2
O
viedo
| C
ampoamor
T
heatre
|
I am an American writer. American history, American lives, American society, American places,
American dilemmas—American confusion, expectations, bewilderment, and heartbreak—constitute
my subject just as they did for my American predecessors for more than two centuries. American
speech is my argot. Inasmuch as I give thought to my audience, the audience I think about is an
American audience.
Consequently, I am taken aback to learn that a Spanish audience has been paying attention as well;
an appreciative Spanish audience at that. What can my American stories mean to Spanish readers?
How can my portrayal of American lives in my novels like
American Pastoral
,
I Married a Communist
,
and
The Human Stain
compete with the clichéd, supersimplified representation of America that befogs
the perception of my country nearly everywhere? Can a work of American fiction —written by me or
by any of my greatly gifted contemporaries— penetrate a mythology of America that is, in so many
precincts, rooted in staunch political animus?
I imagine that presenting me with this prize —like your presenting it several years back to my
American friend Paul Auster— suggests a hopeful answer of yes. Yes, a work of serious American
fiction is indeed able to pierce the ignorance, lies, andmindless superstition that can generally combine
to keep the vast density of the true American reality at bay.
“Look,” I may now tell myself, “there is somewhere where I’ve gotten through!”
And if that should be the case, nothing could make me happier.
Alan D. Solomont,
US Ambassador to Spain,
on behalf of Philip Roth
—
Prince of Asturias Award
for Literature 2012
Due to an operation, Philip Roth
was unable to travel to Asturias to
attend the ceremony, at which he was
represented by the US Ambassador
to Spain.
—
Excerpt from the speech given on
the occasion of receiving the Prince
of Asturias Award for Literature
on 26/10/2012.
26
th
O
ctober
2012
