The Silent Language of the Nobel Prize in Literature: Writing to Escape Yourself

Silent Language

When I was in middle school, my teacher asked me to read aloud in front of the class. A sudden fear came over me, I was like melting in fear and that was all I had. I stood up and ran out of the classroom.

I noticed the big round eyes of my classmates and teachers watching me.

Then I tried to explain my strange behavior by saying that I had to go to the bathroom. I could see on the faces of the people listening that they didn't believe me. And probably thought I was crazy. Yes, I was going crazy.

The fear of reading aloud haunted me. I courageously asked my teachers for permission not to read aloud, because I was so afraid of it. Some teachers believed me and stopped asking, but some, in one way or another, thought I was teasing them.

I learned something important about people from this experience.

I learned many other things.

Something has enabled me to stand here and read this Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech out loud. And now there is almost no fear.

Jon Fosse gave his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature on December 7 at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm (Photo: Nobel Prize).

What did I learn?

In a way, it was as if fear had taken away my language and I had to get it back. I started writing prose, short poems, short stories and found that doing so gave me a sense of security, that it took away my fear.

I found a place inside of me that was just mine, and from that place, I could write what was just mine.

Now, nearly 50 years later, I still write from that secret place inside me, a place that I honestly don't know much about other than that it exists.

Norwegian poet Olav H. Hauge wrote a poem comparing writing to a child building a leaf hut in the woods, crawling inside, lighting a candle, sitting and feeling safe on dark autumn evenings.

I think this is a nice picture of how I experience writing. Now - as well as 50 years ago.

And I learned more. I learned that at least for me, there is a big difference between spoken language and written language, or between spoken language and literary language.

Spoken language is often a monologic communication of a message or a rhetorical communication of a message with persuasion or conviction.

Literary language is never like that - it is not informative, but rather meaningful rather than communicative. It has its own existence.

In that sense, good writing is clearly in contrast to preaching.

Fearing to read aloud, I entered the more or less solitude that is the life of a writer - and have stayed there ever since.

I have written a lot, both prose and drama. Each work has its own fictional universe, its own world. A new world for each play, each novel.

Jon Fosse said that "writing is listening and escaping from yourself" (Photo: AFP).

Write to escape yourself

One thing is for sure, I have never written to express myself as people say, but only to escape myself.

As a result, I became a playwright.

I wrote novels and poems and had no desire to write for the stage. But in time I did, because I - a poor author - was offered money to write the opening scene of a play, and eventually wrote a whole play - my first and still most performed work - Someone Will Come .

The first time I wrote a play turned out to be the biggest surprise of my life as a writer. Because in both prose and poetry I tried to write things that normally cannot be expressed in words.

I have tried to express the unspeakable, which is considered the reason for awarding me the Nobel Prize.

Jon Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in October "for his inventive plays and prose which give voice to the unspeakable," according to the Nobel Prize .

Writing is for listening

Writing is a lonely profession, as I have said, and loneliness is good - as long as the way back to others remains open, to quote a poem by Olav H. Hauge.

What attracted me when I first saw my work performed on stage was the companionship - as opposed to solitude - of creating art through sharing, which gave me a feeling of immense happiness and safety.

This insight has stayed with me ever since, and I believe it has played a major role in helping me not only persevere with a peaceful mind but also feel a kind of happiness even from my own bad dramas.

For me, writing is listening. When I write, I never prepare, I don't plan anything, I write by listening. If I were to use a metaphor for the act of writing, it would be listening.

In my teens, I more or less went straight from being involved with music to writing. I actually stopped playing and listening to music altogether, and started writing. In my writing, I tried to create something similar to what I experienced when I played music.

That's what I did then - and what I still do.

Another thing, which is perhaps a little strange, is that when I write, at some point I always get the feeling that the text is already written, somewhere out there, not inside me. I just need to write it down before it disappears.

Sometimes I can do it without making any changes. Sometimes I have to search for words by rewriting, cutting and editing and carefully trying to come up with the text that was already written.

And I, who didn't want to write for the stage, ended up doing just that for about 15 years. The plays I wrote were even performed. Over time, there have been many plays produced in many countries.

I still can't believe it.

Life is unbelievable.

Just as I can't believe I'm standing here right now, trying to say something remotely reasonable about writing, in relation to my Nobel Prize in Literature.

Jon Fosse gives a speech of thanks at the Nobel Prize in Literature award ceremony, December 10 (Photo: Nobel Prize).

Writing can save lives

During the writing of Septology , I had some of my happiest moments as a writer. I didn’t set out to write a long novel, but the book more or less wrote itself. I wrote sections so smoothly that everything seemed right at once.

I think that's when I was closest to what is called happiness.

The whole of Septology contains memories of most of the other works I have written, but seen from a different angle. The fact that there is not a single period in the whole novel is not an invention. I just wrote the novel like that, in one go, without stopping.

My first books got pretty bad reviews, but I decided not to listen to the critics. I should just believe in myself and stick with my writing.

If I hadn't done that, I would have stopped writing after my first novel, Raudt, svart ( Red, Black ), came out 40 years ago.

After that, I got mostly good reviews and even started getting awards. I think it's important to continue with the same logic: If I don't listen to bad reviews, I won't let success affect me either.

I will stick to my writing, stick to it, stick to what I have created. I think that is what I have done and I really believe that I will continue to do that even after I have received the Nobel Prize.

When I was announced as having won the Nobel Prize for Literature, I received many emails and congratulations. I was very happy. Most of the wishes were simple and happy for me, some were moved to tears.

That really touched me.

What touched me most, then, was the readers who came out and said that my writing had simply saved their lives. In some way, I have always known that writing can save lives, even my own.

And if my writing can also help save someone else's life, nothing could make me happier.

Jon Fosse was born in 1959 in Haugesund, Norway. His first novel, Raudt, svart ( Red, Black ) was published in 1983. In 1989, he received critical acclaim for his novel Naustet ( The Boathouse ).

He then went on to write his first play in 1992 - Nokon kjem til å kome ( Someone Will Come ). In 1994, the play Og aldri skal vi skiljast was performed at the National Theatre in Bergen.

Fosse composed in Nynorsk (also known as New Norwegian). This is one of two standard varieties of Norwegian, spoken by about 27% of the population.

He is the most performed living playwright in Europe, having been translated into 40 languages. A hotel in Oslo, Norway, has a suite named after him.

In addition to writing plays and novels, Jon Fosse is also a translator.

(Source: Nobel Prize)

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