Booker Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 4 (1972) Winner
John Berger
ジョン・バーガー
John Berger
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1926-11-05 （Stoke Newington, London, England）
- Died
- 2017-01-02 （Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, France） age 90
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- England (London) → France (Haute-Savoie, later near Paris)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, art critic, painter, poet, screenwriter
- Active Years
- 1946-2016
- Influenced By
- Walter Benjamin, Marxist theory, Photographer-collaborator Jean Mohr
- Influenced
- Laura Mulvey (feminist film criticism), Contemporary art and cultural criticism, Scholars in animal studies
- Nominations
- 2008 Booker Prize longlist (From A to X)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Edward's School, Oxford | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
| Chelsea School of Art | — | Art | — | — | United Kingdom |
| Central School of Art and Design | — | Art & Design | — | — | United Kingdom |
St Edward's School, Oxford
Country:
United Kingdom
Attended as a secondary school student; exact years not specified.
Chelsea School of Art
Art
Country:
United Kingdom
Studied art; subsequently began career as a painter.
Central School of Art and Design
Art & Design
Country:
United Kingdom
Received further professional art training.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Booker Prize | G. | — | The Booker Prize Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1972 | James Tait Black Memorial Prize | G. | — | James Tait Black Memorial Prize committee | 受賞 |
| 1991 | Petrarca-Preis | — | — | Petrarca-Preis | 受賞 |
| 2009 | Golden PEN Award | — | — | English PEN | 受賞 |
Booker Prize
1972
Work:
G.
Organization:
The Booker Prize Foundation
Result:
受賞
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
1972
Work:
G.
Organization:
James Tait Black Memorial Prize committee
Result:
受賞
Petrarca-Preis
1991
Organization:
Petrarca-Preis
Result:
受賞
Golden PEN Award
2009
Organization:
English PEN
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
James Tait Black Memorial Prizes
1 appearances
-
Edition 54 (1972) Winner
Lannan Literary Awards
6 appearances
-
Edition 122 (2002, held 4 times in year) Lifetime Achievement Award
-
Edition 148 (2002, held 9 times in year) Lifetime Achievement Award
-
Edition 151 (2002, held 12 times in year) Lifetime Achievement Award
Scott Moncrieff Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 40 (2005) Winner
Works
Major Works
G.
1972 Novel (picaresque)A picaresque romance set in Europe in 1898, exploring politics, desire and movement of people.
desiremigrationpolitics
Ways of Seeing
1972 Art criticism / EssayPublished as accompaniment to the BBC series, it examines visual culture and the concept of the 'male gaze', analyzing painting and advertising.
visual culturemale gazemodern art criticism
Adaptations
- [television series] Ways of Seeing (TV series) / Mike Dibb (1972)
A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor
1967 Non-fiction / Sociological/profileA documentary-style account of a country doctor's life, examining medicine, community and ethics; co-created with photographer Jean Mohr.
medicinecommunitylabor
A Seventh Man
1975 Non-fiction / SociologyA study of migrant workers in Europe, combining Berger's text with Jean Mohr's photography.
migrationlaborsocial marginalization
About Looking
1980 EssaysAn essay collection on art, perception and the human-animal relationship; includes the influential chapter 'Why Look at Animals?'.
observationanimalsart
From A to X
2008 Novel (epistolary)An epistolary novel addressing personal and political themes; longlisted for the 2008 Booker Prize.
lovepoliticscensorship and movement
Bibliography
- A Painter of Our Time (1958)
- The Foot of Clive (1962)
- Corker's Freedom (1964)
- G. (1972)
- A Fortunate Man (1967)
- A Seventh Man (1975)
- About Looking (1980)
- Pig Earth (1979) / Into Their Labours (trilogy)
- To the Wedding (1995)
- King: A Street Story (1999)
- From A to X (2008)
- Confabulations (2016)
Adaptations
- The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger (2016, directed by Tilda Swinton et al.)
- Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (co-writer, 1976)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Marxist-informed critical essaysdescriptive prose with close observation of paintings and photographsprose often poetic and essayistic
- Recurring Motifs
- land and peasantslabor and migrationlooking/the gaze (male gaze)memory and place
Legacy
John Berger exerted strong influence across art criticism, photography theory and fiction, introducing new perspectives on visual culture. 'Ways of Seeing' is widely cited in academic and educational contexts, and his socially engaged works contributed to political and cultural debates.
Archives
- British Library — John Berger archive
In Popular Culture
- Influence on television and film production and on contemporary criticism and feminist theory
Quotes
-
The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.
Source: Ways of Seeing (1972) (1972)
Trivia
- After winning the Booker Prize in 1972, he donated half the prize money to the British Black Panthers.
- He provided voice work associated with Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (credited in relation to the game's archival / promotional materials).
- He lived in France for over fifty years (initially moving to Haute-Savoie in 1962).
- Known for combining art criticism with social and political concerns.