Nobel 2021 for Peace and Literature - A detailed analysis

A comprehensive look at the Nobel prizes for Peace and Literature, 2021

 Nobel 2021 for Peace and Literature - A detailed analysis

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• The story: The 2021 Nobel for Peace was given to two journalists under fire - Maria Ressa (the Philippines) and Dmitri A Muratov (Russia). The Nobel Committee is recognising the courage to face blatant authoritarian populists worldwide. These two represent journalists all over.
• Maria Ressa: Aged 58, she spent decades as an investigative reporter. She co-founded Rappler in 2012, an investigative website. It focused on the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drugs campaign, which led to thousands of suspected drug dealers getting killed.

1. Duterte's campaign was widely discredited for the methods being used
2. Maria then focused on how Duterte created a fake news factory, using social media, attacking opponents and spreading wrong information
3. Her work reminded the world again of the "era of infodemic", as seen in India's WhatsApp phenomenon, Donald Trump's campaign, Vladimir Putin's agencies' work and so on
4. She then focused on government corruption and ministers' conflict of interest
5. She is part of the IFCN - International Fact-Checking Network (leading to Duterte attacking her directly in speeches)
6. Tax authorities were let loose on Maria, and she is fighting various cases
7. Then cases were filed for some articles she posted, and punishments pronounced (and later suspended)

• Dmitry Muratov: Aged 59, he runs the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper in Russia. For decades, he has fought for freedom of speech, under worsening conditions.

1. He started the paper to run an honest and independent news source for Russian citizens
2. First donations came from people like former President Mikhail Gorbachev, who gave some of his Nobel Peace Prize money, to help buy equipments
3. Gorbachev had launched glasnost in USSR (openness and transparency)
4. Novaya Gazeta was found by the Nobel Committee to be fundamentally critical of power, and fact-based
5. In a Russia where fear rules, this is a huge exception
6. It reports on corruption, police violence, unlawful arrests, election fraud, troll factories, oligarchy, use of Military and so on
7. Six of its journalists have been killed (including Anna Politkovskaja who reported on how Russia conducted the war in Chechnya)
8. Muratov said he thought the Nobel would go to dissident leader Alexei A. Navalny, in jail today
9. Putin praised the Nobel, but his government has been cracking down on many publications calling them "foreign agents"
10. Russia's rank is 150 / 180 on Press Freedom Index (India's rank is 142)

• Summary: The Nobel prize was meant to send the message that protecting the right to expression and information is paramount, if democracy is to be saved.
• The Literature story: The 2021 Nobel for Literature was given to Africa's Abdulrazak Gurnah, who documented the impact of colonialism on people, and the refugee experiences. His consistent writings chronicled the human sufferings accurately.
• Human tragedy: Past few years have seen the massive human tragedy of people dying on European shores, trying to enter the continent. People flee due to poverty, war and more. Other than Germany and Sweden, others have shut their doors. Gurnah called out the "miserliness" of Europeans, in helping the desperate refugees.
• Refugees are not empty-handed: He spoke about how Europeans spread all around the world. Now when people are reaching Europe, they are being seen as bereft of any talent, energy and so on. But that's wrong. Many bring a lot of talent with them, not just poverty.
• Tanzanian experiene: Gurnah fled Tanzania in 1960s, as it erupted in violence after freedom from British rule. His community was on target. Later, he started writing in English (not Swahili), and theme of refugee's disruption is common in all his works.
• Africa's story: He wrote about the entire experience of colonialism that Africa underwent, seeing it from a human perspective. Colonised east Africa was ravaged by the conflicts in Europe, as the Germans, British, French and Belgians fought each other. All his books carry a devastating sense of loss. After all, he lost his home at an early age.
• Himself a migrant: All his work showed the restlessness of a migrant, torn away from culture, family, tradition and language, and forced to adapt to the new.
• A right choice: Critics say that the Swedish Academy got this prize right this time, going beyond Europe.
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain what European colonialism did to Africa. (2) What are the key components of the writings of Africa's Abdulrazak Gurnah, the winner of Nobel 2021 for Literature? (3) Human misery is both seen and lived, and both can generate equal pain in a sensitive heart. Do you agree? Explain. (4) Explain how the Nobel peace prize 2021 underscores the importance of freedom of expression, worldwide. (5) What are the standard tools that leaders like Duterte of the Philippines and Putin of Russia use, to extend their despotic rule? List and explain. (6) Why has the world seen the rise of authoritarian regimes in recent years? Explain.

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