"For a storytelling art that, with an encyclopedic desire, embodies the cross-border as a form of life." So is the Swedish Academy's motivation for Olga Tokarczuk. One of her most famous works, the Jacob books, draws on Poland's Jewish history through a revival movement in the 18th century. Outside of literature, she is politically engaged and advocates that Poland, like Germany, must acknowledge its anti-Semitic history.
The Polish historian and former director of the Jewish Museum in Warsaw, Dariusz Stola, tells the Culture News that he is happy about the choice.
- She is aware of minorities and everything she writes about has a history. She gives a historical background to everything we see today, he says.
Minister of Culture: "Now I'll read"Dariusz Stola no longer works at the Jewish Museum. He tells the Culture News that he cannot return to service for political reasons. Earlier this year, an exhibition on persecution of Jews run by Poland's communist regime in 1968 upset the country's Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński - a member of the Government Party Law and Justice (PIS).
The Minister of Culture has previously proudly proclaimed that he "has never read anything by Olga Tokarczuk". After the Nobel laureate, however, he writes on Twitter that he congratulates the author, and that he should now read her. It is especially gratifying that the literature goes well internationally, he writes:
“The Nobel Prize is clear evidence that Polish culture is valued worldwide. Congratulations!"