doubt the young talents at the Swedish Academy are that foolish.

"It's not that bad, it's not that bad." Ma Yue Ran was relieved to hear his words.

Although the aristocratic children in the academy are arrogant and rude, they are all well-educated and no one should be foolish enough to provoke Kitagawa Hide, a rising star in the world of literature.

While the three chatted, the luxury van that had come specifically to pick up Kitagawa Hide to go to the academy slowly drove into the airport pick-up area.

This top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph 728 costs $2 million, equivalent to approximately 200 million yen. It is currently the most luxurious business vehicle used by top companies to entertain their highest-ranking guests.

Shizuko Kawade also bought one at the beginning of the year, and so far it has only carried some of Japan's top literary figures, such as Hideki Kitagawa.

Having seen far more beautiful and top-of-the-line luxury business vehicles since coming from the future, Kitagawa Hideki didn't feel much for it.

He was more curious about Goethe Street, which runs from Arlanda International Airport to the Swedish Academy.

Goethestrasse is one of the longest streets in Stockholm. It is said that after being nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Goethe often took walks here alone when he came to Stockholm.

At the time, the Nobel Prize committee had already confirmed that the Nobel Prize in Literature would not be awarded to Goethe, and a group of scoundrels who already knew this news were all waiting to see Goethe make a fool of himself.

One afternoon, Goethe was walking across this street with a copy of "Faust" in his hand. At that time, Goethe Street was adjacent to a small park and was a very narrow street.

The solitary Goethe happened to run into a Swedish literary critic, who immediately mocked him, saying, "I never give way to fools."

“I am quite the opposite,” Goethe replied, then smiled and stepped aside.

Because of this little anecdote, after Goethe repeatedly missed the Nobel Prize in Literature and ultimately died with regret, the Swedish and Norwegian governments specially named it Goethe Street to commemorate and mourn this great poet who ranks among the top five in the history of human poetry.

The car drove slowly, and Kitagawa Hide admired the bustling scene of Goethe Street, while Knut and Göran Malmqvist, who were beside him, also started telling this little story.

"It is said that Sartre's teacher, who refused to accept the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, also refused it because of Goethe and others."

Göran Malmqvist added, without any hesitation, revealing the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hideaki Kitagawa.

"The famous Swedish journalist Simone de Beauvoir once asked Professor Sartre about this matter, and Professor Sartre replied to her, 'I firmly believe that the practicality of literature must take precedence over its honor and commercial value.'"

Because these so-called honors are awarded by one group of people to another, and most of the people who award these honors have never actually received them.

So why are they qualified to bestow honors upon others?

I don’t think anyone is qualified to award literary giants like Tolstoy, Kafka, and Goethe.

Therefore, I deny all honors, not just the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Of course, if I had to say something, I'll always hold a grudge against the jury for not choosing Goethe and his "Faust".

Sartre's refusal of the award has always been a thorn in the side of the academy's lifetime judges.

We felt terrible, but there was nothing we could do.

To be honest, looking back, Knut and I have complained about these dishonest predecessors many times.

If they had fairly and justly awarded the prizes to those writers who truly deserved them, we, as successors, wouldn't have had such a headache.

"No award is absolutely fair."

Kitagawa Hide replied with a smile.
"The existence of awards is mostly for the purpose of creating idols and for a group of people to benefit."

However, putting all that aside, if awards can be relatively fair and achieve a perfect balance between commercial and literary value, then there's nothing wrong with that.

There is a literary award in Japan named after me, which was originally established to benefit my conglomerate, a fact I have never denied.

However, its existence also propelled the progress of Japanese literature, providing a large number of newcomers with exposure and the possibility of debuting.

"Yes. I'm glad you understand." Göran Malmqvist said so much, but it was all to set the stage for what he was about to say: "In the past three years, the Nobel Prize in Literature almost missed out on you, someone who truly deserved the award."

Fortunately, this time, I think it won't miss you like it missed Tolstoy and Goethe.

"Haha, I hope so." Judging from his tone, Kitagawa Hide probably guessed the Swedish Academy's evaluation and opinion on "Childhood".

