“The Nobel Prize will not make Handke a great writer. By choosing the Austrian author, the Academy has only continued to reduce the value of the prize and has waded into yet another scandal that will damage the price's reputation for decades to come, "Edi Rama writes in a text on the Politico site, which DN was the first to note.
Furthermore, Edi Rama believes that it is problematic to separate Handke's books from the author's political views, since politics, according to Rama, permeate Handke's work.
"Separating Hanke's literary works from his political foundation is a big mistake," writes Edi Rama, who is far from alone in criticizing the Academy's choices.
In Kosovo's capital Pristina, protesters have protested outside the Swedish embassy, the American Pen says it is "stunned" and the choice of award winners is frequently discussed among literary critics around the world.
The reason for the criticism is, among other things, that Handke has previously expressed his support for the war-accused Serbian ex-president Slobodan Milosevic, and he gave speeches at his funeral in 2006.
The Swedish Academy has previously rejected criticism.
- This is a literary prize, it is not a political prize ‚the Nobel Committee Chairman Anders Olsson told DN.