October 2011

Till is right. It's not the historian's task to question the legitimacy of the decisions of the Nobel Committee. What he can do instead is “describe the culture in which credit is given.” For the Nobel prize does not only work as a canonization device. It also aims at establishing a genealogy of heros that fits the concerns of the days. In this perspective, “reading” and/ or “interpreting” this year's prize is less straightforward that many have argued. Read more