This is no surprise.

In the original history, Gorky also missed out on this ultimate award established by the Western literary world because of his identity as a Tsarist Russian.

But no one has ever denied that Gorky's autobiographical trilogy has the potential to win awards.

Today, Hideaki Kitagawa has long since shed the perceived disadvantages of being an Asian. Now, it is the Nobel Prize officials who are in the wrong and want to reconcile, so he has no need to worry about them causing any more trouble.

Moreover, once "My Apprenticeship" and "My Universities" are published, I believe that when the awards are given next year, the entire world of literature will be unable to find anyone who can rival me.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Hide tilted his head and pondered the Nobel Prize winners in Literature in 1999 and 2000.

As he began to think, countless memories surged into his mind with clarity, just like those literary masterpieces where every word was exceptionally clear.

In the original history, the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the German playwright Günter Grass. His poems and plays had a very strong political flavor, and he was known as a "political poet." The literary value of his works was not actually very high.

Günter's ability to win the prize was due to two factors: firstly, the Nobel Prize was trending towards dramatic literature at the time, with four consecutive winners being playwrights; and secondly, the relentless promotion by the German government.

In September 2006, he published his autobiographical memoir, "Peeling the Onion," in Germany.

Because of his shocking self-description in the book that he had served in the SS in his youth, Günther became a target of criticism in the literary world.

With Kitagawa Hideaki as a superstar, Günter Grass has no chance of competing with him from any perspective.

A slightly more threatening candidate is Gao Xingjian, the 2000 Nobel laureate in Literature. Gao Xingjian was born in the province of Bhai Li, moved to France in 1987, and just obtained French citizenship two years ago.

He is the first Chinese writer to receive the award and a Chinese writer highly praised by Göran Malmqvist.

Göran Malmqvist, who has a great love for Eastern culture, now only translates books by Gao Xingjian and Hideaki Kitagawa, the former of whom he has nominated for the Nobel Prize several times.

However, considering what Ma Yuehan just said, Gao Xingjian, who should have won the award in 2000, will probably have to postpone it.

Regarding his award, many critics believe that his books have low literary value and are not very commercially viable, and cannot represent the vast ocean of Chinese literature at all. They argue that he won the award purely because the translator was Göran Malmqvist and the publishers of his novels were also Malmqvist's companies.

Whether this parallel universe is true or not, Kitagawa Hide is not sure. In any case, now it's the Nobel Prize officials begging him to accept the prize, not him begging others.

"Haha, you'll definitely get what you want," Ma Yue Ran said with a laugh.

The topic of awards was too sensitive, so the three of them stopped talking about it as soon as the car entered the parking lot of the School of Arts.

After getting out of the car, Kitagawa Hide followed the two of them. When he saw that the motto stone symbolizing the spirit of the Swedish Academy had disappeared, he couldn't help but chuckle. He had no choice but to stand in respect with them on the empty lawn.

"I hope that Stockholm University will return the motto stone after you win the award," Knut sighed helplessly.

The youngest of the eighteen lifetime judges, he had an inexplicable affection and reverence for the motto stone tablet.

For a time, "genius and appreciation" was also Knut's motto.

“That’s not something I can decide.” Kitagawa Hide smiled again. He thought that Stockholm University, which liked to cause trouble, would not easily return the motto stone.

These top universities in various countries, like Yale University, hope to leverage their influence to create awards similar to the Nobel Prize.

In the years following the Nobel Prize controversy, the Nobel Prize officials were most enthusiastic about targeting these world-renowned universities.

Yale University's literary and art appreciation festival is already quite large, and I heard that this year they will add a "Yale Literature Prize" to rival the Nobel Prize in Literature.

“Well, that’s true.” Knut was also aware of the feud between these top universities and the Nobel Prize committee, so he didn’t elaborate on the matter.

Knut and the other person led Kitagawa to the dormitory that the academy had specially arranged for him.

The public literature appreciation class is tomorrow afternoon. Kitagawa Hideki has been traveling a long way, so to ensure he is in the best teaching condition, Ma Yueran and the others declined all banquet and interview invitations on his behalf.

Upon hearing that Hideaki Kitagawa was coming, almost half of the literary, political, and business leaders in Sweden and Norway were eager to meet him, have a meal, and build a relationship with this most talked-about and controversial Nobel Prize nominee in history.

Kitagawa Hideya was too lazy to engage in pleasantries with these Western white aristocrats, so he thanked them for their arrangements and prepared to continue writing "In the World" in his dormitory, while also making some simple preparations for tomorrow's lecture.

Before they left, Knut suddenly pulled Kitagawa Hide into the bathroom and whispered to him, "Teacher Kitagawa, you have to be very careful during class tomorrow afternoon."

Many of the students come from white aristocratic families. They have been well-off since childhood, and many of them hold strong contempt and indifference towards the middle class and the lower class. They cannot understand the worldview of "Childhood" and probably find it difficult to empathize with Alyosha.

If they ask you some irrational questions tomorrow, you can choose to ignore them.

Please, whatever you do, don't let a conflict break out!

"Is it that serious?" Kitagawa Hide frowned slightly.

Although Ma Yue Ran mentioned it briefly in the car before he came, she didn't mention it at all when she invited him.

Compared to the relatively shrewd Göran Malmqvist, Knut was more pure and trustworthy.

Even he had to remind Kitagawa Hide in this way, which shows that these teenagers at the Swedish Academy are far more difficult to manage than the right-wing students in Japan.

Moreover, based on their descriptions, Kitagawa Hide became increasingly certain that these little guys were most likely the "white leftists" who would later be ridiculed on the internet.

"White leftists," also known as "white liberals," refer to a group of "superior people" who only care about topics such as immigration, ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, and the environment, but are unaware of real-world problems.

They advocate for the right to peace merely to satisfy their own sense of moral superiority, and this group is also extremely obsessed with political correctness.

In March 2021, the term was introduced to many ordinary Americans by right-wing Fox News host Carlson during a news broadcast, and it has since become a globally recognized term. "White left" has also become a synonym for a new kind of saint.

If he were just a saint, Kitagawa Hide wouldn't need to be paid any attention; everyone would just treat him as a source of amusement.

The problem is that while these guys are mentally unstable, they also control a lot of social resources and state power.

The fact that both Göran Malmqvist and Knut are so wary of them, and that they repeatedly emphasize that Hideaki Kitagawa should avoid conflict unless absolutely necessary, shows just how powerful their backing is.

Worried that Kitagawa might not understand or take it seriously, Knut secretly mentioned a few names that couldn't be spoken, as a way of warning Kitagawa that these teenagers came from extraordinary family backgrounds that could influence all aspects of life in countries around the world.

"I understand. I promise you, I will never have any conflict with them unless absolutely necessary."

Kitagawa Entertainment's future ambitions also extend to the Western world. Why not make money off these white people?
Therefore, Kitagawa Hide wouldn't take the initiative to argue with them.

After receiving a satisfactory reply, Knut quickly left his dormitory.

The next morning.

The news that Hideaki Kitagawa, a renowned Japanese writer and author of masterpieces such as "One Hundred Years of Solitude," and who recently wrote the globally popular novel "Childhood," will be giving a public course on literary appreciation at the Swedish Academy has spread rapidly around the world.

To prevent overcrowding and potential safety hazards, Sweden deliberately delayed announcing the lecture to the world until noon that day, so that most people would not be able to attend.

Those who were eligible to attend the class had received their tickets a week in advance and were already waiting in the large lecture hall of the Swedish Academy.

Although there was no opportunity to sit in on the proceedings, the local Swedish television station still sent several reporters to lie in wait outside the lecture hall to see if they could catch any good news.

The only two television stations holding the live broadcast rights are the British BBS and the American ABC. Their filming crews are already in place, and all kinds of top-notch camera equipment fill the large lecture hall.

At 12:30 PM, Princess Olivia of Chanel, who had accompanied Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, curiously surveyed her surroundings, frantically searching for Kitagawa Shu's figure. (End of Chapter)